How to Be Successful in Neopia-Open a Shop!

by joannes0

I've recently started reading the articles in the Neopian Times and there is definitely a price war going on. The rich are getting richer and the poor are getting poorer. I guess you could say I'm one of the rich because I have over 100,000 Neopoints in the bank. I'm not here to complain about the prices of certain items, I'm here to help you, the poor, to become rich. But I hate the term rich. I'd rather call it successful. Successful as in not struggling to survive. The best way to earn a steady income in Neopia is quite simple: open a shop.

Now, the first question I know you're going to ask is how to get the money to open this shop. That's simple too. Play games! Here are a list of the best games to play:

1) Kiko Match. A very simple game that earns you lots of NP. The faster you are, the more you earn.

2) Lenny Trivia. He asks you questions about things around Neopia, such as how much a game of Dice-A-Roo costs. You earn 25 Neopoints for every correct answer, but you only get one chance to earn NP-the 2nd time it's asked, even if you get it right, you won't get anything. Just a pat on the back. But the questions are easy if you've been around for even a little while and if you're new, they're easy to find.

3) Kacheek Seek. Also a very easy game. You play hide and seek with your pet(s). It's time consuming, especially if you have more than one pet, but definitely worth the NP you'll earn.

4) Scorchy Slots. Not a bad game, but it takes some time and patience to get anywhere with this game. It only costs 2 NP to play though.

5) Cartoon Network. Very easy if you watch Cartoon Network. Fortunately I have a 5 year old who does, so it was easy. But if you guess right on the first try, you get 100 NP And there are five games. An easy way to earn 500 NP .

Okay, now you've got a shop and enough money to stock it. I suggest, before you start randomly filling your shop, that you decide what you want to put in it. It's virtually impossible to keep a little of everything in it. I used to put whatever struck my fancy on any particular day into my shop and it never did very well. A couple of months ago I decided to just do fruits and veggies and occasionally other healthy items such as baby food or vitamins. My shop has been a complete success every since and I can honestly say that it's the reason I'm so "rich". It can be whatever you want. Make yourself a Neopian fast food shop, stocking cheeseburgers and onion rings. Make it a sandwich shop, selling only sandwiches. Or sell just seafood. Whatever. But definitely pick a "theme" for your shop and stock only that.

Next, when stocking or pricing anything for/in your shop always use the shop wizard. Yes, buying what you need is always cheaper in the main shops, but they sell out so quickly. I myself have better things to do than sit and wait for the shops to re-stock. You could be there for days just getting what you need. Shopping in the marketplace is definitely a lot easier and faster. But only if you use the wizard. You'll be guaranteed to get the cheapest prices that way. And don't just take the first list that comes up. Do a search several times because chances are pretty good that the first list that comes up won't be the cheapest. Search at least 3 times before accepting the price range it gives you.

Do yourself a favour, though…charge reasonable prices. Charge just a few NP more than what you paid for the item in most cases. For example, you got lucky and purchased a red apple for 25 NP, but upon searching the wizard (again, search it several times) you see that most Neopians are charging 45 NP for red apples. I myself would only charge about 30 NP for the apple. Let's be fair, 45 NP for an apple is outrageous and we all know it. You still make a profit off that apple while still being among the cheapest. But on the other hand, bananas these days are going for at least 50 NP (most of them going for around 75), so I have no choice but to charge a higher price than I would like. In a situation like that, I usually am willing to take a small loss and charge a few NP cheaper than what I bought it for (if I bought that banana for 75, say, I charge only 55-60. I don't want to take too much of a loss, but at the same time, don't want to be greedy). And being among the cheapest is the best way to be sure your shop will be successful. If customers can count on you not to charge them an arm and leg for things they know are not worth it, they will come back.

Thirdly, keep your shop relatively small. What I mean is, don't make your shop a size 140 unless you plan on keeping 700 items in it at all times. Stocking a shop is very time consuming and I can almost guarantee you won't use all the room. It's just a waste of money because every time you increase the size of your shop, the price to increase it goes up. Big waste of money. My shop is a size 40. That's just big enough for me to carry 10 of each of my usual 20 items. I only increased the size of my shop when my shop became so successful that I had to increase the size so I could stock more and therefore keep up with the demands.

And last, but certainly not least, sell absolutely everything you have or find. If you're wandering around Neopia and happen upon a codestone (very common these days), sell it! If you buy your pet toys and they've become bored with them and no longer play with them, sell them! I made most of my money simply by visiting the advent calendar all throughout December. Oh, even though we now have a "quick stock" option, stock some of your stock by hand, one at a time. Before they came up with the quick stock option, I "found" quite a few items that way and consequently made a lot of money. If your pet doesn't eat it or won't play with it, sell it. If they are full and are happy already, sell it. A codestone alone is worth at least 900 NP these days.

So that's it. I made all the money I have this way. It's taken some time. It won't happen for you over night. But it will happen. It's just like real life…it takes patience and time and hard work. You can't get something for nothing.