Conquering Those Collection Blues by eternally_la99ed |  |
YOUR SHOP - So you want to start a collection? Well, you've come to the right
place. In this guide I hope to give you a starting point from which to base a
collection, or, if you already have a collection but you'd like to expand it a
little, a few tips on how you could do so.
Now, where to begin? For those of you that are entirely new to Neopets, the
best place to house your collection would be in your shop, as you can expand
it along with your collection, and it won't be cancelled every two weeks like
trades will. Your shop is an ideal place to display the items that make up your
collection. You'll also be able to add a blog with a message, change fonts and
colours or add backgrounds as you desire.
I guess perhaps the biggest question on everyone's mind when they take their
first steps down the road to collecting is "what should I collect?"
What to collect?
I can't exactly answer that question for you; you can collect anything you like!
My advice to you would firstly be to collect something you're interested in.
Find yourself jumping for joy when the latest petpet is released? Or perhaps
you just can't wait to see the latest negg design? There are hundreds of categories
for collections. I myself collect paint brushes and unbuyable items. Others
collect candy, toys, medicines, furniture, potions and much more. Maybe you'd
like a collection based off a colour, such as a pink or blue gallery, or a theme,
such as spooky or mystery island.
If the idea of tracking down hundreds of different items for your collection
doesn't seem like fun to you, then maybe you're the type of person who would
enjoy creating an army. Many Neopians have petpet armies, where they pick a
particular petpet and try and collect as many as they can. Others try to gather
up more than one thousand pieces of omelette and so on. The possibilities are
endless!
Another thing you might want to consider when choosing what your collection
is going to be are the prices of the items in it. I find that a collection with
a large range of prices works well, as you can start with the cheaper items
and move your way up to unbuyables, all the while completing what ought to be
a very impressive looking gallery. But again, if you'd rather not have to deal
with unbuyables, or you only want to deal with unbuyables, that's perfectly
okay for a collection too.
How long will it take to complete?
That depends on a lot of factors ranging from how many Neopoints you have, how
many items are in your collection, if your collection is the only thing you
spend Neopoints on, how much time a day you spend working towards items in your
collection, and so on.
I am poor; can I still have a collection?
Of course you can! One way to work around not having enough Neopoints is to
start with a "sub-gallery" before you tackle what you intend to be your main
gallery. Pick something that is cheap and easy to get your hands on, for example
healing potions. Search on the shop wizard and buy as many as you can afford
at as cheap a price as you can find. Then put them in your shop at a price a
few Neopoints higher than the average wizard price. When they sell, buy them
all back again at the cheaper price, and put any profits you make in the bank.
When your profits build up enough that you can buy another healing potion, buy
one and add it to the rest. The more items you have to sell and buy back, the
greater profits you'll make. Soon you'll find that you will have build up enough
Neopoints that you can sell your smaller collection and buy the first few items
of your larger collection.
How to build a self-sufficient collection:
When you look at other people's collections, you tend to find that all their
items are priced at over 100,000 Neopoints. This is one way of going about it,
but I find an easier way to do it is to build a collection that pays for itself.
Buy as many items as you can afford with the amount of Neopoints you decide
to start with. Buy them cheaply, as suggested with the healing potion method
in the above section. And again, put them slightly more expensive in your shop,
buy them back when they sell, and bank the profits. The bigger the items you
have in your shop, the quicker you will be able to buy more items, granted that
you don't price them too low as not to make profits, or so high that they won't
sell. With this method, you will be able to fill your gallery with unbuyables
(that you won't be selling in your shop) and still be getting a regular income
of Neopoints.
If you wish, you could also sell and buy back your unbuyable items through
the trading post or auctions, but this is much more time consuming, and also
more difficult to get the price you want while selling, and again to find the
price you wish to buy at without losing Neopoints.
I want to have all my items priced over 100,000 Neopoints:
That's perfectly okay as well; there are plenty of other ways to make Neopoints.
One way would be to sell other items as well as housing a collection. Are you
a good restocker? Restocking is a great way to make extra Neopoints, provided
you have a DSL or cable connection. Like playing games? Also a great way to
fund a collection. If you find that you don't want to put any non-collection
items in your shop, you can always sell them on trades or in auctions. If you're
not much into restocking, try browsing the shop chat or the trading/auctions
chat, there are always plenty of good deals to make profits there.
I can't find a particular item for my collection:
Be patient. Some items are a lot rarer and harder to find than others. Try posting
a message in your user lookup or shop requesting that anyone who's selling the
item Neomail you about it - you might get lucky. Or else you could try the trade/auctions
or shop chats, someone there may be selling, or know someone who is. Don't be
discouraged, you'll find it eventually!
I've finished my collection!
Wow, good for you! What you do now is up to you! You could leave the collection
in your shop for all to see and enjoy, you could expand it, or you could sell
it all and start again with something new or more challenging. Well, that's
the end of my guide to collecting. I hope it helped give you an idea of how
to go about starting and maintaining any ideas you my have for starting a collection.
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