How To Make Money In GTA Online [Need Help To Proof Read]
Mar 12, 2018 17:15:01 GMT
Daleks (@darkalex45), Bdogs, and 4 more like this
Post by Broughy1322 on Mar 12, 2018 17:15:01 GMT
Hi everyone. After the success of my original article for PCGamer talking about the fastest cars in GTA (which I've recently updated: www.pcgamer.com/the-fastest-cars-in-gta-online/) I was asked a few days ago to write another article for them about making money in GTA Online. This is something I've learned a lot more about over the past few months and I've done some extra research on the topic too, but I wanted to post it here first for you guys to go over first. Let me know if there's anything I have wrong, anything I've missed, anything you think shouldn't be here, and just any suggestions you have for improvements. Let me know what you think in general too XD
Thanks for the help!
Thanks for the help!
Since its release the cost and amount of vehicles, weapons, clothes, and other things to buy in GTA Online has increased substantially. But so too has the amount of money that can be made. Whether these two factors have increased at the same rate is a discussion for another time, so this article sets out to collect together all the best ways of making money (legitimately) in GTA Online to hopefully help players get a grasp on what can sometimes be a quite complicated and clumsy topic.
There are plenty of ways to make money in the game that are not listed here, such as racing, deathmatches, missions, and various other game modes. But the amount you get for the time invested has not scaled up since 2013, so comparatively they are very inefficient. New players may find them useful to get started and ultimately as long as you're enjoying what you're playing the acquisition of money will come naturally, however this article will focus on a variety of the most efficient ways to make as much money as possible.
It should be noted that all of this is simply to make money. Feel free to mix things up and do what you enjoy the most. Even though the most money will be gained by having a Gunrunning Bunker and/or Cocaine Business working in the background whilst you grind Vehicle Cargo and VIP Work (if you're playing solo) or the Pacific Standard Heist (if you have a competent group), doing the same thing over and over again can get boring. The absolute maximum you’ll ever be able to earn with full on grinding is only around 500k per hour anyway, and whilst that may sound a lot, it would still take you over 600 hours of pure grinding at that level to be able to just buy all the vehicles you possibly could in the game (as shown here: youtu.be/z7fNNNmgh24).
As soon as it becomes a chore to acquire wealth where it feels closer to a job than a game, or you're not enjoying the fruits of your labour as much any more, it may be time to look to other games for enjoyment. This is meant to be a game after all. That being said, below lists the best ways to make money in modern day GTA Online.
Heists
Potential Profit: $400k per hour
Prerequisites: High-End Apartment (Min Cost: $200k) & 3 Friends
Method: Walk to the heist planning room in your high-end apartment and select your chosen heist to start. You will need to pay an up front cost to start the heist as host. Invite your three friends and work through the set up missions and finale. It is recommended to have a good group of four people to do this as communication and skill is required to reduce the time taken, and there are numerous guides online for each mission.
Tip: The Pacific Standard Heist on Hard mode will yield the most profit per hour than any other money making method in the game when done effectively with a competent group of players. The host of any heist doesn’t make any money during setup missions and has to spend money to start each, so it’s a good idea for the host to take 40% of the final heist earnings with other players taking 20% each so that all four players will earn approximately the same overall.
Doomsday Heists
Potential Profit: $300k per hour
Prerequisites: Facility (Min Cost: $1.25 mil) & 1-3 Friends
Method: Walk to the heist planning room in your facility and select your chosen heist act to start. You will need to pay an up front cost to start the heist as host. Invite either one, two, or three friends and work through the prep missions, set up missions and finale. It is recommended to have a good group of people to do this as communication and skill is required to reduce the time taken, and there are numerous guides online for each mission.
Tip: Completing these heists with two players rather than four will naturally mean more money per player as the overall payout remains the same, but of course the missions will be slightly more difficult and potentially more time consuming with less players. The host of any heist doesn’t make any money during setup missions and has to spend money to start each, so it’s a good idea for the host to take 40% (4 players) / 50% (3 players) / 60% (2 players) of the final heist earnings with other players taking an equal share of what remains so that all players will earn approximately the same overall. Paying to skip prep missions is almost always never worth it from a monetary or time perspective.
