Tips and Pricing

by _andromache_

Let me tell you a little about my history with NeoPets, and then I'll go into opinions and thoughts on pricing.

First, my history. I've had three accounts with NeoPets. Two of 'em were hacked into. I wanted to give up playing altogether, but my kind friends princess_of_illium and prince_of_troy adopted my pets for me that I had worked hard to raise and gave them back when they set up my current account. But I'm jumping ahead. You see, the first time I was hacked, only money was taken, a good 21,000 NP.

The second time, faeries, map pieces, and money were stolen, and my three beautiful pets were ABANDONED. You don't know the kind of distress and anger I was feeling. I love my pets with all my heart and I worked hard to raise them. The thought of another adopting them just hurt me. They would not love them as I did. But princess_of_illium adopted them and gave them back to me. I was so relieved that some stranger didn't get to them first. It may seem silly, but I truly loved my creatures and did not want to lose them or have another care for them. What does this have to do with the rest of this article? Well, I was hacked during Advent Calendar, and Advent Calendar gave out lots of money, so I got rich quick. But if you look me up, you'll see that this account was started in January, after Advent Calendar, so I had to work for all my money. I would classify myself as lower middle class, just starting to make interest. But business is good, and I'll never have to worry about money again.

I feel that no one has the right to complain that they are poor. They are poor because they are wasteful and don't watch their money, or they are impatient or don't want to work. It took me a lot of time and effort to earn the money I have now, and I have some tips. Everyone says play games because that's a good tip. I play Kacheek Seek and get around 500 NP. If I played with both my pets, I could make more, but frankly, I get tired of it after a while. Lenny Trivia is a good way to make quick NP, too. I would go into flash games, but I can't play them because I'm blind.

Another good way to make money is to, you guessed it, open a shop. But you should stock things that sell. Food is a guaranteed seller. Any consumable item, as another person said, is sellable. I personally never go to another person's shop and buy cheap items and jack up the price in my own shop, 'cause that's cheating, but if you wait for the shops to stock, you can get a lot of items if you work fast. Sometimes, it takes a few tries, especially on a modem connection, but I always get my food from the main shops to sell or to feed to my pets.

Unusable items shouldn't be sold at a high price, either, because that's a rip off. Space food, videos, gifts, and gardening supplies are examples. I don't know what they're for, and if you're a new citizen, you might be conned into buying an unusable item for a high price. Those things should be taken out of the game, in my opinion. I remember buying manicotti for a little over a hundred NP and I found I could not feed it to my pets. I was very enraged. I feel those items cheat people. They should be sold cheaply, even in the main shops.

And now, for my opinions on pricing. Rich Neopians should make their prices lower because they don't need the money. Poor Neopians have some excuse to charge somewhat expensively because they need money. Instead, I see the opposite happening. There is great competition for money and strong pets in Neopia, where there should be more love and kindness for others. People will price items ridiculously just to make more money. Poor Neopians must be considered because their pets need to eat and gain abilities, too. The rich should not be favoured as they are. I understand that powerful battle items are expensive. They should be. There are more common battle items that can be used. But faeries should not be 4000 NP. A pet does stand a chance with common battle items, but does not stand a chance without abilities, and this is why I feel all Neopians need to have an equal opportunity, or at least, a more equal opportunity, to get them.

Food and faeries are indeed priced too high. Faeries are very cheap, and even if they were sold for 500 NP, you'd still make a hefty profit. Someone said pricing has to do with supply and demand. True, faeries are rare, and so prices are high because they are hard to obtain and many people want them. The same is true for seafood and most types of food not bought from the main food shops. But even with this argument, 4000 NP is too much compared to 90 NP. I can never get a faerie from the magic shop because I have a slow connection and because there are too few in stock.

I sell most food items cheaply because they are common, except for sandwiches and burgers. Quest items are somewhat more expensive because they are a little harder to get, but I sold my cheesy cod and tofu burger for 150 NP and still made a hefty profit. So, I try to sell things reasonably. My definition of reasonable is enough to make a profit, but not so much that it breaks everyone's bank accounts. Neomail me if you have any comments, complaints, or questions. Thanks for reading.