Let's Go Shopping - Two by shadowwatcher13 |  |
Last
week we covered the basics of shopping at some of the main shops, restock
times, what to stock and above all, the necessity of being patient! This week,
let’s look at shopping at the more competitive stores, what to look for, pricing,
touch briefly on reselling and last, but not least... financing your store until
it is successful enough to support itself.
There are shops in every area of Neopia and they all specialise in regional
merchandise. Tyrannia sells Tyrannian Food, PetPets, Furniture, Weaponry and
also hosts the nightly concerts your pets love to attend! The same holds true
for Faerieland, the Lost Desert, Krawk Island, Mystery Island, The Haunted Woods,
Terror Mountain and the Space Station. Explore! Find out what stores
each area offers and remember that the restock times apply to every shop you
come across in your travels. There is a demand for every thing sold in Neopia,
it is up to you to decide what would sell best in your shop. The advantage to
these regional shops is that, for the most part, they are easier to shop because
they are less competitive; the disadvantage is they are less competitive because
a majority of the “high end” items in Neopia are sold in the Main Shops. They
are the shops that carry the books, medicines, toys, grooming supplies, wardrobe,
magic and defence items that are hot sellers in any shop! They also sell out
in no time flat, so you must be quick!!
The principle is simple. Flat-U-Less is the “disease of the month” in Neopia,
so if you shop the pharmacy it will be gone in seconds, you are competing with
many, many other buyers, and it isn’t offered in every restock. Magic Goop is
rare and sells quickly, the pharmacy only stocks one at a time and may only
stock one an hour. The restock items are as random as anything else on site;
again you must be patient and wait for want you want to come up and then spring
with the speed and grace of a Kougra!! With a couple of other exceptions (Neoblues
injections, grumble-be-gone, onion balm) the rest of the medicines are relatively
easy to get; Hoochie Cootchie tablets, Step Out Shoes, Itchy Scratchy Cream
and most of the other Neopian medicines are available in larger quantities,
rarely sell out quickly and the prices can be “haggled”. The same principle
applies across the board with the main shops. In the Magic Shop, faeries, motes,
some potions are gone in seconds; what remains is easily haggled for... but the
fact that it still remains may indicate less demand, think about whether you
can sell it before your buy it. Many of the morphing potions don’t move off
the shelves at the Magic Shop and they are expensive... so unless you can wait
till someone needs them for a quest for them to sell, pass for now! The same
applies to the Defence and Battle Magic Stores... what stays on the shelves there
will likely stay on the shelf in your shop! Usukis are usually cheaper on the
Shop Wizard, so if you go to Usukiland, keep an eye out for new and rare items,
but comparison shop for Fun in the Sun and Magical Hair Usukis, etc. - you can
get them cheaper at the private shops. The Furniture Shop is expensive, but
NeoPets is expanding their NeoHomes program, so furniture is a good investment,
as are gardening supplies. Collectable cards are always good for quests and
there is a Neocard game coming soon... so you may want to think about a card shop,
too! That brings us to the “action” shops.
Books sell!!! All the books! There is rarely a single book left over
from a restock, so if you shop for books, read the news, find out what is new
and go for them... but keep shopping and buying... books sell! There are three book
shops in Neopia... explore, find the other two and shop there as well. They restock
a little differently (not as many books available and not as wide a selection)
but still very much in demand and relatively easy to get!
Food sells (primarily regular food) if you stock up on Tyrannian and Mystery
Island food you are limiting your consumer appeal- so try to keep a little of
the “special foods” on hand and a lot of cheeseburgers, milkshakes and sandwiches
available, that will guarantee a broader customer base. Spooky food is great
for quests... but hard to find, if you come across cheap Spider Licorice or Eye
Candy – grab it; the resale value is huge! Grooming supplies sell; they are
necessary for pet care and common quest items as well... alternate between the
main shop and the Wiz and you will do well stocking grooming supplies. Uni’s
clothing stocks Skeith T-shirts, Satin Collars and yellow caps... all “hot” items
that cost very little and sell very well. They are cheap but sell out quick... so
don’t “haggle”...pay the asking price for the “high end” items, then haggle
for what is left! And that brings us to toys and candy...
Toys! Everyone wants them! Whether it is for pets or to sell... toys are hot!
Be careful with some of the plushies... they are very expensive in the Toy Shop,
but relatively cheap on the Wiz... it is a trial and error procedure, and you will
get wiser as you shop. I have spent 1100 NP on plushies that sell for 395 NP
on the Wiz, so be careful! The hot items right now are yarn balls, skateboards,
scratching posts, basketballs, whistles, some Fuzzles, and the new plushies
that seem to be coming out every day! There are sites that list all the items
available in Neopia – post on the Help Chat Board for directions, get a list
of toys and check the Wizard for what is hot and right now and go for those
items! Then go shopping at the Toy Shop; hone your skills and get those top
sellers. If you come away with one red yarn ball you have just made at least
500 NP on resale value!! You should be able to manage a bouncy ball or two as
well... the price is going down a bit on those (thank goodness!!) but they are
still top sellers with huge profit values! Skateboards, scratching posts and
basketballs are a little harder to get, they do not restock as many or as often,
but keep trying, you will get what you want if you are patient (yes-that again!).