Special Cargo
Potential Profit: $200k per hour
Prerequisites: Office (Min Cost: $1 mil), Warehouse (Min Cost: $250k) & Organisation Member (CEO)
Method: Start an organisation as a CEO from the SecuroServ option in the interaction menu. Walk to the computer in your office and select "Special Cargo", then "Buy" on the amount of crates you desire. You will need to complete a mission to deliver the crates to your warehouse. You can only carry one crate at a time but you can go back and forth to collect them. You can then use the laptop in the warehouse to sell your collected crates via a delivery mission to turn a profit.
Tip: Buying more crates at once is more time effective especially if you have friends to help you collect them and deliver to your warehouse. The more crates you sell at once the more money you'll make per crate, hence a full large warehouse is the best to build up and sell. However large warehouses cost more to purchase and selling 111 crates at once is a larger risk as you'll either gain 2.2 million or lose everything.
Vehicle Cargo
Potential Profit: $300k per hour
Prerequisites: Office (Min Cost: $1 mil), Vehicle Warehouse (Minimum Cost: $1.5 mil) & Organisation Member (CEO)
Method: Start an organisation as a CEO from the SecuroServ option in the interaction menu. Walk to the computer in your office and select "Vehicle Cargo", then "Source Vehicle". You will need to complete a mission to steal a vehicle and drive it back to your vehicle warehouse. Be careful when driving it back as damage will result in repair costs, impacting on profit. You can then use the laptop in the vehicle warehouse to export the vehicle you sourced via a delivery mission to turn a profit.
Tip: Repeat sourcing missions until you fill up your vehicle warehouse with 10 standard range and 10 mid range vehicles with no duplicates. At that point every source mission will give you a top range vehicle until you get all 12 of those. Only export top range vehicles and sell as many vehicles at once as you can if you have friends to help to maximise profit per hour.
Air Freight Cargo
Potential Profit: $150k per hour
Prerequisites: Hangar (Minimum Cost: $1.2 mil) & Organisation Member (VIP/CEO)
Method: Start an organisation as a VIP or CEO from the SecuroServ option in the interaction menu. Walk to the computer in your hangar and select "Source", then the type of cargo you want to source. You will need to complete a mission to deliver the cargo to your hangar. You can then use the laptop in the hangar to sell your collected cargo via a delivery mission to turn a profit.
Tip: Stick to sourcing only one type of cargo, and make it either narcotics, chemicals, or medical supplies. You get a 35% bonus for selling 25 crates of these types, and a 75% bonus for selling all 50 crates. Selling a full hangar will require friends to help you, and in general sourcing cargo with friends is much more time effective.
Gunrunning
Potential Profit: $80k per hour passively (whilst doing other things)
Prerequisites: Bunker (Min Cost: $1.2 mil) & Organisation Member (VIP/CEO)
Method: Start an organisation as a VIP or CEO from the SecuroServ option in the interaction menu. Walk to the laptop in your bunker and select "Resupply", then "Steal Supplies" or "Buy Supplies". You will need to complete a mission to deliver the supplies to your bunker if you choose that option, or they can be delivered without any effort if you buy them. Once you have supplies your staff will begin manufacturing, turning them into stock when you're doing most other things in the game. You can then use the laptop in the bunker to sell your stock via a delivery mission to turn a profit.
Tip: Buying supplies is more time effective, as is setting your staff to only manufacturing and buying the equipment/staff upgrades. This is passive income so you should have this running in the background whilst you make active income from other methods listed. There is no monetary bonus for selling a full bunker and doing so will require friends if there are multiple vehicles to be used for the sell mission.
Motorcycle Club
Potential Profit: $80k per hour passively (whilst doing other things)
Prerequisites: Clubhouse (Min Cost: $200k), Business (Min Cost: $650k) & Motorcycle Club President
Method: Start a Motorcycle Club as President from the respective option in the interaction menu. Walk to the laptop in your business building and select "Resupply", then "Steal Supplies" or "Buy Supplies". You will need to complete a mission to deliver the supplies to your business if you choose that option, or they can be delivered without any effort if you buy them. Once you have supplies your staff will begin production, turning them into stock when you're doing most other things in the game. You can then use the laptop in the business building to sell your stock via a delivery mission to turn a profit.
