| NEOPIAN MARKETPLACE - I'm sure you looked at the title of this article and went
"Huh? What do you mean method to madness? If you're crazy, you're crazy right?" Well,
not really. Everything has a motive or a reason to do what it does.
I've been on Neopets for about three years now and I've done more than play
the games and raise my Neopets in this world. I've also studied the economy
of this place and discovered patterns. Patterns that can rake in millions upon
millions of Neopoints.
Wonder how? Well for starters, it's not easy, or fast. HA! I just chased a
bunch of you away with that statement. "Well what good is it if it's not fast?"
you say. You're right. It's not. BUH-bye now. *waits for a few seconds*
OK, now that they're gone and those of you still reading this just might be
interested in getting Neopoints no matter how long it may take you. That's great,
because it means that YOU want to learn something. Good. Because this article
is for those who are willing to work for their NP, not just get a free handout.
Free handouts can't be depended on. Sure you may get the occasional handout
from a nice Neopian or something from your wish list that you've had attached
to your messages in the Message board for months now. But is it really worth
it to get something small in a few months or would you rather have something
fantastically large in about a year? Fantastically large meaning you can walk
into the Hidden Tower and pick an item to take home with you.
Oh boy! I got your attention NOW don't I?!?! Hehe. :)
There is a pattern to Neopia that takes a couple of years to study, but I
willingly share my hard studied information with the rest of you now. About
once a year or so, Neopia has a major event known as a war, in which Neopians
the world over seize their armor and weapons and charge off to battle to save
a land from utter destruction. Going back for as long as I've been here, we've
had (in no particular order) the Meridell war, the Tyrannian war, and the Lost
Desert war. There may have been more that I have missed, I don't know. Here's
your pattern that repeats almost perfectly every time.
Rumor -> War happens -> Aftermath
Now, to sum it all up for you.
Rumor
A rumor comes out that "Oh, by the way, there's going to be a war sometime
in the future." Whammo. Suddenly every Neopian leaps out of their slumber of
contentment to grab codestones and train, train, train for the battle, hoping
for a shiny trophy and maybe a cool item reward.
Guess what happens? That's right. In the months that it takes the Neopets
Team to plan out such a majorly involved event, codestone prices take a fantastic
leap in price (sometimes double, sometimes triple original price). Oooh, I think
I heard a few *cha-ching* noises out there already. But wait, there's more.
War happens
Once the war has reached the middle or near the end, codestone prices have
peaked to the highest price they'll ever reach for this span of time. Right
about now, the few who sneaked into Edna's tower for a look into her crystal
ball are selling off those codestones that they've already stacked up on for
a 200% to 300% profit. *Cha-ching* again.
Aftermath
Whew. The war is over, profits have been made, and Neopia is safe once again
thanks to a lucky few who got in the last shot at the monster/bad guy/etc. But
just because the war is over doesn't mean the moneymaking is over. Oh no. This
is because now that we've had a spike in codestones for battle, a somewhat less
important item has plummeted. While fighting, you aren't worried about species
your pet is. That's right. Morphing potions plummet to a tiny fraction of what
they were (even though, for some reason, paint brushes shoot up along with the
codestones).
OK, stop staring at me and pull out those little Lost Desert calculators of
yours and take a trip back in time with me. Back to before the Meridell/Darigan
war?
Flashback sequence
We'll start your endeavor with a sweet stash of 100,000 NP, won by sheer dumb
luck at the Wheel of Excitement, Scratchcards, NeoQuest, and winnings from games
that you played to full permit every single day without fail for six months.
Yes, you are SO SICK of those games now you don't even want to hear their names.
By the way, the figure I gave you is based on the bare lowest you will probably
make even if you are terrible at games but still play them. If you are lots
better, plug in your own total of Neopoints.
The tiniest whiff of a possible upcoming war sends you out into the Neopian
market to buy as many codestones (minus the Lu) as you can afford. Spare nothing
in your bank account.
Alright, get those Lost Desert calculators ready now. Those of you pros at
math's Nightmare will like this part.
Pretend you spend it all on one specific codestone of your choice, not including
Lu codestones, because they're worth less in price than any other and will thus
rise less. At the end, you have 33 stashed away in your deposit box.
At the time, the price for a codestone was between 2,600 and 3,000 NP if you
looked very carefully. For the sake of our sanity, let's just pretend you bought
every codestone for 3,000 NP.
33 * 3,000 = 99,000 NP spent on codestones alone.( * means multiply by)
You have 1,000 to play with for food and anything else.
Along came the war and the prices shot up to around 4,600 NP per codestone.
Suddenly your investment was a nice bundle of profit.
33 * 4,600 = 151,800 NP!!!
Total Profit?
151,800 - 99,000 = 52,800 NP that just poured into your shop till during the
war.
Nice huh? In four months, you gained all that just by investing in a type
of item. If you are better at games, the numbers will be thousands, even tens
of thousands higher. Those of you with excellent game playing skills will be
dumbfounded to find millions at the end. But even with poor skills you are still
making a nice profit.
Ahh, but 'tis not over yet. Remember, we still have to think about the plummeting
morphing potions. Red and blue Kougra morphing potions dropped from their awesome
height to chump change. 6,000 NP per potion, compared to tens or hundreds of
thousands that they were going for.
151,800 - 1,800 (to even out how many you buy and for food) = 150,000
150,000 % 6000 = 25 morphing potions (% means divided by)
Still with me so far? Plug in the figures in your calculators to double check
if you wish. What happens next? Well guess what? We've caught up with our own
time again. Currently, red Kougra morphing potions (at the time I write this)
are worth 30,000 NP and steadily rising. Go ahead, plug it in. *listens to the
stunned gasping*
25 * 30,000 = [drum roll] 750,000 NP!!
Seven hundred fifty thousand!!! *Gasp* and *gasp* again because the prices
are STILL rising on the potions. If they only hit 50,000 NP and stay there,
you'll get 1.25 million. If they surge to 100,000 NP, You'll have 2.5 million.
Beyond that, well, you do the math. But I'm not gonna catch you if you guys
faint OK?
Now for the downer part… The part that is very scary, the shooting down of
my own theory? *deep breath*
Sadly, there is no guarantee at all that the prices will ever rise as high
as 100,000 Neopoints, and chances are they won't, but, don't YOU think it's
worth it to wait? I sure do. Even if they top off where they are at 30,000,
you would still be making a mind-boggling amount of NP a safe, legal and fantastic
way. Why?
This is because I've watched the economy. I knew exactly what would rise and
fall in price, and I knew exactly what we should invest in. Now I've told you.
So tell me, the next time Neopia has a war, how are YOU gonna make your money?
:)
Author's Note: I welcome questions and comments about my article as with
any of my stories. However, please don't be insulting. Calling me a dizzy, tentacled
Boogie with the Sneezles will not be a good idea. I have several attack trained
Boogies on loan from Meuka to turn loose on you if you do. I assure you, "SNOT"
a good idea to insult those guys. ;)
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