Frequently Asked Questions
Intro
Q - What is restocking?
A - Restocking or RSing (which stands for restocking) is when you buy items from any shop not owned by a user (Pharmacy, Chocolate Factory, etc) to sell for a profit. Below is an example of restocking:
Let's go restock at the Pharmacy, for a moment.
Look, there's a Tongue Shrinker there for only 1,409 NP. If you look it up on the Shop Wizard, you'll see that it's worth more than that. Let's buy it!
This box is just asking us if we really want to buy the item or not. Click 'OK' or just hit enter and we can continue.
Now we have to actually buy the item; type in a similar price to what the shop keeper is asking, then click the Neopet that appears in the box. With any luck, we'll get the Tongue Shrinker.
Alright, we got it! Now we can go to our inventory and put it in our shop to sell for a profit.
But first, let's try to get another one...
What's this? We're going too fast it seems. We can only buy an item every 5 seconds. That's okay though, you can just hit the back button and try to get it again, or refresh at this page. Let's try refreshing again.
Darn! We were too slow to snag a second one, some other people just beat us to it. Oh well, maybe next time.
Q - What if my Internet speed isn't too great?
A - Don't worry, there are ways to speed it up. If you don't already have Firefox, then you may be able to find it through a search engine. If you are young and downloading something might get you in trouble, then you really should ask your parents if downloading Firefox is alright.
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Firefox is a type of browser (like Internet Explorer). It is much faster than IE however. Why? Well for instance, it doesn't use all of the pointless sounds that IE uses, like when clicking on a link. IE has more things to load because of stuff like that. Firefox also has a very nifty and easy to use feature called Adblock, or Adblock Plus. Adblock allows you to block just about anything but text. This includes images, annoying ads, flash, pop-ups, you name it. You can find Adblock or Adblock Plus through a search engine. Adblock is very easy to learn and use. Simply use the asterisk for a wildcard. For example, you can block *neopets.com* and anything with neopets.com in it would be blocked. That would block nearly everything on Neopets though, so don't do that one obviously, it's just an example. |
Q - What will happen to my Internet Explorer if I download Firefox?
A - Nothing, it will not be touched by Firefox, so don't worry. Just like Internet Explorer has a big 'e' shaped icon on your desktop, Firefox will also put an icon on your desktop when installed. You'll just click the Firefox icon like you would with the IE icon to browse the internet.
Firefox also has a feature to import some things that you use with Internet Explorer, such as your favourites. |
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Q - Firefox sounds fine, but is blocking all my ads going to get me frozen?
A - The following is from the Neopian Times Editorial Issue 190, it can explain it best:
| According to the Neopets Terms & Conditions, players shouldn't use any programs that change the game experience (refreshers, etc.). While I know this has been in effect for a while, it's now said that "if you use such a program on the neopets.com website, you will pay NeoPets, Inc. liquidated damages in the sum of Five Hundred Dollars for each time you use a program." Does this mean that if I use ad-block, or have a computer that doesn't run Flash and can't see ads, that I'm going to be fined?!?!?! - spork_queen |
| Neopets strives to an environment where everyone has an equal opportunity to flourish if they obey the rules of game. The Terms and Conditions set forth how the level playing field is maintained. People who use outside programs to cheat the game play, such as au to buyers programs, are not playing fairly. Programs that do not affect the game play, such as ad block, do not give a player an unfair advantage and therefore can be used. Likewise, people can always manually refresh a page. As long as you are not playing unfairly, you have nothing to worry about. |
So no, blocking your ads is perfectly fine with TNT. Since blocking ads does not give you an advantage over other players.
Q - Can I block the items that I don't buy when I'm restocking?
A - No,
THIS IS AGAINST THE RULES!!
Blocking the items you don't go for while restocking DOES give you an unfair advantage. It allows you to focus on the best items, allows for easier restocking, and is NOT allowed. I have seen cases of people being frozen for this.
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I have recently noticed many restockers get iced. When restocking if you have ja va disabled is that considered cheating? ~zlqqlz |
| Yes, disabling ja va or images while restocking is considered giving yourself an unfair advantage over other players, and is not allowed. Even though it's a browser function and not a 3rd party cheat, it's still not allowed. Just like opening 100 window tabs and hitting "refresh all" Trying to get Random Events will get you frozen faster than you can say, "Geraptiku" (or figure out how to pronounce it; one or the other). Don't get paranoid, though! If you don't know if you disabled ja va, you most likely haven't. This question probably doesn't apply to 99.87% of you, so don't fret about it if you have no idea what we're blithering about here. |
Q - What must I block to get rid of all the Neopets ads?
A - Block the following:
*fastclick*
*doubleclick*
*tribalfusion*
*google-analytics*
*googlesyndication*
*neopets.com/adslug*
*neopets.com/ads*
Q - Where should I start off when beginning to restock for the first time?
