Owning a Desirable Shop by apparent |  |
Untitled Document
NEOPIA CENTRAL - Every Neopian that has ever had the experience of buying something
(using the Shop Wizard) has most likely run into a shop or two that was quite
unpleasant for them. What is an unpleasant shop? As a matter of opinion, it could
be one of the two things:
· A shop that has no decoration whatsoever -
no welcome message that makes you feel comfortable to be there, no unique title
or shop owner, any old item (or two) stocked within it.
· Then there could be a shop that has TOO much
decoration, a MIDI file that takes forever to load, an animated background that
may freeze your computer, large sized wording to make it harder for traffic
to come in and out of the shop.
I have seen many shops that fall into these two general classes since I have
been playing on Neopets. However, it might only be my opinion that these shops
are "annoying" or "attract slow traffic" and may therefore be unhelpful for
our society. If you feel that you own a shop that falls into either of these
classes and would like to fix it, feel free to come forward and read a little
bit of what it is I have to say. (If you can honestly admit that you have an
unfavorable shop - good! Let's try and work together to see what it is that
makes a good shop).
Shop Title and Welcome Message
It is not necessary that you have a generally good shop title or greeting, but
having both of these makes it more likely for someone to visit and revisit your
shop, which will [hopefully] give you more profit. What would your reaction
be of visiting a shop with a title something like: "hi welcum to mai shop" or
"just buy" as opposed to: "Odds & Ends" or "Fun time Warehouse for Gifts Galore"?
Let's work on building a nice shop title. Nice can mean one of the following:
descriptive, not too lengthy, short, sweet, and to the point, or welcoming to
the visitor. It is very nice to walk into a shop and see the title "Odds & Ends"
as opposed to "my shop" because "Odds & Ends" can give you a slight idea of
what you can find inside of the shop, which would most likely mean that the
shop has a little bit of everything; variety.
Once you have thought up a title for your shop (and don't worry if it doesn't
come to you right away, you can use a little time to develop something unique)
it is time to think of a welcome message. Let's think hypothetically again.
Which greeting is better (to you)? "Welcome to my shop! I currently stock codestones,
food, and trading cards etc, etc." or "Hi my name is Maria I like this shop
so just buy some things here for me to give me more nepoints okay bye" Get the
drift? It is perfectly fine for you to have a greeting that includes a description
on the shop. Remember, we want to benefit the visitor. Adding in extras such
as updates you have given to your shop daily, and what others think of your
shop is perfectly fine. Give yourself a few moments to type up an awesome welcome
message for your shop.
Shop Stock and Size - Does it affect popularity?
After developing your shop's name and welcome message, what's next? Let's move
on to shop stock and size, for without it you would not have much of a shop,
would you? Shop stock is a very important factor. Think to yourself - what am
I going to stock in my shop? It could either be items you gain from the main
shops at restock times, or just items that you have found randomly over the
site. Begin to collect the items that you want to sell in your shop. Remember,
you don't have to go overboard and restock constantly like some people may do
to gain 200k or much more a day. Pace yourself to get the best results out of
your sales. Use the 'Quick Stock' button if you have less than 70 items - it
is much easier to get everything into your shop, ready to sell. Stocking up
your items quickly and putting them up for sale makes more items of yours visible
on the Shop Wizard to attract buyers. This is a wise move.
The size of your shop only depends on how much you decide to sell. If you
want to sell only the items that you randomly find in Neopia once in a while,
then a size 6 or 7 shop is fine. Or if you have a shop, which you plan on restocking
every day, a size 20 to 35 would not hurt. If you own a gallery, this is a different
story - your shop will just have to rapidly expand with every few items you
add.
Does size and stock affect shop popularity? I would have to say yes. A size
one shop with NO stock whatsoever is only likely to be visited once or twice.
This does not mean to go overboard and fully stock a size 100 shop to gain more
visitors (you really don't need to waste your time doing that, a size 50 shop
is more than enough, because if you price your items right, they will sell quickly).
Steadily expand your shop over time if you'd like it to be bigger, add stock
daily (if not every chance you get). Good stock and good shop size are favorable
to the visitor. If you are a newbie, don't panic! You don't need a large shop
just yet. My shop is only sized 15 and with good stock and pricing I can gain
33k off of it daily just from adding food in it every once in a while.
Decoration
Decoration is NOT a necessity for owning a good shop, but nice decoration does
liven up your space. Just make sure you do NOT go overboard with MIDI files
(you really don't need one of these. Just remember, not everyone in Neopia has
a fast computer. MIDI files can freeze or slow down some PC's), backgrounds
(backgrounds are perfectly fine to have. Just make sure it will not slow down
your shop - preferably, you should use a non-animated background), or large
amounts of blinkies or other animated images that do not appeal to your shop
whatsoever. A shop that stocks rarity 99+ items that is only used for advertising
your guild is foolish, it won't bring people to your guild or give you any sales.
So don't do it. It's common sense - if your shop is way too decorative, people
are not going to want to visit it. If you are unsure whether your shop is too
decorative, go on the chat boards and kindly ask for an opinion. This can always
help. Changing your font size, face, and color is good! Just don't overdo it.
If you need help with changing your shop's interior around, use the Neopets
HTML guide for extra help. Unfortunately style sheets have been banned because
some people were abusing them, but there are still plenty of ways to spice up
your shop.
Price
Price is probably the most important factor of building a successful shop. Little
profit is better then no profit. Do not over charge your items! Price them so
they are not too high and not too low. It is good to find a shop that is nicely
priced and affordable. However, do not sell your stock for less then you brought
it for. If you brought a plushie for 445 Neopoints, pricing it at 515 Neopoints
will give you some profit. However if the same plushie is priced at 600 NP on
the Shop Wizard, 515 is a good price. People will quickly buy from your shop
if it is priced even a little bit less then it is worth on the Shop Wiz'.
Try not to expect to earn a HUGE profit off of your shop right away by charging
items for more then they are worth. This is a big mistake. You will find that
you will not make any sales whatsoever if you do this.
Hopefully this article has given you a good idea of what makes up a good shop.
Using these elements will give you a basic look on creating a good shop - and
who knows? Maybe you'll be book marked and visited frequently. If you have any
problems, questions, or comments, feel free to Neomail me. And last (but certainly
not least) I wish you very good luck in running a successful shop.
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