The Golden Dubloon: Profit or Loss? (An Experiment)

The delight of the savory edibles is not the only reason to treat your pet at the Golden Dubloon. There is a chance that he or she will be too full to eat the entire meal which was ordered. In that case, there will be leftovers to take home. All of these items are r100, meaning that they are gourmet foods which will add to your Neopet's score for the Gourmet Club. Nevertheless, you can't obtain any points by eating these items within the restaurant. Instead, you must obtain the leftover food and feed it to your pet later. Since leftovers are not guaranteed, collectors and Gourmet Club enthusiasts alike are willing to pay a lot of Neopoints for the rarer items.

Intrigued by this prospect, I decided to conduct an experiment. I treated my Baby Kacheek named Walda to one hundred meals at the Golden Dubloon. The total value of the Dubloons that I spent was around 162,000 Neopoints. The purpose of my experiment was to determine the approximate chance of receiving leftovers as well as the margin of profit or loss after they were obtained.

In order to have a chance of receiving leftovers, it is imperative to buy one item from each of the menu's four categories. Otherwise, it will be impossible to receive leftovers. Regarding each category, any item will suffice. Please note that the Krakuberry Cove, found in the "Desserts" section, will cost two Dubloons. The price on the menu is incorrect at the time of writing. Also note that your pet should be bloated before eating to increase the chance of obtaining leftovers. Below, I have listed the prices of the different items from both the restaurant and the Shop Wizard or Trading Post. If an item is unpriced or sparsely priced, meaning that there is no consistent value, then there is a note. Please realize that the prices set by other users may fluctuate over time. Here are the prices as of September 4th, 2016:

"Starter Courses"

--Caesar Salad: 1 Dubloon / 4000 Neopoints

--Tropical Breeze: 1 Dubloon / 3000 Neopoints

--Oyster Obsession: 2 Dubloons / 7000 Neopoints

--Tomato Cannon Ball: 2 Dubloons / 6000 Neopoints

--Crusty Clam Surprise: 3 Dubloons / 9000 Neopoints

--Shiver Me Shrimp: 3 Dubloons / 9000 Neopoints

--Double Stuffed Guppy: 5 Dubloons / 9000 Neopoints. (This is a bad deal. The Crusty Clam Surprise and the Shiver Me Shrimp cost only 3 Dubloons each, yet they sell for the same amount of Neopoints as the more expensive Double Stuffed Guppy.)

"Main Courses"

--Baby Bloater: 3 Dubloons / 250,000 Neopoints

--Slithering Squid Surprise: 3 Dubloons / Unpriced but definitely unbuyable.

--Barnacle Bills Belt Busting Burger: 4 Dubloons / Unpriced but definitely unbuyable.

--Bilge Rat Madeira: 4 Dubloons / Unpriced but definitely unbuyable.

--Headless Horsefish: 5 Dubloons / Unpriced but definitely unbuyable. The current Trading Post prices are inflated.

--Loretta Fontaines Perfect Pizza: 5 Dubloons / 400,000 Neopoints

--Our Famous Krawk Pie: 5 Dubloons / Unpriced but definitely unbuyable.

--Capn Threelegs Cutlass Crusade: 9 Dubloons / 650,000 Neopoints

"Desserts"

--Berry Joy Fun Pop: 2 Dubloons / Unpriced but definitely unbuyable.

--Chocolate Joy Fun Pop: 2 Dubloons / Unpriced but definitely unbuyable.

--Mocha Joy Fun Pop: 2 Dubloons / Unpriced but definitely unbuyable.

--Krakuberry Cove: 2 Dubloons / 160,000 Neopoints

--Blueberry and Oyster Ice Cream: 3 Dubloons / Unstable price. Definitely unbuyable.

--Forbidden Plunder: 3 Dubloons / 200,000 Neopoints

--Squid on a Stick: 3 Dubloons / 475,000 Neopoints

--Pinanna Paradise: 4 Dubloons / 300,000 Neopoints

"Cocktails"

--Bomberry Grog: 2 Dubloons / 100,000 Neopoints

--ErgyFruit Grog: 2 Dubloons / Unpriced but definitely unbuyable.

