TL;DR
- You start with 50 inventory slots — expand by getting Small, Medium, or Large Bags
- Small Bags cost 50 Copper from vendors and give +1 slot each
- Medium Bags give +3 slots and come from completing Faction Quests and Commissions
- Large Bags give +5 slots and are earned through specific story milestones
- There are no storage chests at launch — use the merchant Repurchase trick to store items temporarily
- Vendors only hold repurchased items for around 7 in-game days before they disappear permanently
- Pearl Abyss has confirmed storage furniture is coming in a future patch
Inventory fills up fast in Crimson Desert. Every weapon, piece of armor, crafting material, recipe scroll, bounty notice, and tool takes up a slot. Before long you are making constant trips back to vendors just to clear space so you can keep exploring. The good news is there are reliable ways to expand your slots, and once you know what to prioritize, the inventory pressure gets much easier to manage.
This guide covers every method to increase your inventory, how the bag system works, the merchant storage trick, and what to sell versus keep.
How Inventory Works in Crimson Desert
Crimson Desert uses a slot-based system, not a weight limit. This means you never have to worry about how heavy something is — you just have a set number of slots and every item takes up one of them.
The good news is that stackable items like food, crafting materials, ammo, and consumables all stack up to 50 of the same item in a single slot. So 50 Iron Ore takes up one slot, not fifty. Weapons and armor each take one slot individually, no matter how large or heavy they are.
You start the game with 50 inventory slots. That sounds like a lot but it fills up quickly, especially once you start collecting herbs, ores, fish, recipes, gear drops, and quest items all at the same time.
The only way to permanently add more slots is by obtaining Inventory Bags.
The Three Types of Inventory Bags
Inventory bags come in three sizes. Small Bags give +1 slot, Medium Bags give +3 slots, and Large Bags give +5 slots. Each bag is applied automatically the moment you receive it. There is no equipping or activation required — your slot count just goes up instantly.
Method 1 — Buy Small Bags from Vendors
The fastest way to increase inventory slots in Crimson Desert is by purchasing Small Bags from certain vendor NPCs. A Small Bag costs only 50 Copper and each one automatically adds +1 inventory slot.
Make sure to never skip any shop you find. There is a high probability the vendor has a Small Bag on sale, which can make the early game way more enjoyable by reducing the number of your trips to vendors to sell excess items.
Vendors are found in every major town and are marked by the “?” icon under the Environment tab on your map. Check every vendor you come across. Small Bags are limited per vendor but they restock over time, so it is worth revisiting merchants as you progress.
Note: Small Bags were not available from merchants until a later patch, so make sure your game is fully updated before checking vendor inventories.
Method 2 — Complete Faction Quests and Commissions
The primary way to permanently increase your carrying capacity is by obtaining Medium Bags, which cannot be purchased and must be earned by completing certain Faction Quests and Commissions.
Commissions are the side quests listed under Journal > Faction Quests in your menu. They cover simple tasks like mining ore, chopping timber, cooking food, delivering items, and helping townspeople. Each one takes only a few minutes and many of them reward a Medium Bag for +3 slots.
Every Medium Bag you earn from a quest is worth three vendor purchases, so knock out the available Commissions in each new area before diving into open exploration.
To check which quests reward bags before accepting them: open your Journal, go to Faction Quests, hover over any quest, and look at the reward listed on the right side. If it shows a Medium Bag as a reward, prioritize it.
The Hernand Commissions are the richest source of Medium Bags in the early game. You should already have a couple from the starting requests. Renee’s Request for example rewards a Medium Bag. Our guide on how to complete Renee’s Request in Crimson Desert covers that quest in full if you have not done it yet.
Method 3 — Greymane Camp Commissions
You can greatly increase your inventory slots by helping your fellow Greymanes. You must first establish your Greymane camp at Howling Hill, which happens during Chapter 3. Your comrade Marius will then ask you to search for other Greymane survivors, who will move to your camp. These recruits may have requests covering bringing them items, materials, and relaying messages. There are 27 of these in total, which means you could potentially earn up to +81 inventory slots from them alone.
These quests are found under Journal > Faction Quests > Greymane > Greymane Commissions. They are not available immediately but become one of the biggest sources of inventory expansion once Chapter 3 opens up.
Method 4 — Large Bags from Story Milestones
Large Bags that grant +5 inventory slots are obtained by reaching specific moments in the main campaign. These are automatic rewards tied to story progress, so you will earn them naturally as long as you keep pushing the main quest forward. You do not need to seek them out specifically.