Tip: Cocaine production is the most profitable (on par with the gunrunning bunker), with the cheapest cocaine business costing $975k to buy, although sell missions often take longer to complete. Buying supplies is more time effective. This is passive income so you should have this running in the background whilst you make active income from other methods listed. There is no monetary bonus for selling full stock and doing so will require friends if there are multiple vehicles to be used for the sell mission.
VIP Work
Potential Profit: $150k per hour
Prerequisites: Organisation Member (VIP/CEO)
Method: Start an organisation as a VIP or CEO from the SecuroServ option in the interaction menu. Open up the interaction menu and select "VIP Work", then the mission you want to do. You will need to complete a mission in free roam and will be rewarded with money upon successful completion.
Tip: These missions are a great way to earn some money whilst waiting for cooldown timers to expire, such as if you're waiting to source another vehicle for your warehouse, as they are completed fairly quickly and pay relatively well. They aren't a replacement for other money making methods though as their payout isn't as high, but are good as filler jobs. Headhunter, Hostile Takeover and Sighseer are notable good missions to do.
Premium Races
Potential Profit: $80k per race
Prerequisites: A Fast Car/Bike, Good Racing Ability
Method: Either drive to the location of the premium race corona, which is a golden stunt wheel on the map, or hover over it and start the job from the map. When the lobby has filled with 8 other players you'll have $20k taken from your bank account and you must finish 3rd or above to make a return on that investment, with the winner of the race receiving $100k, 2nd place taking home $30k, and 3rd place getting their entry fee of $20k back.
Tip: Premium races change every week and are a gamble, as it can take time to fill up a lobby and there is no guarantee you'll make money. However if you're proficient at racing, have practised and know well the stunt race on offer that week, and have a good car (if you don't already know beforehand which car to use then you're not ready for the premium race), this can be quite lucrative.
Time Trials
Potential Profit: $50k per time trial
Prerequisites: A Fast Car/Bike
Method: Drive to the location of the time trial corona, which is a purple stopwatch icon on the map. Start the time trail when you feel ready and attempt to get to the end point in a quicker time than the listed par time. There are no checkpoints in between so you can take whatever route you like, and there are numerous guides online for each trial. You'll be rewarded with around $50k for successful completion.
Tip: Time trails change every week and you can only gain the reward for completing them once per week. You do have an unlimited number of tries to beat the par time and can respawn back at the start, but of course the longer it takes the less money you effectively make per hour from this method. In general, pulling wheelies on a fast bike will get you to your destination in the quickest way possible.
Daily Objectives
Potential Profit: $1.6 mil per 28 days
Prerequisites: Rank 15
Method: Open up the interaction menu and select "Daily Objectives". This will display the three objectives you'll need to complete on that day. Simply complete each task and you'll be rewarded with $25k upon successful completion. Some tasks may be more difficult to complete than others and require the use of friends to get done easily.
Tip: This is one of the easiest ways to earn money but only if you keep at it every day, as there are significant bonuses for 7 and 28 consecutive days of objectives completed. Completing daily objectives for 7 days in a row will earn a bonus of $100k, with 28 days in a row netting an extra $500k. The total amount of money you would make by completing all daily objectives for 28 days in a row would be $1.6 million (28x25k + 4x100k + 500k).
Double Money Events
One final bit of advice is to take advantage of double money events. Almost every week Rockstar will change what you can do to earn double money. Sometimes it will be on races or adversary modes that, even with double money, won't be as efficient as the above methods. However sometimes some of the above methods may have a double money week, such as Gunrunning Bunker or Vehicle Cargo sales. The more options you have open to you, the more you can take advantage of these double money events if they happen to be for something lucrative. And if there's ever double money on Heists (which is very rare) absolutely do some grinding during that week.
Other Resources
GTA Online Reddit Mega Guide: www.reddit.com/r/gtaonline/comments/7ohgg5/the_gta_online_mega_guide/ - a great resource for those who want to make the absolute most out of their money making and general gameplay. A lot of extra information.