--Krakuberry Grog: 2 Dubloons / Unpriced but definitely unbuyable.

--Tchea Grog: 2 Dubloons / Unpriced but definitely unbuyable.

--Cherry Pop: 2 Dubloons / Unpriced but definitely unbuyable.

--Grape Pop: 2 Dubloons / Unpriced but definitely unbuyable.

--Lemon Pop: 2 Dubloons / 110,000 Neopoints

--Raspberry Pop: 2 Dubloons / Unpriced but definitely unbuyable.

--Cannon Fodder: 2 Dubloons / 130,000 Neopoints

--Grog Light: 2 Dubloons / 150,000 Neopoints

--Keel Haul: 2 Dubloons / 150,000 Neopoints

--Land Lubber: 2 Dubloons / 150,000 Neopoints

--Man O War: 2 Dubloons / 125,000 Neopoints

--Walk The Plank: 2 Dubloons / 175,000 Neopoints

--Hogshead: 10 Dubloons / 230,000 Neopoints. (This is a bad deal. The Walk The Plank only costs 2 Dubloons, yet it sells for almost as many Neopoints as the Hogshead. The Hogshead costs five times as many Dubloons, yet it is not even worth twice as much as the Walk The Plank.)

Please note that the least expensive way to possibly receive leftovers involves the purchase of the following items for a total of 8 Dubloons:

--Caesar Salad or Tropical Breeze (1 Dubloon each)

--Baby Bloater or Slithering Squid Surprise (3 Dubloons each)

--Krakuberry Cove or any "Fun Pop" (2 Dubloons each)

--Any drink except for Hogshead (2 Dubloons)

Regarding my experiment, I spent nine Dubloons on each meal. Every time, I bought a Caesar Salad, a Slithering Squid Surprise, a Blueberry and Oyster Ice Cream (which I was hoping to obtain for my gallery), and either a bottle of pop, a Cannon Fodder, or a Keel Haul. Out of one hundred meals, I received leftovers eighteen times, resulting in a success rate of eighteen percent. Regarding the items that I obtained, sixteen of them were inexpensive Caesar Salads, while the other two were valuable Lemon Pops.

Please note that if you receive a leftover item after buying "Assorted Bottles of Pop", "Grog in Four Fruity Flavors", or "Joy Fun Pops", you will receive a random variety. The type that was shown before you paid will not matter. During one of Walda's meals, a Grape Pop was shown, yet I received a Lemon Pop instead. Also, based on the prices of these varieties, I have hypothesized that one type is much more common than the other three, which can't even be found for sale at the time of writing.

The Caesar Salads were from the "Starter Courses" category. Unfortunately, they weren't worth very many Neopoints. 16/18 of the items that I received were Caesar Salads. Therefore, almost 89 percent of the foods were cheap items. Based on this information, I have concluded that it is much more common to receive an inexpensive item from the "Starter Courses" section, provided that you receive leftovers at all.

I sold all sixteen of the Caesar Salads for 3846 Neopoints each, resulting in a total of 61,536 Neopoints. Regarding the Lemon Pops, they are worth 110,000 Neopoints each at the time of writing. 61,536 + 110,000 + 110,000 = 281,536. Therefore, the total value of the items that I received was 281,536 Neopoints. Please recall that my cost was 162,000 Neopoints. 281,536 - 162,000 = 119,536 Neopoints, which was my profit.

Due to the high value of the Lemon Pops, I was able to make Neopoints by eating at the Golden Dubloon. I was satisfied despite the absence of the Blueberry and Oyster Ice Cream that I had been searching for. However, it is very common to receive a cheap item. Therefore, I have concluded that the Golden Dubloon is only worth a try if you have a decent amount of Neopoints to spend. If you only eat there a few times, it is very probable that you will lose Neopoints. If you treat your pet to a meal at the Golden Dubloon, I wish you luck. I hope that you will receive a very expensive item.