Animal Crossing New Leaf Turnips: Joan's Schedule, Price Spikes & Selling Tips

Why the Stalk Market Still Matters in Animal Crossing: New Leaf

Stalk market fortunes are won and lost before lunch on Sunday. Animal Crossing New Leaf turnips are the game's only true investment mechanic: buy low from a wandering boar, sell high to the alpaca at Re-Tail, and hope the numbers cooperate. Nail it and you can fund an entire house expansion in a single week. Blow it and you're left holding a pocket full of rotting vegetables that attract flies.

That risk is exactly why Animal Crossing New Leaf turnips remain one of the most discussed systems in the game years after release. Unlike bug catching or fishing, turnips reward planning, record-keeping, and a little bit of nerve. This guide walks through the full loop — buying, tracking, selling, storing, and trading — so you stop guessing and start profiting.

If you want the broad strokes of how shops, town life, and daily routines fit together, Nintendo's official Animal Crossing: New Leaf page is a solid starting point before you dive into the spreadsheets.

How the Stalk Market Works in Animal Crossing: New Leaf

The core loop is simple. Joan, a boar who wanders your town, sells turnips on Sunday mornings. You carry those turnips to Re-Tail, where Reese buys them at a price that shifts twice every day. The gap between what you paid and what Reese offers is your entire profit margin.

Everything else — patterns, spikes, rot timers — exists to make that gap unpredictable.

Turnip basics at a glance

Two details trip up new players. First, Reese's price is per single turnip, so a bundle of 10 pays out ten times the number on the board. Second, the price you see before noon is gone forever at noon — there is no way to bank it.

Buying From Joan: Your Sunday Morning Routine

Joan does not stand still. She wanders the whole town, and on a bad morning you can spend ten minutes hunting for her. Start your sweep as soon as the clock rolls past 6:00 a.m., and check the plaza, the beach ramps, and the paths near the train station first.

She sells in multiples of 10 and won't haggle. The price she quotes is fixed for that morning, so there's no benefit to walking away and coming back. What you can control is preparation.

Sunday morning checklist

A practical budgeting rule many players use: never spend more than half your savings on a single week's haul. If a large spike never arrives, you still have Bells for tools, furniture, and public works projects.

Reading Re-Tail Prices: The Four Patterns

Reese updates her turnip price twice a day. Player experience and years of community tracking suggest each town rolls into one of four broad weekly patterns, and knowing which one you're in changes everything about when to sell.

The four price patterns

The numbers above reflect the ranges most commonly reported by players over the years. Your town rolls fresh values each week, so treat them as a compass rather than a map.

A few habits separate profitable players from frustrated ones:

• Check twice a day, every day. Morning and afternoon prices are separate rolls, and skipping one can mean missing the peak.
• Track your numbers in a note or spreadsheet. A written history makes it obvious whether you're climbing or sliding.
• Know your break-even point. If Joan charged you 100 Bells and Reese offers 140, you're up 40%. If she offers 80, you're down 20% and it will likely get worse.
• Don't chase a spike that already happened. Prices reset at noon; yesterday's 480 is not coming back.

Spoilage, Storage, and Time Travel Rules

Turnips rot. That single rule drives more anxiety than any other mechanic in the game, and it's worth understanding precisely.

Turnips spoil at 6:00 a.m. on the Sunday after you buy them — the moment Joan returns to town. Any turnips still in your possession at that point become rotten turnips, which sell for a pittance and can't be eaten.

Spoilage rules at a glance

That last row deserves emphasis. Player experience is split on whether stored turnips spoil at the same moment as carried ones, so the safest policy is simple: don't still own turnips on Sunday morning.

One silver lining for completionists — a rotten turnip left on the ground becomes a magnet for ants. If you're filling out your bug encyclopedia, that's one of the easiest ways to catch them.

Turnip Trading With Other Towns

Here's the part that turned turnips into a social event. Because every town rolls its own prices, a friend's Re-Tail might be paying triple what yours is. Visiting another town to sell became one of the defining multiplayer rituals of Animal Crossing: New Leaf.

Communities organized around this constantly. Forum threads, turnip-focused subreddits, and Tumblr blogs filled up with hosts posting their afternoon price and opening their gates to strangers. Some asked for a cut of the profits, some asked for rare furniture, and some just wanted visitors.

Turnip visit etiquette

If you're the host, post your price, set clear rules, and expect a crowd. If you're the visitor, arrive with empty pockets and a tip ready. The goodwill you build pays off the next time you need a 500-Bell buyer.

Frequently Asked Questions

When does Joan sell turnips in Animal Crossing: New Leaf?

Joan appears in your town every Sunday morning, generally between 6:00 a.m. and noon, and wanders around rather than standing in one spot. If you miss her, you wait a full week for the next opportunity.

How long do turnips last before they rot?

They spoil at 6:00 a.m. on the Sunday after you buy them. Time traveling backward rots them immediately, and jumping forward past Sunday does the same. Plan to sell within six days.

What's the highest turnip price you can get?

Community trackers report large spikes that can climb past 500 Bells per turnip and occasionally approach 600. Most weeks you'll see far less, which is why checking twice a day matters so much.

Where do I sell turnips, and can I use a different shop?

Reese at Re-Tail is the only buyer. She pays a different price before noon and after noon, and she won't accept turnips once they've rotted — those are worth only a token amount.

What should I do with rotten turnips?

Drop one on the ground outside and it will attract ants, which is handy for bug collectors. Otherwise, sell the rest for whatever Reese offers and clear the space for next week's haul.