Access to the underground market runs on advanced licences, and a trading permit has typically cost around 1,500 credits in playtest-era observations. Buy those licences only out of money beyond your rent reserve, and put a gray-market lot through a five-point affordability test before you pay for it.
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Probably Stolen underground market: how access works
The Black Market hands out the underground licences that grant access to the market and its exclusive deals. Named underground elements include Sawyer and the Underground Exchange Directive. The live licence menu is the authority on what exists and what it costs — buy from surplus only, and postpone anything that would put rent at risk.
The Fence is the starting profession explicitly tied to contraband, and other occupations such as organ dealing unlock later through licences and machinery.
Licences are bought from surplus
Pay rent first.
And keep the reserve intact.
Buy the permit from money beyond that reserve.
Never from the rent money.
Remember the inspection risk.
Weapons attract inspections even when the seller is licensed, and displaying unlicensed weapons is especially dangerous.
Treat underground income as a reserve accelerator.
It is never a substitute for rent-paying inventory.
The Fence guide covers whether the contraband start survives its own ruin type, and what a raid actually costs.
The five-point test before a gray purchase
A gray-market purchase is only sound when all five hold:
Rent survives a worst-case confiscation.
The lot can be inspected before it is paid for.
Secure storage exists for it.
A Security bribe is affordable.
No prior raid condition is still active.
Bribery is an explicit mechanic, so budget it the way you budget machine power — failing to afford one ends in confiscation.
Keep stolen goods concealed
Put legal merchandise in the display case before opening.
Move contraband into the smuggler bay before opening.
Do it if Security could inspect.
Authenticate lots before hiding them.
Keep hot merchandise off the exterior counter overnight.
The smuggler bay is the documented hiding place, and the shop inventory page maps it against the other surfaces. Joe Wild's insurance covers burglary but not a contraband raid, so do not treat the two risks as interchangeable.
Reputation cuts both ways
Black Market reputation is a real meter that opens exclusive opportunities and raises danger at the same time, with documented extra handling at −40. Security responds positively to snitches and inspections, and your standing shifts with every approve, reject, report or ignore choice.
Keep the two populations distinct: Augs are not contraband. A confirmed hostile host is under a shoot-on-sight policy, but an uncertain one should be completed or refused rather than shot, because that damages customer relationships.
Scavenged modules should not be assumed to be legitimate underground stock.