Neopian Economics

The vast majority of neopoints come from games. Why? Because they cost absolutely nothing to play (other than gambling games) and can award up to 1000 neopoints every time you play them. While that might not seem like a lot to some, consider this: as of right now, there are over 150 games available to play, and you can play each game three times a day (sometimes more, if you get a random event or during Neopets' birthday). That means that one could get, in theory, over 450,000 neopoints a day. That means that it is possible to get over 164,250,000 neopoints in a year. To put this in context, that’s enough to buy ten Pirate Captain’s Cutlasses, which is the most expensive item in the Hidden Tower. It’s also enough to buy 82 Faerie Paint Brushes or 54 Draik eggs. If you’re feeling evil, you could even get 110 Meepits. Obviously, it’s extremely unlikely that anyone could do this, considering that playing every game the maximum amount of times possible would probably take over 24 hours, and considering that it’s impossible to get the full 1000 neopoints from some games, but it is still a massive amount.

One result of all these neopoints coming into the economy is inflation. Inflation happens when more neopoints enter the economy. The reason this happens is because with more neopoints available, the price of the product becomes relatively cheaper, so prices must increase so that their actual value remains the same. However, not all prices will increase. This is because prices are determined by supply and demand. When there are more people that want an item than there are items available, the price will go up until the item becomes less desirable, so the supply equals the demand. However, if there are more of the item, but not more people that want it, the price will go down. This is why items that can be gotten from dailies, such as omelettes, have very low prices, since there is such a large supply of them. However, rarer omelettes will have higher prices because they are less common, so the supply is not as large.

After gaining neopoints, it is possible to use them. This can be done by investing them in places such as the stock market or the bank, or by buying stuff. You can buy items from two places – the main shops and shops owned by other Neopians. The main shops have a limited amount of items when they restock every eight minutes or so, and the items that are available are random. Therefore, you have to be quick if you want to buy the item you want. The process of buying items from shops is called “restocking” and it is a method that many Neopians use to make neopoints. But how do you turn the items you buy into neopoints? You do this by putting items in your shop. After pricing an item, it is possible for other Neopians to use the Shop Wizard to search for your item. The Shop Wizard conveniently lists the items available by price, so if your item is cheaper than the others, it will be bought more quickly, while if it is more expensive, it will probably stay in your shop until you reduce the price. This also happens on the trading post, since people are more likely to bid on a lot that is asking for something less expensive than something more expensive, although this isn’t always the case. The trading post is useful for selling items worth more than the 99,999 neopoints limit in shops, and the auction house is good for items worth even more than the 800,000 neopoints limit in trades. However, if an item is worth more than the 10 million neopoints limit in auctions, it becomes much more difficult to sell. You can also find items to buy using the Shop Wizard, Trading Post, and Auctions if you want a specific item.

How do you know how much an item is worth? Rarity is an important factor in the prices of items. Most items are available from shops. However, rarer items are in shops less often. Therefore, they are not as common, so they have higher prices. In addition to rarity, there are also other factors contributing to price. Whether or not an item is reusable is one factor. This is why books, foods, and stamps have higher prices – they can only be used once, so the supply will shrink over time. On the other hand, toys and plushies can be used multiple times, so a plushie with the same rarity as a book will usually have a lower price. If an item is retired, its price will also go up, since the supply is no longer increasing. However, if an item was released from the Advent Calendar, where many people are able to get it, it will have a lower price than something that was more difficult to get. This also happens when Tarla gives out an item, since the supply greatly increases, but the demand does not.

But how can you tell if an item is in demand or not? Obviously, if an item doesn’t do anything, it will not have much demand other than for galleries. Items that have a function include gourmet foods, stamps, and books, since using them allows people to get trophies. Similarly, Battledome items that are very powerful for their price are also in demand. If an item gives an avatar, it will also be more valuable. The demand for TCGs is not very high, since they don’t do anything, so when an item has a low supply but great demand, it has a much higher price than items with a low supply and low demand.

I have already discussed where neopoints come from and how to use them, so the next thing to discuss is how to use items. After buying, winning, or receiving an item, it is possible to use in a variety of ways. Books can be read to your pet, and foods can be fed to your pet. Battledome equipment can be equipped to your pet and used in the Battledome. You can use toys to play with your pet, and some clothes are wearable. However, there are also other uses for these items. If you get a quest, you can search for an item, and by returning it to the person that requested it, you can win a prize. Faeries will increase the statistics of your pet in return for an item, but you are not able to use the Shop wizard while doing one of their quests. If you want to do a quest for Taelia, The Esophagor, Jhudora, or other people in need of help, you will be able to use the Shop Wizard, but that won’t be much help, since they occasionally ask for items that cost over 100,000 neopoints. Combine that with a time limit, and it can be very difficult to do these quests, although they can also have very nice rewards. You can also create a gallery to display a collection, if you wish.

The life cycle of a neopoints may seem to be a simple one, coming from games, being exchanged by Neopians, and ultimately returning to shops, and it is. Occasionally, neopoints may break and be discarded into the Underwater Fishing cavern. The life cycle of the neopoint’s cousin, the dubloon, is similar. Dubloons are found in the sands of the Lost Desert, implying that long ago, the desert was a sea where pirates roamed. Or maybe the Lost Desert just has high levels of Krawkite – we may never know. After being found, dubloons may be bought and sold for neopoints, or used as currency on Krawk Island. As for what the pirates do with them, we may never know… it probably involves treasure chests, though.

Hopefully, you now understand Neopian economics. You know that price is determined by the Mee- erm, supply and demand. You know that items come from Lord S-hops. Yeah, shops… *shifty eyes* So, go and use some neopoints!