C'est la Vie...in Neopia

by PrincessMisha

Life is not easy, especially in the world of Neopia. There have been a lot of articles in the Neopian Times meant to help you, and now I'm going to show you mine--a summary of all you need for life...in NeoPets anyway.

No one will come to my shop!! Having problems getting customers? You and a million others. The most important thing in making a shop is asking yourself about it. "What do I like in a shop?" What do you like? The first thing you probably think of is cheap prices. And what about comfort? Do you appreciate text you can't read and what about pop-up messages? Do you like people bragging about their shops with big text? I don't think so. Neither do other Neopians. Check your shop for those. HTML might ruin a lot of comfort, but it can really boost the comfort level too. A nice, warm, cozy shop makes you feel all warm inside. Or maybe you prefer a cooler or starry environment. That is in the background. Make sure ALL your text is readable, so visitors won't run away.

Adding an embedded MIDI file to your shop can be okay...if done right. Choose a seasonal, cheery melody that everyone likes. Don't make it annoying or dreary, that distracts customers. I would suggest making it visible so visitors can turn it off if they don't like it. If you don't know any HTML there are about a million HTML guides around the Internet...I'm sure you can find one.

Now back to the prices issue. Check your prices. Ask yourself, "Would I buy this if I was in a shop?" That doesn't mean sell all your items at crazy cheap prices. It means sell them at a reasonable price. Sell a few of your items real cheap, to attract customers. Check the Shop Wizard! If you relocated your shop in a different area remember to check that Shop Wizard. Most people that come to a shop come from the Shop Wizard. But notice board and links can help a little too. I wouldn't suggest advertising on the notice board unless you are spending at least 7000 NP.

I have a quest, what do I do?!? Quest can be great! But they can be EXPENSIVE!! And you never know your results. First let's start with Faerie Quests. You should know the results of these if you know your faeries. I wouldn't suggest getting items from the Earth Faerie, she only feeds your pets. Since you can't use the Shop Wizard during a Faerie Quest, know your shops. Bookmark a few specialty shops before hand. Go to the main Neopia shops, like the grooming parlour and toy shop for some items. Next get a friend to play NeoPets, you get a referral point and you can e-mail them about quests. Good luck.

Other worldly quests. Find a few things, get something back. These are BIG risks. The thing you get in return may not be worth it. Here is a little guide of the different quests and what they ask for:

Kitchen Quest - She wants food, seafood, and space food. In return you get items of all sorts. I've gotten a discount card upgrade and my pets have gained levels. Tip: Buy space pellets from the Grundo kitchen because that's usually what she asks for Witches quest. She wants all kinds of odd items. The most common items are battle equipment and broken toys. In return you get Halloween food. Tip: I wouldn't suggest this quest because the Halloween food usually isn't worth much. But who knows, you might get lucky :)

Esophagor Quest - He wants food...weird food. Space food and Halloween food mainly. In return he will give you an answer to the Brain Tree Quest or something else. Tip: Go on a Brain Tree Quest first!!

Snow Faerie Quest - She wants medicine, snow food, and magical items. In return she will give you Neopoints, a snowball and another item. Tip: Buy medicine before the prices increase too much!!

Like I've said before these quests are risky. I've gotten a Red Scooter once, but I've also gotten a Green Cap that wasn't worth much.

Why are the rich so greedy? Some are. But some aren't. It may appear they are greedy by the prices in their shops. But people do buy them. If they sold their items too cheap they would be out of stock fast. Plus if everyone sold their stuff cheapest on the market, everything would be 1 NP and NeoPets would lose some of its fun. It's not real hard to get rich if you know how. It takes hard work, patience, and a little luck to get you there. And remember, the ones donating 500 NP-2000 NP in the Money Tree aren't the poor....

This is my personal guide to NeoPets. I use it myself and I found it made me a wealthy Neopian even after I was hacked. I will visit your shop and give you personal advice if you need it, just Neomail me at PrincessMisha. Oh yeah...last of all I want to say congrats to all you lucky winners of the billion Neopoints draw! You got 500,000 NP!! Some of you are real lucky, you were already rich *coughcoughebonyeyescoughcough* but congrats nonetheless. What are you going to do now? Feed your pets Green Apples and Chocolate Ice Cream? Paint them all colors the rainbow? Whatever you do I hope you donate to the Money Tree. Have fun and don't spend it all at one place.