GTA Series Videos Time Trials Guides: www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLQ3KzJPBsAHkhpXdAUaCIjsjDlxCbGiV5 - shows the way to beat each time trial in GTA online for easy money each week. Also has guides for premium races.
Broughy1322 Car Testing: www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLx_tHjuVuROCv7VtfMkQs7TvJaMdGITxB - the best vehicles to use for racing to help get those permium race wins.
Making 500k Per Hour Solo: www.reddit.com/r/gtaonline/comments/5i7z86/import_export_and_ceo_faq_and_notes/dbrpy4u/ - add the Gunrunning Bunker working in the background to this method for the best way to earn money as a solo player.
There are plenty of ways to make money in the game that are not listed here, such as racing, deathmatches, missions, and various other game modes. But the amount you get for the time invested has not scaled up since 2013, so comparatively they are very inefficient. New players may find them useful to get started and ultimately as long as you're enjoying what you're playing the acquisition of money will come naturally, however this article will focus on a variety of the most efficient ways to make as much money as possible.
It should be noted that all of this is simply to make money. Feel free to mix things up and do what you enjoy the most. Even though the most money will be gained by having a Gunrunning Bunker and/or Cocaine Business working in the background whilst you grind Vehicle Cargo and VIP Work (if you're playing solo) or the Pacific Standard Heist (if you have a competent group), doing the same thing over and over again can get boring. The absolute maximum you’ll ever be able to earn with full on grinding is only around 500k per hour anyway, and whilst that may sound a lot, it would still take you over 600 hours of pure grinding at that level to be able to just buy all the vehicles you possibly could in the game (as shown here: youtu.be/z7fNNNmgh24).
As soon as it becomes a chore to acquire wealth where it feels closer to a job than a game, or you're not enjoying the fruits of your labour as much any more, it may be time to look to other games for enjoyment. This is meant to be a game after all. That being said, below lists the best ways to make money in modern day GTA Online.
Heists
Potential Profit: $400k per hour
Prerequisites: High-End Apartment (Min Cost: $200k) & 3 Friends
Method: Walk to the heist planning room in your high-end apartment and select your chosen heist to start. You will need to pay an up front cost to start the heist as host. Invite your three friends and work through the set up missions and finale. It is recommended to have a good group of four people to do this as communication and skill is required to reduce the time taken, and there are numerous guides online for each mission.
Tip: The Pacific Standard Heist on Hard mode will yield the most profit per hour than any other money making method in the game when done effectively with a competent group of players. The host of any heist doesn’t make any money during setup missions and has to spend money to start each, so it’s a good idea for the host to take 40% of the final heist earnings with other players taking 20% each so that all four players will earn approximately the same overall.
Doomsday Heists
Potential Profit: $300k per hour
Prerequisites: Facility (Min Cost: $1.25 mil) & 1-3 Friends
Method: Walk to the heist planning room in your facility and select your chosen heist act to start. You will need to pay an up front cost to start the heist as host. Invite either one, two, or three friends and work through the prep missions, set up missions and finale. It is recommended to have a good group of people to do this as communication and skill is required to reduce the time taken, and there are numerous guides online for each mission.
Tip: Completing these heists with two players rather than four will naturally mean more money per player as the overall payout remains the same, but of course the missions will be slightly more difficult and potentially more time consuming with less players. The host of any heist doesn’t make any money during setup missions and has to spend money to start each, so it’s a good idea for the host to take 40% (4 players) / 50% (3 players) / 60% (2 players) of the final heist earnings with other players taking an equal share of what remains so that all players will earn approximately the same overall. Paying to skip prep missions is almost always never worth it from a monetary or time perspective.
Special Cargo
Potential Profit: $200k per hour
Prerequisites: Office (Min Cost: $1 mil), Warehouse (Min Cost: $250k) & Organisation Member (CEO)
Method: Start an organisation as a CEO from the SecuroServ option in the interaction menu. Walk to the computer in your office and select "Special Cargo", then "Buy" on the amount of crates you desire. You will need to complete a mission to deliver the crates to your warehouse. You can only carry one crate at a time but you can go back and forth to collect them. You can then use the laptop in the warehouse to sell your collected crates via a delivery mission to turn a profit.
