Inventory Full? Start Here
What to Keep, Sell, Salvage, or Discard
Use Sell Junk for gray items and Deposit All Materials for crafting materials. Check equipment prices before selling or salvaging. Look up unfamiliar items with /wiki.
Look up unfamiliar items directly from the game
When an unfamiliar item appears, search the wiki to find out whether to sell it, discard it, or keep it for crafting.
In chat, type
/wiki , then Shift-click the item to insert its link. Press Enter to open the wiki in your browser.On the wiki page, check Used in / Sold by / Contained in to see the item's uses.
If the wiki says it has no use other than selling to a vendor, sell it. Keep crafting ingredients in material storage, or in your bank or bags if they have no material-storage slot.
Your inventory cleanup routine
Work through these steps in order.
What to do with each rarity
Junk
Their description says "This item has no use other than to be sold to a vendor." Use a merchant's Sell Junk button to sell them. They cannot be salvaged or listed on the Trading Post.
Sell Junk handles gray junk. This can include collection items that are safe to sell after registration. A collection name in the description does not mean you must keep the item forever.
Basic
Salvage white equipment with a Basic kit or sell it. Compare the Trading Post proceeds after fees, the vendor price, and the value of its salvage materials.
Heart turn-in items: give these to the relevant heart NPC first. After finishing the heart, check the tooltip or wiki for other uses before clearing leftovers. White items are not included in Sell Junk.
Fine
Use Basic or Copper-Fed to get Essence of Luck and basic crafting materials. Salvaging is the usual choice, but you can sell equipment with a high Trading Post price.
Masterwork
Use a Runecrafter's kit if you already own one; otherwise Basic / Copper-Fed is fine. Consider selling equipment with a high market price. Check the wiki or GW2Efficiency for item information.
Rare
Rare equipment at level 68 or higher can yield Globs of Ectoplasm when salvaged. To decide what to do:
- Check the item's price on the Trading Post: O
- If selling after fees gives more value → sell on the Trading Post
- If the expected material return minus the kit cost is higher → salvage with Master's / Mystic / Silver-Fed.
Rare gear below level 68 normally does not yield ectoplasm. Compare Trading Post and vendor prices with its basic material value. Some leveling equipment is an exception.
Exotic
Prices vary widely. Popular skins or certain stat combinations can sell for tens of gold, so check before clearing them.
- If selling the equipment after fees gives more value → sell on the Trading Post
- If you choose to salvage and want to preserve an expensive rune or sigil → use a Black Lion Salvage Kit. It destroys the equipment and returns the upgrade intact.
- For other equipment you choose to salvage → Master's / Mystic / Silver-Fed
Ascended
Check whether another build or character can use it first. Unwanted pieces can be salvaged with Ascended kits, which have a cost. Crafted gear marked Salvage: Research can instead yield Research Notes, but that destroys upgrades.
Understanding Trophy items
Trophy is a broad item category. Different trophies have different uses, so they need different treatment.
Junk Trophy
Examples include Brittle Bone, Broken Claw, Pebble, and Glob of Globby Goo. These gray-named items are intended for vendor sales and are included in Sell Junk.
Salvage Item
Items such as Tattered Hide, Shredded Garment, and Brittle Clump of Ore yield leather, cloth, or metal. Use a Basic / Copper-Fed kit.
Collection
Many can be sold or discarded once registered in a collection. Others must be kept for crafting or an NPC turn-in. Check achievement progress and the wiki's Used in and Notes sections before clearing them. Color or the Trophy category alone is not enough.
Event Item
Give them to the relevant event NPC. For leftovers, check the tooltip or wiki for reuse, collection, or crafting requirements.
Items to check before clearing
- Black Lion Chest Key: opens Black Lion Chests. Sources include the Gem Store and certain story or map-completion rewards.
- Boosters, food, and utility consumables: keep what you will use, use them directly, or sell tradable surplus. Check their effects and level requirements.
- Mystic Forge Stones: used for Mystic Salvage Kits and other Mystic Forge recipes.
- Gem Store items: check how a lounge pass or account upgrade works. Whether you need to keep a physical item after unlocking it depends on the product.
- Account Bound: means you cannot trade it to another player. It does not tell you how important the item is or whether you can obtain another. Decide based on its use.
Use special bags for automatic sorting
Some bags prioritize particular item types. Buy or craft them to keep your inventory organized.
Item cleanup reference
| Color | Type | Action | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Gray | Junk / junk trophies | Sell Junk | Any merchant with a sell option |
| White | Basic gear / heart turn-in items | Vendor sale or Basic-kit salvage | Compare equipment prices with material value |
| Blue | Fine equipment | Basic / Copper-Fed salvage | Also yields Luck |
| Green | Masterwork equipment | Use an owned Runecrafter's kit, or Basic / Copper-Fed | Some items have higher market value |
| Yellow | Rare equipment: level 68+ | Compare sale and salvage returns after fees and kit costs | Use Mystic / Silver-Fed |
| Orange | Exotic equipment | Check the Trading Post before deciding | Check skin and rune value |
| Pink | Ascended equipment | Check other builds and characters before salvaging | Avoid accidental loss |
| Purple | Legendary equipment | Account bound when added to the Legendary Armory. Decide whether to sell tradable weapons before adding them. | Standard salvage kits cannot salvage it |