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The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion Hints
Stealing Tips
1 of 10: Unlike in Morrowind, Oblivion makes it very clear when an item or container is considered someone else's by showing a red cursor when you point at that item. That means that whether someone sees you steal it or not, it'll be clearly marked as a stolen item.
2 of 10: You can sometimes drop stolen items on the ground and then pick them up again to "clear" them and make them legit, but this doesn't seem to work very reliably, especially if you have any patches installed.
3 of 10: Remember that people can't see you through solid objects. If you move to where there's a pillar, door, tall counter, or whatever directly between you and everyone in the area, you can then snatch anything within reach.
4 of 10: But note that people in houses and shops will often follow you to keep you in sight as you move around, so it's best to pick the locks on their doors and sneak in at night when they're asleep to steal their stuff. See the Lockpicking Tips and Sneaking Tips for more info on how to do that successfully.
5 of 10: Another alternative is to use a Frenzy spell to help you chase off a house or shop's resident so you can loot the place easily without getting a bounty. See the Frenzy tip section in the Spellmaking Tips for more details.
6 of 10: When pickpocketing someone, it's much easier to do when they're asleep, especially when you're trying to lift a heavy or expensive item from them. Also, the only time you can pickpocket equipment like armor and weapons from people is when they're sleeping because they usually have it unequipped then. Remember to always quicksave before you try to pickpocket any item and quickrestore if you're caught.
7 of 10: It's very important to keep your bounty at zero -- never get caught committing any kind of crime, in other words.
8 of 10: As for selling your stolen goods, the main way to do that is to join the Thieves Guild and sell to one or more of their special "fencing" guys. They all have fairly high Mercantile skills, but you can counter that with a custom-made Charm and Fortify Mercantile spell (see the Spellmaking Tips).
9 of 10: An alternative for unenchanted equipment that you've stolen is to put cheap enchantments on them, which removes their stolen status and makes it possible to sell them to regular mechants. This is handy if you haven't joined the Thieves Guild yet or if don't want to have to do a lot of traveling to reach the available fence(s).
10 of 10: Also, if you have the "Thieves Den" DLC module installed, you can sell stolen goods to the merchants in Dunbarrow Cove. That won't get you any Thieves Guild fencing credit, but it can be convenient whenever you're in the Gold Coast region.
