Whenever your character in Starfield successfully surveys a planet, they’ll attain 100% completion to complement some XP and planetary data. While the data is kept and utilized for your scientific findings, you’ll obtain survey data for the keeping. It’s stored in your inventory under the Notes category, where the information and value are available for your potential financial gain.
The Settled Systems is home to a vast number of vendors, though not everyone in Starfield will want to purchase survey data from you. Of course, a few out there are willing to take the data slates off your hands. You need to know where you can go and sell survey data since it’s not a noticeably desirable asset that everyone is looking for. Fire up your engines and grav drives, for we know some connections that are happy to buy our pieces of planetary data.
How and Where to Sell Survey Data
Starfield players can sell their studies of survey data to one of three vendors in the Settled Systems: Vladimir Sall, Phill Hill, and any Trade Authority kiosk/employee. Your pieces of survey data are located in the Notes section of your inventory, each detailed by their value.
Upon scanning a planet, moon, or rock, you’ll collect four points of information. In general, most surveys in Starfield will consist of the following categories:
- Fauna
- Flora
- Resources
- Traits
The three vendors we’ve mentioned are located throughout parts of the Settled Systems. Vladimir Sall is part of Constellation, and you can find him stationed at The Eye. It orbits around the planet Jemison in the Alpha Centauri system, where the Lodge is also located for Constellation members and your sleeping quarters.
Phill Hill is an exclusive collector of survey data. He’s only interested in the information that contains concrete planetary living conditions, where habitable surfaces are present. He’ll accept nothing else. So, keep in mind that some of the data you collect from planets, moons, and other rocks might be reserved for Vladimir, who is willing to pay you more for the data slates, no matter what they have to offer. Regardless, you can find Phill at the Broken Spear in Cydonia on the planet Mars, part of the Sol system.
Then there’s the Trade Authority to consider. There are eight known locations that you can access in Starfield, and they’re all stationed across the Settled Systems.
- Akila City on Akila in the Cheyenne system – Kiosk located near the front entrance to the city, next to a Ship Services Technician.
- Cydonia on Mars in the Sol system – Storefront located on LL1.1 of Cydonia. Right across the platform from an Enhance! clinic. The vendor’s name is Manaaki Almonte.
- HopeTown on Polvo in the Valo system – Kiosk located at the spaceport.
- Neon Core on Volii Alpha in the Volii system – Storefront located right across from the elevator to the spaceport terminal. The vendor’s name is Kolman Long.
- New Atlantis on Jemison in the Alpha Centauri system – Kiosk located at the launch pad, right next to a Ship Services Technician.
- Paradiso on Porrima II in the Porrima system – Kiosk located within the spaceport, with a Ship Services Technician nearby.
- The Den star station orbiting around Chthonia in the Wolf system – Trade Authority stand, located to the left of the main hallway while you pass by a Ship Services Technician. The Den is also the best place to sell contraband.
- The Key star station orbiting around Suvorov in the Kryx system.
Expert Tip
While you must scan and land on most planets and rocks to fully retrieve all necessary data, a quick way to make extra credits is to scan gas giants throughout the Settled Systems. Since your character can’t physically come into contact with the gas giants, scanning can only accomplished by a distance. A quick scan will warrant the survey data, all without any additional labor on your end. From there, you can sell the survey data to any vendor of your choosing (except for Phill Hill).
How to Increase Survey Data Value
Don’t expect the full value to come into any trading transactions with the aforementioned vendors. From our experience, Vladimir Sall offered better deals, and this is without any skills to help us out with extra revenue. Of course, you can always pass the time and wait around for a while until their inventories are restocked, but this maybe a bit dull to commit to.
That’s why we turned to three particular skills that helped us with scanning, surveying, and trading when it comes to obtaining planetary data. The three you’ll need are Surveying, Scanning, and Commerce.
Surveying is a Science Skill under the Novice category, and it allows you to extend the capabilities of your scanner with additional zoom levels and scanning distance. Scanning is another Science Skill but it’s a part of the Advanced category; it ultimately brings out the best in your scanner whenever you’re studying planets. Commerce is a Social Skill under the Novice family, and it essentially helps improve vendor prices for your benefit.
We recommend attaining and leveling up Commerce as you continue to progress through Starfield. Everything is either too cheap or too expensive in the Settled Systems, so having an enormous intake of credits will always come in handy.
