---
title: What the Buck Prestige Points and End Shift Cost Explained
description: What ending a shift costs, how Prestige Points are earned, when to end a shift, and the 1.0.1 price cap.
url: https://whatthebuck.wiki/upgrades/shifts-and-prestige-points/
---

Upgrades

# What the Buck shifts and Prestige Points
One shift, start to finish

- 1 **Start the shift**Cash and shift upgrades start from zero (unless kept by prestige nodes)

- 2 **Destroy money, fill the prestige bar**Every full bar is one Prestige Point

- 3 **Save up the shift price**$100K, $10M, $1B, then x100 per shift

- 4 **End the shift**Costs all your cash; PP are kept

- 5 **Spend PP in the prestige tree**Permanent upgrades, then Start Shift

_Built from the developer's forum replies on shift prices, patch 1.0.1 and the end-of-shift screens in release-day recordings._

What the Buck Prestige Points (PP) are earned by destroying money during a shift, and you spend them only after you end the shift, which costs a fixed money price. confirmed The first shift costs $100K to end, the second $10M, the third $1B, and every shift after that costs 100 times the one before. Since patch 1.0.1 the price stops rising at 1 sextillion from shift 9 on. confirmed

## What the Buck end shift cost, shift by shift

| Shift | Price to end it | Source |
| --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | $100K | developer reply |
| 2 | $10M | developer reply |
| 3 | $1B | developer reply |
| 4 | $100B | ×100 rule |
| 5 | $10T | ×100 rule |
| 6 | $1Qa (quadrillion) | ×100 rule |
| 7 | $100Qa | ×100 rule |
| 8 | $10Qi (quintillion) | ×100 rule |
| 9 and later | $1Sx (sextillion), less with Market Maker | patch 1.0.1 |

The developer set these fixed prices in October 2026; before that, the price grew ×2.75 with every shift. confirmed Prices drop with the prestige-tree price reducer (−20% per level on release day), which is why the release-day player needed only $800 million for the third shift. confirmed

Ending a shift costs **all** your cash, not only the price. Mr. Buck says so when you first can afford it: “Bad news, it costs all of it.” confirmed

## How Prestige Points are earned

- Destroying bills and coins releases glowing orbs that fill the prestige bar under your funds. Each full bar is one PP. confirmed

- The more PP you have **ever** earned, the harder the next one gets. Spending PP does not make the next point easier; your balance can drop to zero but the total never goes down. confirmed

- Prestige coins and the many ”+% prestige progress” nodes in both trees speed this up. confirmed

On release day the first shift took about 15 and a half minutes, destroyed $229K and gave about 20 PP. confirmed The end-of-shift screen lists time worked, money destroyed, bills shredded and your biggest payout. confirmed

## When to end a shift

End the shift when two things are true:

- You can pay the price, and

- The next affordable skill-tree node would take several minutes of income.

The pre-release player held back early because he worried the price might jump too far, then found that fixed prices make it safe to end as soon as progress slows. confirmed With the price list above, you always know how far the next target is.

A useful habit from release-day play: just before ending, buy one more round of prestige-progress nodes, then end. confirmed

## What carries over between shifts

| Kept | Reset |
| --- | --- |
| Prestige Points (earned total and unspent balance) | Cash (all of it) |
| Prestige tree nodes | Breaker panel (unless kept, 15 PP) |
| Achievements and stats | Withdrawal panel (unless kept, 10 PP) |
| Bills you unlocked through kept nodes | Skill tree (unless kept, 40 PP) |

Starting cash comes from Petty Cash (+$2K each) and the node that starts you with a share of the money you had left. confirmed

## The 1.0.1 postgame fix

Before 1.0.1, the ×100 rule kept going after the ending. A player who was 99% done faced a 50 sextillion price for one more shift, 50 times what it costs to beat the game. reported The developer answered the same day with patch 1.0.1: from shift 9 on, every shift costs 1 sextillion, or less with Market Maker, and the new price shows on your current shift as soon as Steam downloads the update. confirmed

## Shift achievements

First Shift Ended, Three Shifts Ended and Five Shifts Ended track shifts; 100 Prestige Points and 700 Prestige Points track your total PP. confirmed See [achievements](https://whatthebuck.wiki/guides/achievements/).

## Sources
Last checked: 10 November 2026. Marks: confirmed = official notes, the store page, the game itself or a recording of it; reported = two or more players; unverified = one source.

- [Developer reply](https://steamcommunity.com/app/4832970/discussions/0/586186803158163917/)

- [Patch 1.0.1](https://store.steampowered.com/news/app/4832970/view/1848664643357595)

- [Forum thread](https://steamcommunity.com/app/4832970/discussions/0/564798922323788311/)

- [Release-day 100% run](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XtjuwrgHzQU&t=759s) · at 12:39, 13:22, 34:51, 30:17

- [Pre-release key run](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VL1DyJptysQ&t=611s) · at 10:11, 43:19, 22:29

- [French early-key run](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8iXJEOtxHec&t=1396s) · at 23:16

- [Steam achievements](https://steamcommunity.com/stats/4832970/achievements/)

## More in Upgrades

- [Panel upgrades All nine panel upgrades, their maximum levels, what each one does and which to buy first.](https://whatthebuck.wiki/upgrades/breaker-and-withdrawal-upgrades/)

- [Skill tree How the skill tree works, what each branch unlocks, and a buying order that keeps the table busy.](https://whatthebuck.wiki/upgrades/skill-tree/)

- [Prestige tree Every prestige-tree unlock, which nodes to buy first, and what Market Maker does to the shift price.](https://whatthebuck.wiki/upgrades/prestige-tree/)

- [Idle and automation Can the game play itself? Auto Swiper, Idle Hands, the second ATM, Money Printer and Overcharge explained.](https://whatthebuck.wiki/upgrades/idle-and-automation/)