Gems are the currency that upgrades your shop in Storage Hunters Open World. You pick them up from daily rewards, achievements, NPC quests around each zone, customer tips, and by buying them with Robux if you'd rather skip the grind. The Robux route works, but it isn't required. Most players build up a steady Gem stack just from playing normally.
The real question is where those Gems go once you have them. Some upgrades pay for themselves fast. Others sit there looking expensive until your shop can actually support them. Here's what each one costs and the order that gets you the best return.
What every shop upgrade costs in Gems
Each upgrade below has its own level track, and every level costs more Gems than the last. The numbers here are the level 1 price, so treat them as the entry fee, not the final cost.
| Upgrade | Base cost (Gems) | What it does per level | Unlocks at |
|---|---|---|---|
| Tip Jar | 5 | +2% chance customers leave a Gem tip | Available from the start |
| Inventory Space | 5 | +5 storage slots | Available from the start |
| Selling Space | 10 | +2 shelves in your shop | Available from the start |
| Advertising | 25 | 10% faster customer offers | $3,000 net worth |
| Price Tags | 45 | Customers start 5% closer to fair value | Available from the start |
| Trophy Capacity | Not public yet | +1 trophy display slot | $5,000 net worth |
| Storage Box Space | Not public yet | +1 storage box slot | $65,000 net worth |
| Plot Capacity | Not public yet | +100 item capacity on your plot | $100,000 net worth |
Three of these upgrades don't have a confirmed Gem price yet. What's clear is that they all sit behind a net worth wall, so you won't be able to touch them until your shop is already doing real business anyway.
Outside of this table, there's also a Shop Assistant hire for a flat 100 Gems. It's not a leveled upgrade like the others. It's a one-time purchase that lets an NPC sell items automatically while you're off doing auctions.
Which upgrades to buy first
- Tip Jar. It's cheap and it pays you back forever. A higher tip chance means more free Gems from every customer, so this is the one upgrade that keeps funding the rest of your shop.
- Price Tags. Also cheap, and it means every sale you make lands closer to what the item is actually worth. Less haggling, more profit per item.
- Shop Assistant (100 Gems). Once Tip Jar and Price Tags are a level or two in, save up for the assistant. It sells for you while you're out hunting auctions, so your shop keeps making money even when you're not looking at it.
- Advertising. Grab this once you cross $3,000 net worth. Faster offers mean your shelves clear quicker, which matters more once Selling Space and Inventory Space start filling up.
- Selling Space and Inventory Space. Keep leveling these alongside everything else. More shelves and more storage just mean you can hold and sell more at once, so they scale well with whatever else you're upgrading.
- Trophy Capacity, Storage Box Space, and Plot Capacity. Treat these as the finish line. They only unlock once your net worth hits $5,000, $65,000, and $100,000, so let spare Gems pile up for them instead of rushing.
If you're weighing this kind of buy-first question in other games too, the Grow a Garden 2 shop priority guide walks through the same idea for a different shop system. And if you'd rather skip earning Gems the slow way, the full Robux buying guide covers every legit way to get Robux first.
