Shopkeeper's Side of Prices

by ScarlettP

Almost every week, the Neopian Times publishes yet another story complaining about the cost of food in Neopia. As a player who makes my "Neo-Living" tending a shop, I've heard about enough whining. No one ever said that you had to feed your pets on a strict diet of Fishy Nibbles and Neggs. Everyone in Neopia has to find their own way of making money. Personally, I run a small business in real life, so shop tending seemed a natural choice for me. I'm not a NeoMillionaire, but I am a Diamond Depositor, not to bad for 4 months at the game. Some people do well at the games, some have great luck in scratchcards, others make money in the stock market, some of us tend shops.

There is actually a great deal of Neopoints, skill, effort and risk associated with shop tending that many new people may not understand. Starting a shop is only 250 NP, but each time it is upgraded to hold 5 more items, it cost 50 NP more than the last time. So an upgrade to level 2 cost 300, up to level 3 cost another 350 and so on. My shop is currently level 25 and can hold 125 items at a time. To upgrade to level 26 and add 5 more items will cost 1,250 NP and that's a heck of a lot of 20 point carrots! Many shops are at level 120+, start doing the math and the cost involved is astronomical.

Shop keepers are out there competing against 5 Million other Neopians to keep items in our shops. These items are there for YOUR convenience so that YOU don't have to go sit around in the Main Neopian shops hoping to find the item you need for a Quest when you need it. Mark ups on Quest items are substantial. Those are the items that "Pay the Bills". They help pay to upgrade the shops and buy more items and supply the shopkeepers pets with items they need. Other items actually sell for LESS than 30% of actual cost. Has your pet gotten the Hoochie Coochies yet? Pets DO get sick, then you need medicines. In the Pharmacy, Hoochie Coochies tabs cost over 200 NP but sell in the user shops for 50 NP! What about Coffee? The asking price in the Fresh Foods shop is 30-32 NP. It sells in user shops for 25 NP. Unless a shop tender is very good at haggling, they must sell at or below cost.

If one knows that carrots sell in the Fresh Food shop for 3 NP, then why are they buying them from User shops? Why don't they go to the Fresh Food shop and buy directly? It takes some effort to find out when the shops restock. It's work to give up one's free time to sit at the computer waiting for the food to come and then skill to snag the items. Just like any video game, he who practices gets good at it. Those who don't want to make the effort do without or have to buy items from the User shops. Personally, I get up at 6:15 am to find food in the shops before getting ready for work. I stock my shop before waking up my husband and son to get them ready for the day. That is my personal fun time to do what I want to do and I spend that time playing NeoPets. It's my choice to do it. Each and every Neopian has the right to play the game in the way that they most enjoy and no other Neopian has the right to complain because someone else is better at the game than those who do not put forth any effort. (Mind you, those who CHEAT by using Auto Buyers, programs which will automatically refresh the stores until a specified item appears and then purchases it until there are none left, THOSE people deserve your scorn and deserve to have their accounts frozen. It unbalances the game for those that play fair....But that is a different story.)

As a shop tender, I often find it grating to be asked for a quest item that has already sold out from my own store and I have to go and purchase it from another store for a higher price than I sold my item for. But it happens. I personally like to run Kitchen Quests. It was a good way to increase the stats of my pets and cost less than Codestones for Neo-Fu. However, the kitchen recipes have changed recently. Now items that used to be good sellers, like Scrampi & Fishy Nibbles are dropping in price while other items, like Mint Chocolate Usuls are skyrocketing. In time, this will settle down. As more and more people learn what items are most requested, they will buy them in greater quantity and sell them at a more competitive price. It's called the law of Supply and Demand. When people figure out that the best prize for a Quest is less than 1,000 NP, they will refuse to pay 4,000 NP per item and the prices will drop. Prices for some Spooky Foods will always remain high because there is no store that sells them. These items are hard to acquire and the Brain Tree's prizes can be valuable Battledome items that cannot be acquired any other way.

When one is complaining about the high cost of some items, one must realize what went into acquiring that item for sale. The cost is not only Neopoints, but of one's time to provide a service to all Neopians by providing items that are available on demand at any time of the day or night. Nothing in Neopia forces you to purchase anything from anyone. If you do not like the prices in the user shops, then go out and work for the items the same way the shopkeepers do.