I Got Packrat! Now What?

     Ah, the Packrat avatar. It’s only awarded to those users who manage the task of collecting one thousand unique items in their Safety Deposit Box (SDB) - no easy feat. But at last, you’ve done it, and the avatar is yours to keep! As you stand looking triumphantly at the disheveled pile that is your SDB, reality begins to set in and your smile fades. What are you going to do with all of this stuff?

     Well, you could simply leave it be, maybe even keep adding to it. After all, once a packrat, always a packrat, right? But that doesn’t have to be the case. Here’s how to take control of the daunting collection that is your SDB after getting the avatar.

     Step 1: Worthless Junk

     On your way to getting Packrat, you almost definitely bought some worthless items, maybe even a few hundred of them. These should be the first things to go now that it’s time to clean out your SDB. Although almost every category has some items worth only a handful of NP, the “Special” and “Tiki Tack” categories are a good place to start.

     At this stage, it’s time to be ruthless with your cleaning. Empty out those rotten sandals, piles of dung, and kelp. Usually, the best option is to dump them into your inventory and use Quick Stock to discard. I consider an item worthy of discarding if it regularly sells for under 100 NP on the Shop Wizard, but you might decide on a higher or lower number based on how much stuff (and how many NP!) you have.

     There is one other option, though it will take quite a bit longer. If you know someone else who’s trying to get Packrat, you could ask if they’d like any of your items. Maybe you could set up trades with the maximum amount of junk and have them place a low bid, or simply send them the items if they don’t mind. If you don’t know anyone in this position, though, don’t be afraid to go with the discard method. The whole point of Step One is to get rid of useless clutter as fast as possible.

     Depending on how many things you bought specifically for Packrat, this step might have cleared out anywhere from a few dozen to several hundred items of your hoard. All done? Now we can move onto Step Two.

     Step 2: Your Collections and Interests

     Did you empty everything in your gallery into the SDB to help yourself reach Packrat? Time to move it back where it belongs. Check your wearable clothes, too, and see if there’s anything you want to keep in the Closet instead. (But beware, don’t let your Closet turn into a second hoard!)

     Once that’s finished, think about your main goals for the site. If you’re trying to train a pet for the Battledome, codestones and dubloons will be very helpful, but they won’t do any good sitting in your SDB! Are you trying to complete a page in your stamp album or add to your NeoDeck of collectible cards? You might have some of those items just waiting for you to use them. Maybe you’ll even decide to start a new goal when you see what you have. I know at least one person who discovered they had collected over one hundred books without even realizing it. The next day, they began reading those books to a pet, hoping to win the Booktastic Book Award!

     In most cases, this step won’t take you too long - it’ll be easy to figure out what you need and what you don’t. However, if you’re going for Gourmet Club, it’s wise to compare foods you have against a list of what you’ve already fed your pet, so you don’t waste any duplicates that won’t give you points.

     Speaking of duplicates, did you find any items you can’t or don’t want to use? Those will play a part in our next step.

     Step 3A: Easy Sellers

     This is the time to start recouping some of the money you put into getting Packrat. Look around to see what you have that will sell quickly and easily in your shop. If you’re not sure where to start, one-use items are usually in this category. This includes most album items, dubloons, codestones, paint brushes, books, and map pieces. Certain Battledome equipment is also one-use (look at the description to be sure). Note that food is usually not an easy seller, unless it’s a gourmet item. I recommend saving food for one of the next steps.

     If you still have a lot of items left as you begin Step Three, it might be worth spending a little NP to increase your shop size, especially for those who only log on once or twice a day. This way, you can fill your shop up with items and price everything at once, then come back the next day to repeat the process. Users with a smaller shop will have fewer things to price, but can’t offer as many things for sale at once.

     Step 3B: Not So Easy Sellers

     This step will probably take the longest out of all of them. That’s why we got rid of as many items as we could before getting here. By the time you reach this point, you’ll probably have less than half of what you started with. Hey, that’s pretty good!

     At this step, I mentally divided my SDB into three categories. Category 1 was things I wanted to keep, and they stayed in my SDB until the next step. Category 2 included items I knew were harder to sell, like food, grooming items, and non-wearable toys. Finally, Category 3 consisted of everything else: items I didn’t know what to do with. Maybe they were old Daily Dare rewards, or prizes from a plot. In most cases, I wanted to sell these things, but had no idea what they were worth (if anything) or what they were good for.

     Leave the Category 1 items alone for now. We’ll deal with them in the next step.

     Category 2 can be sold in your shop, but you need to be patient. Some things may sell only when a faerie quest or hungry Kadoatie asks for it, or when just the right collector stumbles upon your shop. If an item doesn’t sell within a week or two, check the Shop Wizard to see if you should change the price - it may be going for less now than it was before. You can also introduce Category 3 items into your shop slowly as other things sell to make room.

     If time has gone by and your Category 2 and 3 items aren’t selling, and you know the prices are reasonable, it might be worth trying a new tactic. I’ve had items that didn’t sell after weeks in my shop, but when I put them in a trade lot, suddenly people were interested! You can also advertise your shop or trades on the boards. (Just be careful if you decide to trade items for other items, and either sell or use them afterwards. You don’t want to end up with a new Packrat problem!)

     Step 4: Treasures to Keep

     Maybe it’s an actual treasure you want to keep private. Maybe it’s not worth a lot to anyone else, but a friend gifted it to you, or it was a prize for winning a site contest. These are the items that belong in your SDB to stay. I try to keep this number below 50 items, but feel free to set your own idea of what’s reasonable.

     Congratulations on getting this far! You’ve decluttered a huge pile of items, and in the process, gotten closer to accomplishing your other goals. This is no insignificant accomplishment, and you saw it through to the end. Well done on your success - not to mention your new avatar.