A money route from nothing
Step by step from your first robbery to a base that earns while you are out, with the real prices at each step.
the idea
Early on, everything you earn comes from your own two hands. The goal is to turn that into a base that earns while you are out robbing, as fast as you can. This route uses the real prices from the game files, so you know what you are saving up for at each step.
first hour: nothing to your name
- At Lenny’s Motel, buy a pistol with ammo on Lenny’s laptop and rent a car. You need the car to carry anything worth taking.
- In Looty Bay, find a quiet spot, put on your mask and rob a shop. Cash registers, shelves and dumpsters are the easy start, and dumpsters were given more cash on 4 November.
- Grab by value per slot, not by sticker price. Your bag is small. The best loot per slot
- Get out of the city alive and sell to the Fence. Lenny can launder your cash too, but he takes a cut, and your own laundering desk does not.
next: chargeables
Some Black Market items fill up as you play and are worth far more when full. Buy them with your first cash and let them fill while you rob.
| Buy | How it fills | Costs | Full sells for | You make |
|---|---|---|---|---|
 Action Camera | Filled by performing certain criminal activities | $15,000 | $50,000 | $35,000 |
 Code Tablet | Filled by cracking safes in Looty Bay | $20,000 | $75,000 | $55,000 |
 USB Hacking Tool | Filled by hacking computers in locked rooms | $50,000 | $200,000 | $150,000 |
then: your own plot
Renting a plot gives you your own base, your own Black Market laptop and a place to launder cash without Lenny’s cut. Since 4 November, tier 1 land costs documents instead of cash, so check what the laptop asks for. These are the first things worth setting up:
| Item | Unlock | Price | Total |
|---|---|---|---|
 Land Plot Title (District Lv.1) | free | $100,000 | $100,000 |
 Trailer | free | $10,000 | $10,000 |
 Collection Table | $5,000 | $15,000 | $20,000 |
 Cargo Workbench | $5,000 | $15,000 | $20,000 |
 Banknote Counter Mk1 (+15%) | $10,000 | $30,000 | $40,000 |
then: make the base earn
The developers raised base business profits a lot on 4 November, so this is where the money grows. The simplest earner is contraband: buy Contraband Cargo from Lenny’s smuggler for $10,000, or for $5,000 from a settlement seller, repack it on a Contraband Workbench, and it becomes Premium Cargo worth $35,000 or Rarity Cargo worth $40,000.
After that, a farm and a lab keep producing while you are away. Growing and the lab, or which one pays back faster.
| Business | Level | Unlock | Price | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|
 Contraband Workbench | 1 | $20,000 | $20,000 | $40,000 |
 Grow Room | 1 | $150,000 | $100,000 | $250,000 |
 Grow Table | 1 | $30,000 | $40,000 | $70,000 |
 Chemical Laboratory | 1 | $160,000 | $110,000 | $270,000 |
 Chemical Reactor Mk1 (4 Slots) | 1 | $20,000 | $40,000 | $60,000 |
finally: the big jobs
- The Bank Vault needs a Drill, and the whole city is told when it goes on. Bring a crew. The bank’s gold vault needs ID Card (Bank).
- The Art Gallery exhibit needs a Glass Cutter. Its vault opens with Keycard #6.
- The Police Station armory opens with ID Card (Police), which Lenny trades for 20 Evidence.
- Collections turn sets of cheap loot into crates worth up to $500,000. Every collection
Where this comes from
- ROB RUN in-game tutorial, hints and loading tips Lenny’s laptop, the Fence, laundering, contraband, big jobs
- Game files: prices, Shipments unlock costs and cargo values checked again after the 12 November 2026 patch
- Kefir, First Changes & Server Schedule (Steam) dumpster cash, documents for tier 1 land, business profits