Alchemy Factory Automatic Cashier: Cost and Setup

The Alchemy Factory automatic cashier is the fixture that stops manual payment handling. It costs 3,000 silver, unlocks at tier 4, and installs on the checkout counter, where its two belt outputs carry the money away instead of leaving it for the player to collect.

What the Automatic Cashier Does

The official FAQ answers the question directly: go to the shop across the street, purchase an Automatic Cashier, and install it on the checkout counter. From that point the unit has two conveyor belt outputs that automatically transfer received payments to chests or portals.

That description is the whole value of the fixture. A staffed counter asks the player to click through customers one at a time, and the queue grows while anything else is being built. The cashier converts that queue into a belt problem, which is something a layout can solve: route the outputs into storage, or into a portal, and the counter no longer needs a player standing next to it.

The same FAQ explains the failure mode that looks like a cashier problem but is not. When NPCs leave their packages without paying after picking items, the usual cause is that the checkout counter was removed after those NPCs had already selected their goods. The recommended fix is to close the shop before moving the counter, and to use Wooden Railings to plan walking routes so checkout waiting times stay short.

What It Costs and When It Unlocks

A walkthrough video prices the fixture at 3,000 silver, or the same amount in copper, and notes that it unlocks at tier 4. That places it in the middle of the progression rather than at the start: the early shop is run by hand, and the cashier arrives once the store has enough traffic for manual clicking to become the bottleneck.

The tier gate also explains why the purchase is easy to miss. The vendor across the street sells seeds and other stock that a player checks constantly, while the cashier sits among the fixtures and only becomes relevant when the counter queue starts to hurt.

Installing It and Routing the Outputs

Installation is a placement step on the counter, not a separate building. Once it is down, the two outputs are the part that needs planning: one belt can feed a chest near the counter, and the other can run to a portal or a longer route back to storage.

The routing decision interacts with the physical currency change. After the patch that made money an item rather than a number, coins take inventory space and can be stored in storage boxes, so a cashier that dumps payments into a chest is also a storage decision rather than only a convenience.

What the Currency Patch Changed Around It

The patch notes for the currency update list both sides of the change. Money became a physical item that takes inventory space, and every player has to manage their own coins, which can also go into storage boxes. The billing system was removed, so land rent and loan interest stopped being charged. In the same notes, previously owned Automatic Cashiers needed to be purchased and installed again.

For a returning save that means the fixture has to be re-bought, and any belt layout built around the old one needs to be re-checked before the counter is trusted again. New saves see the post-patch behaviour from the start, so the current guides all describe the same purchase route.