Item Investing

While browsing the trade boards the other day, I came across Neopians buying investment items. It occurred to me that some Neopians might not understand what investment items are.

Investment items are items that have a very good chance of growing in value significantly. Investment buyers are looking for the best possible deal on such things. They stick them in their Safety Deposit Box for a long time, waiting for the price to increase naturally. Some investment buyers are planning a break from Neopets and want to come back when their investments have matured. Just think, some investor bought many Rings of the Lost for around 200,000 each when they first were released. If they came back now, every ring is worth 10 million Neopoints and climbing! That is quite a big nest egg. Some investors still log on to do their daily to dos and invest more here and there if they see a possible future profit.

Do I have you drooling yet? I am going to describe investing for every income level. Yes, you heard me right; item investing is not only for the wealthy Neopians. Everyone can do it and become very rich in the long haul.

Short Term Investing

This is great for a starter investor. You are looking for items that will increase in price in a couple of months or less. Where would one start looking for such wonderous items?

Daily Question

Every day on the main page you can answer a trivia question. If you get it right, you receive a prize. The market will be flooded with the item and the price will go down. Time to stock up! Use Shop Wizard to stockpile around 100 or more in your Safety Deposit Box. The best bet is to buy at 20 Neopoints each and sell when the price goes up to 250 Neopoints. If you bought 100 or more, that is a good profit to be made. (As of this writing, the Daily Question is down while TNT finds it a new home. It will be back soon, they promise!)

Tarla

There is this amazing Ixi who gives away items to those who possess a toolbar. As soon as the item or items are given away, the price goes down due to market saturation. Items she has given away include Paint Brushes, higher end furniture, Dubloons, and Battledome weapons. As soon as she has given out items, find out what they are and stock up. A couple of months down the road, the price will increase again. That is the time you should sell your stock.

Now you have a nice bit of Neopoints to move on to medium investing.

Code items

Code items are virtual items given away when you redeem a code from a real life Neopets product such as a plushie. Only so many are released of each item. They in a sense become retired. Some code items are 1 of 1000 released. They are considered limited and very rare. My best advice when investing in code items is only buy it buyable. Also, try to get items that disappear after one use. Examples of this are books, stamps, and food. A great deal of code items are gallery worthy even if they don't have a use. Plushies, dolls, and themed items are good to invest in as well.

Daily Dare

During the month of March, AAA and his sister Abigail challenge Neopians to beat their scores at games. The system is slightly different each year. However, the high end prizes turn out to be quite valuable. By the time the next Daily Dare comes out, they could be worth millions. Even some of the lower end items show a nice profit. I bought loads of Gnome Hat Plants when they were 10 Neopoints and under. Today they are worth 1000 Neopoints each.

Ready for the High End Investments?

Plot Items

Often, TNT runs a plot with puzzles to solve and battles for your pets. Every activity you participate in awards plot points. The points can then be spent in the prize shop once the plot is over. Many Neopians only participate a little bit, scoring a small amount of points. Very few hardcore plotters earn maximum points, which makes the higher end prizes extremely valuable. You are looking for items only released for the plot. You want to start buying as soon as three to five of the item are on the Trading Post. Haggle as much as you can, but you will still need to pay a lot. The items will increase in a year. You can sell at the six month mark for a tidy profit. However, if you wait a year, you will have a staggering profit on your investment. We are talking possible millions here. The longer you hold on to it, the better the profit.

Retired Items

If you are very savvy, investing in items that are likely to retire (such as plot prizes), or already are, may be for you. No one knows for sure what items will retire. Advent Calendar, Altador Cup, Tropical Fruit, and plot items are all good choices. During the month of March is the Mystery Island festival of fruit also known as Gadgadsbogen. New Tropical Fruits are released and often a few older ones are retired. If you stocked up, you could very well be able to sell for a huge profit! Advent and Altador Cup items are best resold the next year during the same event. When Neopians collect their daily Advent gift, they often want to collect items from previous Advents. The same thing happens when Altador Cup comes around. Neopians are looking for retired team keychains. This is a good way to make a nice profit.

The important thing to remember about investing is an item's possible use. If it is a stamp, book, or food, the price is likely to go up. These are one-time use items. A Neopian wanting to complete their stamp album or acquire a book award for their pet may need the extra edge and be willing to pay a bit more. Themed items are good for investing as well. When a Starry item (for example) is no longer released, collectors are willing to pay more to add it to their gallery.

Any item can be a possible good investment. However, the best bets for investing are always books, stamps, and food.

I hope this article has enlightened you to the world of item investment. Good luck and big profits to you!