A - The Pharmacy is a good place to start out at. You can research all the items that restock in the Pharmacy from the Hospital. Use to Shop Wizard to look up the prices and to find out what is good to go for when the Pharmacy does happen to restock. |
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Another great shop to try out when starting is the Magical Bookshop. Many of the books you buy are profitable; some more than others. This is a great shop to get used to the idea of RSing and improve you skills as well.
Q - What shop should I restock in once I've got the hang of things?
A - This depends on the speed of your computer and the speed of yourself as well. Some shops stock many more unbuyables (anything that can't be sold on the shop wiz, 100K) than others, but those shops are usually harder to restock in. For instance, Kauvara's Magic Shop stocks a very high amount of unbuyables (morphing potions), however it's very hard to get one because there are so many people in the shop at any given time. Pick the shop you are most comfortable in. What I mean is, make sure you restock at a shop where you can earn the max amount of NP in for your personal speed, while at the same time it's not too fast for you. If you find you're not making enough NP, then move to a more profitable / harder shop, if you're making too little NP then move to an easier shop.
Q - How can I tell which shops are the most profitable?
A - You can't, not without trying it out first. Pick a shop, any shop, and restock there for a day or two. If you find it's too hard and you're not getting many items, try to find an easier shop. If you find that you're getting many items but the profit is just not enough for you, try to find a harder shop. The first week or so should be all about researching that shop, a shop you can feel most comfortable restocking in.
Q - What's the box that comes up when I click on an item?
A - It's just asking you if you're sure you'd like to buy the item or not. It's a good idea to keep a finger on the enter / return key so you can buy the item faster.
Q - I got a few items, now what?
A - Search them up on the Shop Wizard to see the current prices. If you made a profit on a certain item, then you'll know to go for it when you see it again. If you lost some NP on an item, then you'll know not to go for that item next time. This is what is meant by research.
Q - What does the 'Type' of an item mean?
A - This tells what kind of item it is. It will tell you where the item was restocked from as well.
Q - What does the 'Weight' of an item mean?
A - It's just how much the item weights. It's a totally useless number, not important.
Q - What does the 'Rarity Index' of an item mean?
A - The Rarity Index is to show how rare the item is. For instance r70 - r79 items will stock much more than r80 - r89 items. In general, the higher the rating, the more it should be worth, but check the Shop Wizard first to make sure. The best you can get is pretty much r95 - r99. r99's don't stock often. If you get very lucky, you'll restock a r100 item. r100 is the best you're going to get and they are super rare.
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Q - What does the 'Est. Value' of an item mean?
A - This number is NOT how much the items sells for. Always check how much an item is worth on the shop wiz before selling it. This is just a reference for the shop owner, he needs to make a profit too you know. |
Q - Any tips on buying the items a little faster?
A - First, when buying an item, ask yourself if you really want to haggle or not. If you're going for an item that you know will get you a 10K profit, do you really want to haggle a few hundred off the price and risk it being taken by someone else? Of course not. The only time you should haggle is when the item you're going for would not be profitable at its current price. For instance, the faeries in Kauvara's Magic Shop aren't worth buying at their current price, but if you haggle them down to a nice point, you may just make some profit.
Second, you don't have to enter in the exact price to get the item. You can go a little above or below the price and still get the item. Eg/ If the shop keeper is selling an item for 2500, you could type 2444, 2555, 2424, 2442, or a set of other numbers much faster and still get the item. If they sell it for 10000, you could type in 9999, 9898, 9879, 10101, or another set of numbers and still get it, but much faster.
353 for example, is much easier and faster to type than 358. You also don't have to get rid of that 0 for the item to be bought.
Q - If I'm going for items that are constantly costing me 2,500 NP for example, can I just copy and paste that number to buy the item when I'm restocking?
A - No. Again, this is against the rules, and here is another editorial question to show it.
There has been some controversy on the Battledome Chat lately about copying and pasting haggles while restocking. Will you please make it clear whether or not it's legal to do this while restocking? Thanks! ~you_got_mail_ |
| Controversy on the BD chat? *gasp* Anyway, you were a bit vague so... two answers.
If you mean physically highlighting and copying the numerical part of, "The Shopkeeper says 'I wont take less than 34934 Neopoints for it.'" and pasting it into the haggle box on the next page, this is fine. It honestly doesn't seem much different in speed than tapping 34343 as quick as you can. Unless issues arise from it, we'll say this is fine for now.
If you mean constantly keeping a mid-range number in your clipboard while you restock the same item over and over, meaning that you're not copying and pasting manually every time, we're calling this a cheat, since you're not physically recreating the offer each time. |
Q - When do the shops RS?
