A Beginner's Guide to NC Trading

 nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;What can you do with this little box?

NC trading, when you really come down to it, is a form of barter trade or gift exchange. There is no base currency because you can't trade items for NC. The only "currency" so to speak is gift boxes, which you can get in several ways: from site events like Trudy's Surprise, from a GBC (see next section), or from redeeming a Neocash card.

In order to send a Neocash item to someone, you need to put it in a gift box. You will receive a Neomail receipt both when somebody sends you a gift box, and when somebody accepts your gift box. Because gift boxes are limited, plan your transactions wisely.

Anybody can participate in NC trading, regardless of how much money they spend on purchasing NC. You can even trade without purchasing any NC at all. It is merely a question of budget. If you keep up with the site events and giveaways, you will most certainly have items such as 8th Birthday Sparkler Cupcake and Dyeworks Hue Brew Potion to trade. Sometimes there are also NC giveaways, such as during the Charity Corner event last year. And of course, there is always the Qasalan Expellibox.

Before You Enter

Be prepared for the fact that many people will have bigger budgets than yours. Expect to find many temptations. If you maintain a clear sense of what you have and what you want, you won't go over-budget.

Always remember that if you are able to play Neopets, you are already far more fortunate than many people on this planet.

Words and Abbreviations

S: Seeking, or looking for.

O: Offering, or putting up for trade.

T: Trading; same meaning as offering.

WL: Wishlist. A list of items the person is seeking.

TL: Tradelist. A list of items the person has available for trade.

WL/TL: Wishlist and tradelist, located on the same page. Pay close attention to the headings so you don't get confused. Some people put their wishes at the top; other people put them at the bottom.

In most opening posts you will find WL/TL: followed by a link. This link can be to a gallery or pet page, or to an offsite page. Galleries and pet pages are easier to view, but slower and clunkier to update, so a lot of people use offsite pages instead. If you see a link in the form of items.jellyNeo.net/mywishes/_____, that means the list is hosted on JellyNeo, which is a recommended fan site. If you see a link in the form of /user/_____/closet, that means the list is hosted on DTI (Dress to Impress), which is a certified fan site.

Wish: An item that is being sought.

BG: Background.

FP: Facepaint.

Highlights / Populars: A list of higher-valued or easy-to-trade items.

(V)HTPW / Closet: (Very) hard to part with. This is a list of items that the person either frequently uses or is currently using. Usually people are not willing to trade their HTPW items, but occasionally they will make the trade if it means they are getting a bigger wish in return.

Priority WL: A list of items that the person is currently seeking. The person may also have a secondary or casual wishlist, but due to budgeting concerns they are focusing first on their priority wishes.

Buyable: An item that is currently available for purchase in the NC Mall.

Retired: An item that is no longer available for purchase in the NC Mall.

LE: Limited edition. An item that is only available as a prize through an NC game, not directly available for purchase.

RR: Re-release. A once-retired item re-released as a prize in an NC game.

Custom: If someone is offering a custom, that means they are willing to purchase a buyable in exchange for a retired or LE item.

GBC / GB cap / cap: Gift box mystery capsule. These are usually released once a month in the NC Mall for 200NC each, though there have also been sales where they stocked for cheaper. When you open one, you receive at least one random buyable in addition to gift boxes. The GBC is the default unit of trading. If you see someone saying "I value my item at 3," they mean 3 GBCs.

New GBC / GBCube: There are two kinds of GBCs. The old kind is oblong in shape, and gives at least one gift box, up to five. The new kind is cube-shaped, and gives at least two gift boxes, though it seems to give bonus boxes less frequently. Most people prefer the new kind because of the certainty of receiving two gift boxes. The old ones are becoming rarer, but there are still some in circulation, so if you are seeking boxes and someone offers GBCs, be aware of which kind you are trading for.

Old GBCs and new GBCs.

Filler: An item that is used to "fill" value for a trade. If one party has an item valued at 5, and the other party has an item valued at 3, the latter party might add one or two fillers to make the trade fair.

FQC: Faerie quest fortune cookie, frequently used as a filler. Other common fillers are training cookies, archive cookies, game cookies and upcycle cookies. (For information on what these cookies do, refer to JellyNeo's article on Noda's Fortune Cookies.)

