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• General/
• HM: Awl SE/
• Van

Okay, I have enough information about Van's visits to town
that I figured it was time to go ahead and give him his own
section!  Van shows up on the 3rd and 8th day of every season.
He normally opens his shop around noon, but I have noticed that
on some occasions he is running late.  One day he didn't open
until 2 PM!  When he opens, there is always an announcement
that stops the game play for a moment.  I wish that wouldn't
happen every time, because after the first year of course I
know when Van is there and can go find his shop on my own if
I have something to sell, right?

Van sells some special items that are not available anywhere
else.

1. Records
I've been able to get two records from Van.  Spring Song, and
a Winter theme.  When I bought the Winter record it disappeared
from his listing, but Spring Song is still there even though I 
already bought one.  So I have no clue if that's a glitch or
what.  I'm in Year 4 and I'm still waiting for Van to offer
more records.  I think these may be the only two you get from
him.

2. Golden Eggs
Van doesn't sell these, you sell them to him.  But they are 
important to note here, because golden eggs are an item that
can be bartered up to a higher sell price.  When Van asks if
you will take $300 per egg, say "No," and you may get him to
offer an extra $60 per egg.  This doesn't always happen though.
If he says, "That's too bad," just go back and try again.  At
times I noticed that I could lower the number of eggs I was
trying to sell at one time and then he would offer the higher
price.  Even more rare are the times when he will drive the price 
up twice to sell it for even more money.  I've only been 
successful with this twice, however.  Sometimes after having
to try five or six times to sell them, you just give up
and take the extra $60.  Over time, you can make a lot of extra
money simply by driving the price up.

3. Vase
In Year 4 I purchased a special Vase from Van that he then delivered 
to my home.  It stands in the corner of your bedroom.  In earlier
versions of Harvest Moon you could put flowers in it to help your
rest, but I can't get any flowers to go in mine.  Does anyone else
know what other purpose the vase might have other than decoration?

Update: Per Sam, the vase does offer a recipe when you choose 
to inspect it.  Otherwise it is primarily meant for decoration.

4. New home decor

*Information courtesy of Sam Halsall

Van offers these for sale only when you have enough money 
to pay for them.  The three known so far:

Interior 2: 5000G (blue & white rugs, kiddy quilt for child)
Interior 3: 30,000G (black & red floor rugs, tiger rug for child)
Interior 4: 100,000G (blue & purple rugs, night sky rug for child)

I would also note that the tablecloth in the kitchen also changes
with each new interior theme.  You may think you'll never have
enough money to throw 30,000 into some rugs, but once you're in
Year 4 or so you'll likely have more money than you know what
to do with.

5. Goat
Can only be purchased through Van.  It costs 4000 G.  The folks
at Natsume figured out that forcing their players to kill their
animals probably wasn't such a good idea, so in the PS2 version,
you CAN sell your goat for 1000 G when it finally stops giving
milk.  So you still can't impregnate the goat, but you don't have
to kill it to get rid of it when it becomes useless.  Also,
you can't buy another goat.  You just get the one.

Thanks to Sam Halsall and Sephiroth Avalionis for further info
about the goat!