In The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion, you can sell items at most shops by talking to the shopkeeper, choosing the Barter option, then selling from your inventory on the right side of the screen.

Main places to sell items

Here’s a quick breakdown of where to sell different kinds of loot early on:

  • Imperial City – Market District
    • This is the easiest “hub” for selling almost everything. Many players fast-travel here whenever their inventory is full.
    • Notable spots:
      • The Copious Coinpurse – a general store that will buy almost any non‑stolen item (weapons, armor, misc loot, etc.).
      • Fighting Chance – buys and sells weapons and armor.
      • The Gilded Carafe – focuses on alchemy ingredients, potions, and alchemy gear.
      • Divine Elegance – higher‑end clothing and jewelry.
    • General stores are your best friend early on since they’ll take most of your random dungeon loot.
  • Other city shops (by type)
    • Weapon/armor shops (e.g., Fire and Steel in Chorrol, Hammer and Tongs in Skingrad) buy weapons and armor and often have decent gold caps.
    • Alchemy shops buy ingredients, potions, and alchemy gear.
    • Bookstores / specialized shops usually only buy items related to their trade.

How selling actually works

  • Open dialogue with a merchant and choose “Barter.”
  • Your inventory appears on the right, merchant’s on the left.
  • Click an item in your inventory, confirm the sale, and you get gold.
  • You can haggle (slider at the bottom) to raise the price you get, depending on your Mercantile skill and your relationship with that merchant.
  • Each merchant has a gold cap :
    • That’s the maximum gold they can pay for a single item.
    • If your item is worth more than their cap, you still only get up to that cap per sale.

Best merchants and gold caps (simplified)

Below is a simple overview of some good merchants by type and why they’re useful:

Merchant / Shop Location What they buy Why they’re good
Thoronir – The Copious Coinpurse Imperial City, Market District Almost any non‑stolen item Easy early‑game “dump everything” spot for basic loot.
Rohssan – A Fighting Chance Imperial City, Market District Weapons and armor Great for selling gear from bandits and ruins.
Palonirya – Divine Elegance Imperial City, Market District Clothing, jewelry Good for fancy loot and enchanted apparel.
Alchemists (e.g., The Gilded Carafe) Imperial City + other cities Ingredients, potions, alchemy items Sell your flower/plant haul and extra potions.
Blacksmiths (e.g., Fire and Steel, Hammer and Tongs) Chorrol, Skingrad, etc. Weapons and armor Backup sellers if you’re not near the Imperial City.

Selling stolen items

  • Regular merchants will not buy items marked with the red “stolen” hand.
  • To sell stolen gear, you need to:
    1. Join the Thieves Guild.
    2. Unlock access to fences (special Thieves Guild merchants).
    3. Sell stolen goods to these fences instead of normal shopkeepers.
  • As you progress in the Thieves Guild questline, you unlock more fences with higher amounts of gold to handle expensive stolen items.

Progression tip: Mercantile 50+

  • When your Mercantile skill reaches 50, you can sell any item type to any merchant , regardless of what they normally trade in.
  • Their prices don’t magically become incredible, but you’re no longer limited by item category—only by their gold cap.
  • This makes it much easier to clean out your inventory in one or two shops instead of running all over Cyrodiil.

Simple early‑game loop

If you just want a quick, efficient routine:

  1. Fast travel to Imperial City – Market District when your inventory is full.
  2. Hit The Copious Coinpurse to dump general loot.
  3. Go to Fighting Chance for extra weapons/armor that won’t fit the merchant’s gold.
  4. Drop ingredients and potions at The Gilded Carafe if you hoard alchemy stuff.
  5. Later, join the Thieves Guild and use fences for anything marked stolen.

TL;DR:
Fast‑travel to the Imperial City Market District , sell general loot at The Copious Coinpurse , weapons/armor at Fighting Chance , alchemy stuff at an alchemist, and use Thieves Guild fences for stolen items once you unlock them. Information gathered from public forums or data available on the internet and portrayed here.