Dye Pot: Dyeworks Hue Brew Potion, also commonly used as a filler.

Lending: If you bring a Dyeworks original to the Dyeworks section of the NC Mall and use a Dye Pot on it, you will get a duplicate of that item in a random colour. Dyeworks originals are usually retired or LE items. People who own Dyeworks originals will lend it in exchange for a GBC, Dye Pot, cookie, or small wish. You send them the GBC, they send you their item, you make Dyeworks versions of it, and then send the original back. Typically, unless you have money to spend on multiple Dye Pots, it is cheaper to trade directly for the version you want rather than borrowing an original to dye.

A Butterfly Dress and a Dyeworks Brown: Butterfly Dress.

Some Common Expressions

Casually trading / Post your sales: This person is not looking for anything specific. They just want to chat, look around, and browse people's tradelists to see what's on sale.

2:1 GBC Sale: This person has a big accumulation of items that they want to get rid of. In exchange for one GBC, they will send you two items of your choice from their tradelist.

Desperately seeking: This person is willing to discount their items because they want to finish a trade quickly. The equivalent expression to this in the Neopoint economy would be "Taking reseller offers!"

Post your WL for _____: This person is seeking a specific item that they really, really want. If you have it available for trade but aren't interested in anything they have to offer, they still want it badly enough that they are willing to try and trade for whatever it is you are seeking. Because this kind of trader is very focused on getting a specific item, they tend not to be open to casual trades.

Swap: This person has made a Dyeworks duplicate in a colour they do not want. Instead of trying their luck with more Dye Pots, they are seeking to swap the version they have for the version they are seeking.

Trading Conventions and Etiquette

Board Title: If you make a board saying something vague like "Trading," you probably won't get a lot of attention. If you're seeking something specific, just say "Seeking _____." If you have a popular item up for trade, say "Trading _____." Clear titles lead to easy trades.

Here are some examples of clear, straightforward titles:

"Trading 8th Birthday Sparkler Cupcake."

"S: Blonde Fishtail Side Braid ~ O: GBCs, custom, TL."

"Seeking a GBC, offering gallery."

The first post: Usually, in your first post, you would include a link to your WL/TL, state whether you have GBCs or custom available, and whether you prefer to be contacted by post or Neomail. If you don't have a lot of items, you can just list them in your post instead of setting up a separate page.

Also state whether you are open to chatting. Some people will say "Neomail only, may be poofy," meaning they are multi-tasking and will frequently "poof" or leave the computer. They will check their Neomail and reply to offers in their own time. Other people will say "Stay and chat."

Ways of organizing your tradelist: You can organize your items in multiple ways. One way is to sort by function, for example Backgrounds, Clothes, Accessories, MiscellaNeous. That way, if someone is looking for a background but doesn't have anything specific in mind, they can just go through your backgrounds instead of having to comb through your entire tradelist.

Another way of organizing is by cap-value. Ask people what the most current and trusted value guide is. There will always be someone who has taken the trouble of gathering data on recent trades and putting it on a petpage. Refer to the guide and group your items by how many GBCs they are worth, for example a 2:1 section, 1 GBC section, 2 GBC section and Higher Valued section. This way, people can browse by price depending on how much they're thinking of spending.

And yet another way would be by subjective value: Highlights on top, Regular in the middle, HTPW at the bottom. Personally I wouldn't make this kind of list unless you're already familiar with the NC economy. It would be awkward if you listed something as a Highlight when in fact most people don't think of it as a Highlight.

Doing the trade: After somebody has agreed to a trade with you, clarify which account you are supposed to send the item to. Sometimes they want you to send the item to a family member or a friend. Sometimes they want the item on a side account. Because boxes are limited, you don't want to make the mistake of sending the item to the wrong account.

Stay in touch during the trading process. Let them know when you've sent your item. Don't accept the item they've sent you until you are certain that everything has gone smoothly.

Completing the trade: Let them know when you've received the item. After accepting, say thank you.

Being polite never hurts!

Final Thoughts

Neocash items can really open up your customisation options. The animated backgrounds, especially, can bring your Neopet to life in a way that Neopoint items rarely can. Just be careful with your budget and plan wisely, and you will soon achieve your customisation goals.

I hope this guide has given you an idea of how the NC economy works. Stay safe, and happy trading!