Never get disappointed if you miss a rare item, remember that you are competing
with thousands of people and give it your best shot, but take it easy on yourself
(and your computer) if you don’t manage to snag it... another opportunity will
arise and you just might get it next time! Always rejoice if you do get the
only Rainbow Fuzzle in the Toy Shop... it is a fantastic feeling and you will feel
great for days!! I missed a Rainbow Uni but managed to grab a Rainbow Fuzzle,
Rainbow Evil Fuzzle, Cool Purple Teddy Bear, Rainbow Pencil and other rare items
out of the Toy Shop... mostly with my dial-up connection... so it can be done! And
if you can’t afford it, you can’t afford it! Get a red bouncy ball (14-24 NP)
or a blue skateboard (22+NP) or a few balls of yarn (8 or 9 NP), and pretty
soon you will be able to shell out 1400 NP for a Fuzzle or rare plushie!
Candy...wonderful candy! We all know the Snow Faerie has a sweet tooth and
often asks for candy to complete her quests. Sometimes she wants a “sweet” –
7 NP at the Chocolate Factory... 3000+ NP in the private shops. Jelly beans –
6 or 7 NP but 4500+ in the private shops. Again, get a list of candy while
you are getting your list of toys, check the Wiz and shop till you drop at the
Chocolate Factory! The resale value of many of the candy items is incredible
and the cost as sweet as the product!!!
Well... that’s it!!! A run down on how to shop, where to shop, what to look for
and lots of reminders to stay calm! All that’s left is pricing, a few points
about reselling and one or two hints about starting out... financing your shop!
Let’s start with pricing.
The Shop Wizard, Trading Post and Auction House determine the value of an
item; it is not necessarily what is written on the drop down menu on the item.
A jingly bell is valued at 10 NP but sells for 1000+ while a bottle of blue
sand is valued at 3000 NP but sells for 1 NP in most shops... so always check the
Wiz when pricing! It is that simple. It depends on how fast you want to “turn
over your stock” as to what your prices are; I try to “undercut” the Wiz by
a few hundred NP on items I know sell fast when priced a little cheaper than
anyone else! That aspect of your shop (pricing) is totally up to you, but try
to be realistic and always check the Wiz to be competitive.
The only reason I wish to even mention reselling is because some shops just
don’t want you buying them out of one particular item of stock!! If they post
a mention to re-sellers to “PLEASE... DO NOT BUY MY ITEMS TO RESELL THEM AT DOUBLE
THE COST”... respect that! It is totally up to you, but if the shop owner is trying
to sell to “regular” Neopians and trying to give them a bargain, and specifically
asking you not to buy them out, it can’t be much clearer than that! That said... many
of the smaller shops welcome re-sellers; they don’t care as long as they sell
at their price and they depend on your purchasing power, so if they have ten
of something you want... go for it!! They will be happy with what you have left
in their till and you can go back to your shop knowing you got what you wanted
and made someone else’s day!!!
Finally... getting started! Perhaps this should have been right at the beginning,
but this is such a big subject that it merits a two part article on it’s own!
I have decided to simplify it and perhaps let someone else pick up the bouncy
ball and run with it in another article about making Neopoints in Neopia. There
can never be enough information about that!!! For the purposes of this article
though, I am just going to touch on a few things!
It costs 250 NP to open a shop. That gives you a shop and allows you to stock
five items. Every five-item upgrade you make costs you a little more, but the
cost is low to start so you can have a size 10 shop (50 items) for relatively
little investment. Stocking it is your choice... if you go with low cost items,
you won’t need much “capital” (carry around NP) to start, but you will need
some and you might want to save a bit before you start shopping. In order to
save, you must earn... and that’s simple...play the games and sign up with the
sponsors!!! Check out all the games and find the ones you are best at... then play
them every day!! I will mention five, because they can be done within a half
hour and will earn you 5000+NP a day! DO YOUR TREASURE HUNT! DAILY!!! It’s
fun, easy, helps you get to know Neopia very quickly and the space map you get
at the end sells for 2700+... sell it at first, then collect them or buy them when
you get rich! Post on Help Chat Board for help... you will always get someone to
unscramble or interpret a clue for you, always for free... post rewards if you
want... but it really isn’t necessary! Kiko Match takes about 3 or 4 minutes to
play 3 rounds, like some of the other games in Neopia, you can only enter 3
high scores, so practice first, then submit high scores that count... you can easily
make 1100 NP from 3 rounds of Kiko. Destruct-O-Match... a lot of noise and a lot
of fun... and easily 500 NP+ a day! The Faerie Crossword pays 600 NP and again,
you can always get help and answers on Help Chat Board. And Poogle Solitaire
– 750 NP a day once you have the solution, again – Help Chat Board! Don’t be
shy, that is what it is there for and there are always people there willing
to offer free advice and solutions! All five of these games are in the Games/Puzzles
section... but don’t limit yourself! There are high paying card games (Pyramids
and Sakhmet Solitaire), Dice-A-Roo, Deckswabber, Meerca Chase... the list goes
on and on and every single game has lots of people saying that it’s the best!
Try them all... then settle on what’s right for you! Keep an eye out for the little
windows that say earn 100 NP (or more) by clicking here and do sign up with
the sponsors! It pays NP or rewards of some type and supports the site... so it
is good for both you and NeoPets... and that’s what the NeoPet community is all
about! Make sure you open a bank account; you will need to eventually because
you will be getting ahead on NeoPets if you follow all this advice, and you
will want to take advantage of your daily interest payment at the bank!
Well, that’s it! Now... it’s all up to you! You have the knowledge and ability
and NeoPets has the technology... get out there, start shopping and have fun!!!
For NeoPets' help, advice, and/or solutions, check out the Chat
Help Boards. You'll definitely find shadowwatcher13, along with hundreds
of others, helping out other Neopians the best they can. |
