Old School RuneScape has changed a lot over the years—but one thing has stayed consistent: everything feels expensive when you’re playing on a restricted, low-level account.
With gear prices climbing and early-game RuneScape gold feeling tighter than ever, I set out to answer a simple question: If you deliberately use terrible money-making methods, are any of them secretly worth your time?
To find out, I tested eight objectively questionable money makers, spending one full hour on each. After every session, I ranked them on:
- GP per hour
- Enjoyment
- Bot competition
- Would I do it again?
- Overall rating
At the end, I stacked them all together to crown the Ultimate Bad Money Maker. Here’s how it went.
The Rules of the Experiment
- 1 hour per method
- No mixing in extra loot (if the method was “arrow looting,” I only picked up arrows from other players)
- Stopwatch kept running—even during world hops
- All profits based on guide price at time of testing
The goal wasn’t efficiency. The goal was chaos, suffering, and data.
-
Arrow Looting – Surprisingly Addictive
Method: Stand near low-level rangers (e.g., guards) and pick up arrows they don’t retrieve.
Results:
- 341 Iron arrows
- 478 Mithril arrows
- ~12K GP/hour
Observations
This one lives and dies by RNG and player behavior. If you find rangers who don’t pick up their arrows, it’s fantastic. If they’re reclaiming everything? You’re broke.
At one point, I developed a beautiful gameplay loop: running between a Mithril arrow shooter and an Iron arrow shooter, looting both streams in rotation. It felt oddly optimized.
Ratings:
- Enjoyment: 9/10
- Bot competition: 10/10 (virtually none)
- Would do again: Yes
- Overall: 6/10
Low profit, but legitimately fun. Shockingly strong start.
-
Fish Stealing – Profitable, Miserable
Method: Loot dropped fish at Barbarian Village.
Results:
- 28 inventories
- ~66K GP/hour
The most profitable method tested. Also the most exhausting.
Observations
In high-population worlds, bots snap up fish faster than human reaction speed allows. It became a click-speed competition against scripts.
World-hopping was mandatory. In less populated worlds, profits improved dramatically. Run energy management also became a major limiting factor.
Ratings:
- Enjoyment: 2/10
- Bot competition: 2/10 (constant battles)
- Would do again: Maybe passively
- Overall: 3/10
Best money. Worst experience.
-
Killing Men & Women in Lumbridge – XP, Not GP
Method: Kill Lumbridge NPCs for drops (no food, respawn if dead).
Results:
- 197 kills
- ~4K GP
- ~4K/hour
Absolutely terrible money.
However:
- Strength: 11 → 24
- Prayer: 18 → 19 (Rapid Restore unlocked)
- 2 Clue Scrolls obtained
One clue later dropped Mole Slippers (~24K), which dramatically inflated total profit. Without a clue RNG? This method is unplayable as a money maker.
Ratings:
- Enjoyment: 8/10
- Bot competition: 10/10 (none)
- Would do again: 1/10
- Overall: 1/10
Fun for early combat XP. Horrendous for gold.
-
Collecting Ashes at the Grand Exchange – Pure Suffering
Method: Pick up ashes from players’ firemaking.
Results:
- 742 ashes
- ~45K GP/hour
Second-best GP result.
Observations
Early on, it was smooth. Then suddenly: bot swarms. Ash collection speed dropped from one inventory per minute to one every 4–5 minutes. World-hopping became mandatory. The method is profitable—but mind-numbing.
Ratings:
- Enjoyment: 1/10
- Bot competition: 4/10 (sporadic but real)
- Would do again: 3/10
- Overall: 2.5/10
Good GP. Spiritually draining.
-
Picking Up a Single Coin (The Sewer Coin)
Method: World-hop and loot one respawning coin.
Results:
- 433 coins
- 433 GP/hour
Exactly what you expect.
Ratings:
- Enjoyment: 1/10
- Bot competition: 10/10 (none)
- Would do again: No
- Overall: 1/10
This exists only as a meme.
-
Picking Onions – Bot-Optimized Agriculture
Method: Harvest onions near Draynor.
Results:
- 517 onions
- ~10.3K GP/hour
Developing a zig-zag harvesting pattern actually made this enjoyable. Once optimized, bots couldn’t disrupt the route much.
Ratings:
- Enjoyment: 7/10
- Bot competition: 8/10 (manageable)
- Would do again: 1/10
- Overall: 3/10
Better than expected. Still bad.
-
Picking Cabbages – Location Matters
Two patches tested:
- Near Rimmington
- South Falador Farm
Results:
- 560 total cabbages
- ~8–10.5K GP/hour depending on location
South Falador was clearly superior due to density and banking proximity.
Ratings:
- Enjoyment: 6–7/10
- Bot competition: 9–10/10 (minimal)
- Would do again: No
- Overall: 2/10
Slightly worse than onions. Heavy inventory slows everything down.
-
Picking Potatoes – Best Crop, Still Bad
Method: Harvest potatoes in Draynor.
Results:
- 700 potatoes
- ~16.8K GP/hour
The most profitable crop.
Also included bonus combat XP from repeatedly kicking nearby goblins (highly recommended for sanity preservation).
Ratings:
- Enjoyment: 6/10 (8/10 with goblin side-quest)
- Bot competition: 7/10
- Would do again: No
- Overall: 3/10
Best agricultural loser.
None of these are efficient by modern OSRS standards. But that wasn’t the point. The point was to determine which terrible method reigns supreme. This article is meant to help you progress more efficiently. For further OSRS advice and buy cheap OSRS gold services, visit RSorder.
