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Surviving Restocking


by yayzz_1245

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Restocking is very hard on the mind. As an avid restocker myself, I often find my heart pounding in my chest whenever I stumble across an item marked as 'very rare'. Though that happens almost every time I'm restocking, there's a very spooky side to the unlimited riches thought to lie in Neopian shops.

A good example of this is when I came across a Seaworthy Usuki in Usukiland. As I scanned the page, my heart skipped a beat as I laid my eyes on the Usuki clad in blue and white clothes, with its adorable eyepatch. I thought of the wondrous riches ahead for me and I clicked on it. Speedily, I typed in a couple of numbers, relatively close to what the shopkeeper was asking for. Amid the countless thoughts of riches and wealth, my finger slipped. Hardly noticing this and barely able to count the number of digits I had typed, I had mistakenly typed in an extra digit. By the time I had noticed this, my mouse had subconsciously moved and the small white arrow was carefully but quickly moving below. It hovered above the box as I clicked the faint ghost-like Neopet hovering in a peaceful Tyrannian map in the small box.

As the next page quickly loaded, my brain was screaming. Quoting the shopkeeper, I didn't want to pay THAT much. But here I was, eyes bulging and heart pumping as I hastily typed in a number in my second attempt at restocking this r98 Usuki. My brain was on the verge of imploding. The thousands I could've made from this little doll could've gone down the drain if I lost this little guy. Time started to pass by as if in slow motion. To me, my fingers seemed to be moving at the slowest speed fingers could move, despite the fact that in reality they were speeding across the keypad. I typed in that same price the shopkeeper had asked before, not the ridiculous price I had typed in on my first attempt.

As I clicked the almost transparent Neopet, another page quickly loaded. This time however, the shopkeeper flashed before my eyes, and I saw it. "I won't go lower than *insert first mistyped price here*". My brain was pounding so quickly that I thought that I would surpass millions of years of evolution and develop some sort of telepathic superpower, and say to every person in Usukiland: "it's mine. plz." Unfortunately this didn't happen. My fingers scrambled across the screen as my third attempt at restocking this Usuki unfolded. I tried in fury to be as fast as possible and click the small Neopet. Third time lucky?! As the next page loaded, the dreaded screen of big, bold, black letters came up on the screen. "Seaworthy Usuki is SOLD OUT!".

Nooooooooooo... How did this happen to me?!

I was met by a feeling that was all to familiar to me. It's happened many times before. A few months earlier, I had missed a super rare 'Geb' in the Peopatra's Petpets shop. As the little tan coloured pyramid popped up, I saw the price. It was 75,000 more NP than I had on hand. I know that many restocking guides state that people must carry a specified amount on hand to be able to afford anything, but I couldn't believe that it would happen to me. But it did. I quickly rushed to my stocks and sold several thousand worth; it was too late. The shop was so abandoned that I could have easily taken a minute to do a chore and still get the petpet. But amongst the chaos and confusion of my mind, I became slow and clumsy. "Geb is SOLD OUT! "

Now you see restocking is very emotional. When you restock your first r99, the feeling is like no other. Or when you first restock your very first morphing potion. Or even when you restock your first unbuyable. Restocking can bring unto you unlimited riches, or it can also make you very sad. After these two episodes of restocking failure, it took quite a while for me to gain my senses and even longer for me to get over the fact that I had basically given away once in a lifetime chance of getting rich quick.

These newbie mistakes can be quite hard on an experienced restocker, and you (being the experienced restocker) can take quite a long time to get over it and even some of the most experienced restockers such as yourself can take quite a long time to get over it. When I missed the Geb, I was sitting bleary eyed on my chair, staring at the computer screen. Woo, I thought. I had just missed four million neopoints worth of pyramid petpet! When I mishaggled the Seaworthy Usuki like a beginner I was saying in my head: "You stupid boy. Your fingers can't even type five numbers." But there is a way around this.

Just because you mishaggled or got caught out of a rare item does not mean the end of the world. The thought of giving yourself mental sadness because of a virtual item is ridiculous, but think about this, however; it can be justified. What if all your hopes and worries of Neopets could have simply been achieved just because of that item? What if that item meant the end of your hard work gaining neopoints?

But let's face the facts; not everyone gets rich quick. I myself spent countless hours restocking and pricing my shop, just because of a couple of retired mushrooms. Even if you missed an Emerald Eyrie Coin, you must think about this: what about the person who gained that item? They must have spent countless hours or even years trying to earn that item. They must have spent hours perfecting their restocking technique. You must accept that you were beaten, and you were simply there at the wrong place at the wrong time with the wrong techniques.

You must also think about all the other chances that you could get in the future. Even though these items may be not as good as the one you missed, you can only get better at restocking and when the times comes you will get an item worth a similar amount. These beginner's mistakes are often valuable lessons to what you must and mustn't do when restocking. I, for example, learnt that you always, always must carry a certain amount of money whenever you want to restock at a certain place. I also learnt to stay calm during the time when a rare item restocks, as to not become clumsy and slow. As my friends also often say, you'll get many more chances restocking. Sure, if you got the expensive item AND these other chances, you would be richer. But you must accept the facts and face defeat; as Walt Disney said, "Keep moving forward!"

Overall, restocking is a very active type of earning neopoints, both physically and mentally. Don't worry about making beginner's mistakes and missing expensive items. Neopets is just a game, after all. And you'll always, always get other chances, even though it may take a while for it to happen. But don't worry. These unfortunate events increase your overall experience and knowledge of restocking and one day you will get that spiffy Geb or the sparkly Usuki doll.

 
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