There Are No Storage Chests in Crimson Desert
This is something many players do not realise until their inventory is completely full. There is currently no storage chest or stash system in Crimson Desert at launch. Pearl Abyss has confirmed that housing storage furniture is coming in a post-launch patch, but until then, selling excess loot is your primary option for clearing space.
This includes your camp. Even at your Greymane Camp, there is no chest or stash where you can drop off spare gear and materials.
The Merchant Storage Trick
Until proper storage arrives, there is a workaround that lets you hold onto items you are not ready to sell permanently. Here is how it works:
- Sell the item you want to keep to any merchant. Make a mental note of which one
- When you want the item back, open that merchant’s shop and click Repurchase
- The item will be listed there and you can buy it back at the same price you sold it for
The critical thing to know: vendors only hold items for around 7 in-game days before they are gone forever. Do not sell something for storage and then forget about it. If you go off exploring for a long stretch without coming back, those items will be lost permanently.
This trick works best for gear you want to hold onto temporarily while you test other weapons or armor, or for unique items you are not sure whether to keep. For bulk crafting materials you do not need immediately, just sell them and re-buy from vendors later — most common materials are always available for purchase and it is not worth using the repurchase trick to store them.
What to Keep and What to Sell
With limited slots, being selective matters. Here is a simple way to think about it:
Keep these:
- Weapons and armor you are actively using or plan to refine
- Crafting materials you are actively farming toward a goal (Iron Ore, Timber, Hides)
- Palmar Pills and food — you want a good supply of these at all times
- Abyss Artifacts — never sell these, they are too valuable
Sell or discard these:
- Recipe scrolls after learning them — reading them adds them permanently to your recipe list, the scroll itself is useless after that
- Bounty notices and notes after completing the associated quest
- Low-value gear drops you will never use
- Excess herbs and materials beyond what you need for current crafting goals
- Captured insects and butterflies — these each take a full slot and have limited use until storage is added
The game will not let you sell items that are still quest-relevant, so anything the game refuses to sell is safe to hold onto.
Quick Tips for Managing Inventory in Crimson Desert
- Check every vendor in every new town for Small Bags — at 50 Copper each, they are always worth buying
- Do Commissions before free exploration in any new area — bags from quests are worth more than any individual item you would find exploring
- Do not hoard junk. The only items truly worth keeping are ones the game will not let you sell
- You will need as much food as you can carry for tough fights, and collecting dropped weapons from enemies is a great way to bolster your supplies at camp — but sell what you will not use rather than stockpiling indefinitely
- Stack your materials. 50 herbs in one slot is far more efficient than carrying assorted single items that do not stack
For more on making the most of your early game time in Hernand, our guide on how to complete Rhett’s Request in Crimson Desert is a good place to start — it rewards both a Pickaxe and an inventory expansion.
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For our full thoughts on the game, read our Crimson Desert Review.
Frequently Asked Questions
How do you increase inventory space in Crimson Desert?
There are two main ways. Buy Small Bags from vendors for 50 Copper each — every bag gives +1 slot. Complete Faction Quests and Commissions found under Journal > Faction Quests — many of these reward Medium Bags which give +3 slots each. Large Bags giving +5 slots are earned through specific story milestones.
How much inventory space do you start with in Crimson Desert?
You start with 50 inventory slots. The system is slot-based, not weight-based, so there is no carrying limit by weight. Stackable items like crafting materials and food stack up to 50 per slot, which helps. Weapons and armor each take one slot individually.
Is there a storage chest in Crimson Desert?
No, there are no storage chests or stash boxes at launch. Pearl Abyss has confirmed that housing storage furniture is planned for a future patch. In the meantime, the only workaround is selling items to a merchant and using the Repurchase option to get them back. Note that vendors only hold repurchased items for about 7 in-game days before they are gone permanently.
Where can you buy bags in Crimson Desert?
Small Bags are sold by vendors in most major towns across Pywel for around 50 Copper each. Check the wares of every vendor you meet since each one may carry a Small Bag. Medium Bags cannot be bought and can only be earned through Faction Quests and Commissions.
What should you sell in Crimson Desert to save inventory space?
Sell recipe scrolls after learning them, completed quest notes and bounty papers, low-value gear you will never refine or use, and excess crafting materials beyond your current needs. Avoid selling Abyss Artifacts, active gear, Palmar Pills, and food you need for combat. The game will block you from selling quest-critical items, so anything the game lets you sell is generally safe to offload.