A - Before June of 2006, each shop restocked items at a specific second; however the minute they restocked was random. What I mean by this is that all the shop restocks were random, however if they did happen to restock, they would do it at a certain second of the minute. For example, Kauvara's Magic shop would restock at about 1 or 2 seconds past the minute, Pharmacy was about 8 to 9 seconds past the minute, Book was 7 to 8 seconds past the minute, Furniture was 15 to 16 seconds past the minute, etc. Each shop restocked in order according to shop number, so they all had their own time for restocking.
Thus, you didn't need to keep refreshing the page over and over again, just around the time the shop may have restocked. For instance, it would have been pointless to refresh at Kauvara's Magic Shop 30 seconds past the minute if it restocks at 1 or 2 seconds past the minute.
THIS IS NO LONGER THE CASE HOWEVER!!
In the middle of June, 2006, there were two main changes made in the restocking system. These changes were:
No longer will any shop restock on a specific second of a minute. Each shop restock time is now completely random.
The shops will no longer restock in sync. They will no longer all restock together.
What do these changes mean? It means were going to have to get used to a new form of restocking.
I'll address the first change first. Since all restock times are completely random now, this means we'll all have to refresh a more now... a lot more. Expect to be sitting in front of your computer doing nothing but refreshing or visiting multiple shops. This also means that we could be restock banned a lot more often now because of all this refreshing.
Now the second change. Before there were any changes in the restock system, all shops used to restock together. If one restocked, they would all restock. Now however, this is not how it works. One shop could restock multiple times before another one does. One could even restock twice in a minute now. It's all completely random.
The one good thing that comes from this new system I think is the chance for restocking in multiple shops. You could be restocking three or more shops at any given instant. Simply open a few windows and scroll through them and refresh. Don't pick too many shops though, or you'll have a lot to scroll through and you might miss a restock.
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Q - What is RS banned?
A - Being RS banned is when you have refreshed too many times in a shop. You will then become banned from that shop for a time period. A ban will last anywhere from 1 hour to 24 hours, it's random. |
Most of the time, it should be obvious to you when you have become banned. The shop will look like this one refresh…
and like this the next refresh…
Sometimes it can be hard to tell though, like if you're in a shop with only one item left for example.
Q - How much NP should I carry on me?
A - This depends on which shop you're in. Battle Magic or Defense Magic sells items at hundreds of thousands for instance. Others sell items at a few thousand or less. I personally try to carry half a mil on me at all times, in case I come across a rare item and need to buy it. Just make sure you carry enough on you, I'm sure you'd hate it if you couldn't go for that unbuyable or something very rare because you weren't carrying enough NP on you.
Q - I can't find the item I just bought on the Shop Wizard, what should I do?
A - If it's not on the Shop Wizard, chances are it will be on the Trading Post or the Auctions.
It might be an unbuyable. |
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Q - What is an unbuyable?
A - An unbuyable is a term for an item that you have restocked that can be sold for 100K or more. Basically, it cannot be sold on the Shop Wizard, hence the term unbuyable.
Q - Are there better times than others to restock?
A - Yes, when most people are not on. As you restock more and more, you'll notice that there are certain times of the day that you find easier to get items while restocking. Most likely these times are early in the morning when no one has woken up yet, or late at night when everyone has gone to bed. Try to restock when you think few people will be on, this will give you quite an advantage. It also depends where you live; I have found that the best time for me for instance (living in Canada) is about 2 to 7 AM my time (although I usually can't RS during that time). Others across the world may find that restocking at 2 to 7 pm is best. You can also find out how many players are playing right now from the Neopets.com main page.
Q - What's half price day?
A - Half price day is the 3rd of every month. All the items in the shops will be selling for half price that day. I personally don't restock on that day because there tends to be many more people restocking.
Q - Where do you RS?
A - Throughout my years of restocking, I have moved from place to place, trying to broaden my restocking skills by restocking in many different shops. So far, I have restocked in such places as the Pharmacy, Chocolate Factory,
Bakery, Space Weapons, Battle Magic, Defence Magic, Kauvara's Magic Shop, Kayla's Potion Shop, Ice Crystals, Ye Olde Petpets,
Merifoods, Magical Bookshop, Booktastic Books, Royal Potionery, Brightvale Armoury, and the Neopian Post Office Kiosk.
I don't restock anymore. I simply don't have the time anymore with college or a job.
Restocking Avatars
Other Things to Keep in Mind…
Be patient when selling an unbuyable. The more expensive and rare it is, the longer you could be waiting for a decent offer. Don't jump the gun and sell it for the first offer you get or you might regret it.
The Battledome board is the unofficial 'restocking board.' It's a great place to ask even more questions about restocking, talk about restocking, or just plain brag about a nice restock you got.
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