Tip: Buying more crates at once is more time effective especially if you have friends to help you collect them and deliver to your warehouse. The more crates you sell at once the more money you'll make per crate, hence a full large warehouse is the best to build up and sell. However large warehouses cost more to purchase and selling 111 crates at once is a larger risk as you'll either gain 2.2 million or lose everything.
Vehicle Cargo
Potential Profit: $300k per hour
Prerequisites: Office (Min Cost: $1 mil), Vehicle Warehouse (Minimum Cost: $1.5 mil) & Organisation Member (CEO)
Method: Start an organisation as a CEO from the SecuroServ option in the interaction menu. Walk to the computer in your office and select "Vehicle Cargo", then "Source Vehicle". You will need to complete a mission to steal a vehicle and drive it back to your vehicle warehouse. Be careful when driving it back as damage will result in repair costs, impacting on profit. You can then use the laptop in the vehicle warehouse to export the vehicle you sourced via a delivery mission to turn a profit.
Tip: Repeat sourcing missions until you fill up your vehicle warehouse with 10 standard range and 10 mid range vehicles with no duplicates. At that point every source mission will give you a top range vehicle until you get all 12 of those. Only export top range vehicles and sell as many vehicles at once as you can if you have friends to help to maximise profit per hour.
Air Freight Cargo
Potential Profit: $150k per hour
Prerequisites: Hangar (Minimum Cost: $1.2 mil) & Organisation Member (VIP/CEO)
Method: Start an organisation as a VIP or CEO from the SecuroServ option in the interaction menu. Walk to the computer in your hangar and select "Source", then the type of cargo you want to source. You will need to complete a mission to deliver the cargo to your hangar. You can then use the laptop in the hangar to sell your collected cargo via a delivery mission to turn a profit.
Tip: Stick to sourcing only one type of cargo, and make it either narcotics, chemicals, or medical supplies. You get a 35% bonus for selling 25 crates of these types, and a 75% bonus for selling all 50 crates. Selling a full hangar will require friends to help you, and in general sourcing cargo with friends is much more time effective.
Gunrunning
Potential Profit: $80k per hour passively (whilst doing other things)
Prerequisites: Bunker (Min Cost: $1.2 mil) & Organisation Member (VIP/CEO)
Method: Start an organisation as a VIP or CEO from the SecuroServ option in the interaction menu. Walk to the laptop in your bunker and select "Resupply", then "Steal Supplies" or "Buy Supplies". You will need to complete a mission to deliver the supplies to your bunker if you choose that option, or they can be delivered without any effort if you buy them. Once you have supplies your staff will begin manufacturing, turning them into stock when you're doing most other things in the game. You can then use the laptop in the bunker to sell your stock via a delivery mission to turn a profit.
Tip: Buying supplies is more time effective, as is setting your staff to only manufacturing and buying the equipment/staff upgrades. This is passive income so you should have this running in the background whilst you make active income from other methods listed. There is no monetary bonus for selling a full bunker and doing so will require friends if there are multiple vehicles to be used for the sell mission.
Motorcycle Club
Potential Profit: $80k per hour passively (whilst doing other things)
Prerequisites: Clubhouse (Min Cost: $200k), Business (Min Cost: $650k) & Motorcycle Club President
Method: Start a Motorcycle Club as President from the respective option in the interaction menu. Walk to the laptop in your business building and select "Resupply", then "Steal Supplies" or "Buy Supplies". You will need to complete a mission to deliver the supplies to your business if you choose that option, or they can be delivered without any effort if you buy them. Once you have supplies your staff will begin production, turning them into stock when you're doing most other things in the game. You can then use the laptop in the business building to sell your stock via a delivery mission to turn a profit.
Tip: Cocaine production is the most profitable (on par with the gunrunning bunker), with the cheapest cocaine business costing $975k to buy, although sell missions often take longer to complete. Buying supplies is more time effective. This is passive income so you should have this running in the background whilst you make active income from other methods listed. There is no monetary bonus for selling full stock and doing so will require friends if there are multiple vehicles to be used for the sell mission.
