Write down the basket before comparing worlds
Begin with the item, quantity and quality you actually need. Open the Market Explorer to inspect listings and sales, or carry a finished batch from the Crafting Planner. Keep normal-quality and high-quality requirements explicit; a cheaper listing is irrelevant if it cannot serve the intended craft or finished-item requirement.
Choose your home world as a baseline. Record the observation age with the basket so that you can distinguish a convenient current comparison from an old shopping idea.
Compare the amount you must pay
Imagine you need 12 units of a material. These hypothetical listings illustrate why the smallest unit price does not always mean the smallest purchase:
| Listing | Listed unit price | Stack total | Surplus after using 12 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 99 units | 90 Gil | 8,910 Gil | 87 units |
| 12 units | 120 Gil | 1,440 Gil | 0 units |
| 20 units | 100 Gil | 2,000 Gil | 8 units |
Compare the full stack amounts, then confirm the final purchase quote and any additional charges in game. The 99-unit listing has the lowest unit price but commits far more Gil. If you expect to reuse the surplus, note that as a separate reason to buy it. Do not subtract a hypothetical resale from today's cash requirement.
Compare the whole trip
Repeat the calculation for every ingredient. A world with the cheapest ore may have expensive shards or no useful listing for an intermediate. Group purchases by world and compare the total basket with a home-world-only option.
Set a personal travel threshold. If a second stop saves 300 Gil on this example basket, decide whether that saving is worth your time. This is a convenience decision, not a rule that every cross-world purchase must beat.
Confirm you can visit and buy
The official World Visit guide explains travel within a logical data center. Purchases are available while visiting, but retainer access is restricted, and congestion can prevent a destination from being selectable. Check those conditions before relying on a shopping route.
Collect materials you need from retainers before departure. Keep your home-world baseline so you can fall back to it if the travel or listings change. A Nexus comparison does not reserve another player's listing.
Recheck the basket at the board
Verify item identity, quality, stack size and final cost before each purchase. If one key listing disappears, compare the remaining whole basket again rather than continuing with a plan whose main saving has vanished.
After shopping, record actual spending separately from the earlier estimate. For a crafting project, return to the material list and check what remains to obtain before synthesis. Continue with shared ingredients and recipe batches.
Sources and related reference
Illustrative shopping comparison. Confirm listing availability, quality and the purchase total in game; World Visit access can change.