Part of the series:
- How to Make Units Fast: Hub for every money-making method by game stage.
- How to Get Nanites Fast: Every nanite source ranked, including the farms that feed this page.
Quick Answer
- The sell option is inside the buy menu. Talk to a Technology Merchant, choose the option to buy upgrade modules, and the sell tab is in that same interface. There is no separate "sell" prompt on the NPC, which is why this is hard to find.
- Sell to a Technology Merchant at any space station. Iteration: Ares on the Space Anomaly and your Exocraft Technician also buy them.
- Installed modules cannot be sold. Only uninstalled ones in your inventory can. An installed module can only be dismantled, and you get materials back rather than nanites.
- Never-installed modules are worth more than ones you installed and then packaged up again. Sell the ones still in their original state.
- The Salvage Dealer at outlaw stations sells Suspicious Modules to you. It is a buying stop, not a selling one.
Overview
Nanites are the currency that actually gates progression in No Man's Sky, and selling unwanted upgrade modules is the most reliable way to earn them at any stage. Every module you pull out of a derelict freighter, find in a crashed ship, or get from scrapping is worth nanites whether or not you want to use it.
The mechanic itself is straightforward. Finding the button is not, and that is the part almost nobody explains.
Where the Sell Option Actually Is
This trips up a lot of players, including experienced ones returning after a break.
- Land at a space station and find the Technology Merchant. They sit at a terminal along the back wall, distinct from the Galactic Trade Terminal and the Scrap Dealer.
- Interact with them and choose the option to buy upgrade modules. This feels wrong. Do it anyway.
- Inside that interface, switch to the sell tab. Your uninstalled modules are listed with their nanite values.
- Select each module and confirm.
There is no top-level "sell technology" dialogue option on the NPC. The sell function lives one level down, inside the purchase interface. If you have been standing in front of a merchant wondering where the option went, that is why.
Who Buys, Who Sells
| Vendor | Where | Buys your modules? |
|---|---|---|
| Technology Merchant | Every space station | Yes. The main option. |
| Iteration: Ares | Space Anomaly | Yes. Convenient mid-run. |
| Exocraft Technician | Your base, space stations | Yes. |
| Salvage Dealer | Outlaw stations | No. Sells Suspicious Modules to you. |
| Scrap Dealer | Every space station | No. Takes Crew Manifests and handles ship scrapping. |
The Salvage Dealer confusion is common because outlaw stations are where a lot of module trading happens. You buy there and sell at a technology vendor.
Why Your Module Will Not Sell
Three reasons cover almost every case:
It is installed. A module sitting in your exosuit, ship or multi-tool technology grid cannot be sold from that slot. Installed technology can only be dismantled, which returns crafting materials rather than nanites. Move it out first if the game lets you, or accept the dismantle.
You are at the wrong vendor. The Scrap Dealer and the Galactic Trade Terminal both look like places that should buy technology. Neither does.
You are looking at the wrong menu. See above. It is inside the buy interface.
What They Are Worth
Value scales with class and with whether the module has ever been installed:
- Never-installed modules carry the highest value. A module you buy or find and then sell without touching it keeps its full price.
- Packaged modules are ones you installed and later removed. They sell for noticeably less. If you are farming modules to sell, do not install them to "check" the stats first.
- Class drives the rest. S-class modules sell for substantially more than C-class, in the same proportion that they cost to buy.
We have not found a published table of exact per-class sale prices, and the values shift with class, technology type and the roll on the individual module. Rather than print numbers we cannot stand behind, the useful rule is the one above: uninstalled and high-class sells best.
Where to Get Modules Worth Selling
The selling is the easy half. These are the routes that supply it, in rough order of how early you can run them:
| Source | How it works |
|---|---|
| Scrapping ships | Buy or salvage a ship, take it to the Starship Outfitting Terminal, and scrap it. The modules that drop are pure profit. See how to scrap ships. |
| Derelict freighters | Wall panels and reward rooms drop modules directly, alongside the Crew Manifests that become Tainted Metal. See the derelict freighters guide. |
| Suspicious Packets | Buy packets from the Salvage Dealer at an outlaw station, open them, sell the contents. Stock refreshes on a short timer, so a single station can be farmed in loops. Covered in the piracy and outlaw systems guide. |
| Sentinel waves | Salvaged Glass from sustained sentinel combat contains modules. Combat-heavy but renewable. See the Sentinels combat guide. |
| Crashed ships | Every crashed ship carries damaged technology worth pulling. See free ships and crashed salvage. |
The ship-scrapping loop is the one most players settle on, because it converts units into nanites at a predictable rate and units stop being scarce long before nanites do. The nanites guide ranks all of these against the non-module sources such as Runaway Mould.
A Note on Suspicious Modules
Suspicious Modules bought from a Salvage Dealer are a gamble by design. They roll wider stat ranges than standard modules, including outcomes worse than a normal C-class. They can also carry a chance of an X-class result, which is what makes the loop attractive.
Because you buy them with nanites and sell the rejects for nanites, the loop is only profitable if your average roll beats your purchase price. Sell what you will not use rather than hoarding it, and do not install anything you intend to resell.
FAQ
Where is the sell option for upgrade modules?
Inside the buy menu. Talk to a Technology Merchant, select the option to buy upgrade modules, then switch to the sell tab within that interface. There is no separate sell option on the NPC itself.
Can I sell upgrade modules that are already installed?
No. Installed technology can only be dismantled, which returns crafting materials rather than nanites. Only uninstalled modules sitting in your inventory can be sold.
Do Technology Merchants buy X-class modules?
Yes. X-class modules are sold the same way as any other and are worth more than standard classes, since their stat ranges are wider at the top end.
Can I sell upgrade modules at an outlaw station?
The Salvage Dealer there sells Suspicious Modules to you rather than buying yours. Sell to a technology vendor instead, which is why most outlaw farming loops end with a trip back to a normal space station or the Anomaly.
Is it better to sell modules or install them?
Install what improves your build, sell the rest immediately. Modules that have been installed and repackaged sell for less, so "trying one out" costs you real nanites if you were always going to sell it.
What is the fastest way to turn units into nanites?
Buying ships and scrapping them, then selling the modules. It scales directly with your unit income, which is usually the resource you have too much of by the mid-game.
Key Takeaways
- The sell option lives inside the buy menu. That single fact answers most searches on this topic.
- Technology Merchants, Iteration: Ares and Exocraft Technicians buy modules. Scrap Dealers and Salvage Dealers do not.
- Installed modules cannot be sold, only dismantled.
- Never install a module you plan to sell; repackaged modules are worth less.
- Ship scrapping is the most reliable supply line, and it turns surplus units into the nanites that actually gate progression.