VIP Work
Potential Profit: $150k per hour
Prerequisites: Organisation Member (VIP/CEO)
Method: Start an organisation as a VIP or CEO from the SecuroServ option in the interaction menu. Open up the interaction menu and select "VIP Work", then the mission you want to do. You will need to complete a mission in free roam and will be rewarded with money upon successful completion.
Tip: These missions are a great way to earn some money whilst waiting for cooldown timers to expire, such as if you're waiting to source another vehicle for your warehouse, as they are completed fairly quickly and pay relatively well. They aren't a replacement for other money making methods though as their payout isn't as high, but are good as filler jobs. Headhunter, Hostile Takeover and Sighseer are notable good missions to do.
Premium Races
Potential Profit: $80k per race
Prerequisites: A Fast Car/Bike, Good Racing Ability
Method: Either drive to the location of the premium race corona, which is a golden stunt wheel on the map, or hover over it and start the job from the map. When the lobby has filled with 8 other players you'll have $20k taken from your bank account and you must finish 3rd or above to make a return on that investment, with the winner of the race receiving $100k, 2nd place taking home $30k, and 3rd place getting their entry fee of $20k back.
Tip: Premium races change every week and are a gamble, as it can take time to fill up a lobby and there is no guarantee you'll make money. However if you're proficient at racing, have practised and know well the stunt race on offer that week, and have a good car (if you don't already know beforehand which car to use then you're not ready for the premium race), this can be quite lucrative.
Time Trials
Potential Profit: $50k per time trial
Prerequisites: A Fast Car/Bike
Method: Drive to the location of the time trial corona, which is a purple stopwatch icon on the map. Start the time trail when you feel ready and attempt to get to the end point in a quicker time than the listed par time. There are no checkpoints in between so you can take whatever route you like, and there are numerous guides online for each trial. You'll be rewarded with around $50k for successful completion.
Tip: Time trails change every week and you can only gain the reward for completing them once per week. You do have an unlimited number of tries to beat the par time and can respawn back at the start, but of course the longer it takes the less money you effectively make per hour from this method. In general, pulling wheelies on a fast bike will get you to your destination in the quickest way possible.
Daily Objectives
Potential Profit: $1.6 mil per 28 days
Prerequisites: Rank 15
Method: Open up the interaction menu and select "Daily Objectives". This will display the three objectives you'll need to complete on that day. Simply complete each task and you'll be rewarded with $25k upon successful completion. Some tasks may be more difficult to complete than others and require the use of friends to get done easily.
Tip: This is one of the easiest ways to earn money but only if you keep at it every day, as there are significant bonuses for 7 and 28 consecutive days of objectives completed. Completing daily objectives for 7 days in a row will earn a bonus of $100k, with 28 days in a row netting an extra $500k. The total amount of money you would make by completing all daily objectives for 28 days in a row would be $1.6 million (28x25k + 4x100k + 500k).
Double Money Events
One final bit of advice is to take advantage of double money events. Almost every week Rockstar will change what you can do to earn double money. Sometimes it will be on races or adversary modes that, even with double money, won't be as efficient as the above methods. However sometimes some of the above methods may have a double money week, such as Gunrunning Bunker or Vehicle Cargo sales. The more options you have open to you, the more you can take advantage of these double money events if they happen to be for something lucrative. And if there's ever double money on Heists (which is very rare) absolutely do some grinding during that week.
Other Resources
GTA Online Reddit Mega Guide: www.reddit.com/r/gtaonline/comments/7ohgg5/the_gta_online_mega_guide/ - a great resource for those who want to make the absolute most out of their money making and general gameplay. A lot of extra information.
GTA Series Videos Time Trials Guides: www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLQ3KzJPBsAHkhpXdAUaCIjsjDlxCbGiV5 - shows the way to beat each time trial in GTA online for easy money each week. Also has guides for premium races.
Broughy1322 Car Testing: www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLx_tHjuVuROCv7VtfMkQs7TvJaMdGITxB - the best vehicles to use for racing to help get those permium race wins.
Making 500k Per Hour Solo: www.reddit.com/r/gtaonline/comments/5i7z86/import_export_and_ceo_faq_and_notes/dbrpy4u/ - add the Gunrunning Bunker working in the background to this method for the best way to earn money as a solo player.
