Now What?

by skitae13

Over the past few weeks there have been numerous articles about the Rich/Poor debate. One common theme of the articles is that you must work for your Neopoints. Games and shops have often been cited as ways to make Neopoints. Unfortunately shops don't come with clear-cut directions. Therefore if you've opened a shop recently you may be thinking to yourself, "Now what do I do??"

There are several approaches to running a shop. One is to decide that it will be your main source of income and to pour most of your resources into it. Another is to have it be a place to earn you some extra Neopoints. Either way you have to have some sort of strategy. Before you open your shop you should think about what type of items you would like to sell. There are so many items in Neopia: books, toys, food, rare items, trading cards, Battledome items, magic, and the list goes on. When you first open a shop you should start with a narrow item base so that you don't spend all of your money on your shop and neglect your pets. As your shop grows in size and popularity then you can gradually expand the items that you carry. Below is a guide to opening your shop once you know what you want to carry.

1) SHOP NAME: If you're anything like me you can't do anything unless you have a title for it. This can be simple, or a mind-bending task. If you're stuck for ideas try some of these: What's your favourite band? Your favourite color? Your favourite animal? If you don't like it you can always change it later!

2) WORLD: This is where you can decide where you want your shop to be. There are five different worlds: Neopia Central, Mystery Island, Maraqua, Haunted Woods, and the Space Station. This is mostly personal preference, although I would put your shop in Neopia Central due to the fact that this is where the Shop Wizard searches.

3) SHOP DESCRIPTION: This is where you change all the writing in your shop. You can add backgrounds, pictures, and more using HTML. If you have no idea how to use HTML there is a nice introduction in the "HELP!?" section of NeoPets.

4) SHOPKEEPER PICTURE: You can change the picture of the person who is in charge of your shop with this option. There are many pictures of various official shopkeepers, pets, and the creators of NeoPets.

5) SHOPKEEPER NAME: The name of your shopkeeper can be changed here. It doesn't have to be your NeoPets name; it can be one of your pets, or something completely wacky!

6) SHOP SIZE: You can change the size of your shop so that it holds more items. By clicking on the "Cost to Upgrade" button you increase the floor space of your shop. Your shop can hold the size of your shop times five in items, e.g. a size five shop can hold 25 items.

Well there you have it! It looks long on paper but it?s really quite simple. If you have any comments or more questions you can Neomail me at skitae13! If I get enough comments or questions I'll write a follow up article to this about running a shop.