The Best Way to Break into Unconverted Trading

There are many reasons why neopet traders want unconverted pets: nostalgia for old artwork, variety in the poses or the rarity of the unconverted pets. Regardless of what the reason is for wanting one, trading for unconverted neopets is a challenge.

As a fan of unconverted pets, I have a lot of experience trading them (and trading pets in general), and I have found that the most challenging part for most people is "breaking through" into unconverted trading, which mean trading a converted pet for an unconverted one. Once traders are able to obtain their first unconverted neopet, they can trade up for their goal pet.

"Breaking through" is a challenge, but I have been able to do it many times. Here is a guide to show you how I did it.

Names are your new best friend!

In the past few years, the name of the neopet you are trying to trade, has become much more important. Most traders, in general, are looking for pets with nice names that have the first letter capitalized, but, typically, these nice names will not get you and unconverted pet. Even if that pet is a highly-painted Draik.

Some traders seek real word names (RW), like "Rock", "Scientist" or "Kitten", and real names (RN), likes "Hugo", "Christina" and "Lillian". Unlike regular, nicely named pets, real word and real name pets do have a chance at trading for unconverted pets. The more common the word or name, the higher the trader's chance is of trading for an unconverted pet.

Most, unconverted traders look for names that have no prefixes (pre-, un-, in-) or suffixes (-ment, -ly, -ed), and are singular (they have no s or es on the end). When seeking your names to retrade, keep that in mind.

Other than real names and real words, "fandom" named pets are also great to trade for unconverted pets. You can typically tell by the boards, which fandoms are the most popular at that time.

It may take several trades to get a name that is worth an unconverted pet. The best way to know what your name is worth is to see what kind of names are being offered on the pets that you want to trade for. This will give you an idea of what your name is worth.

In my experience, I have found that names are the best way to trade a converted pet for an unconverted one.

What can I say? Customs sell!

If you don't have a real name or real word pet, it is fine. You can typically trade for one by offering a high custom (creating a neopet to trade with someone; they choose the color/species and name). You will most likely need to save up for a Draik egg and offer a paint job on it. This can get expensive, so this is the hard work. Neopets offers many ways to earn neopoints, from flash games to the stock market.

If you are lucky enough to get a fountain faerie quest, you can trade this too. This quest allows you to paint a pet almost any color you want (some colors are only available through the lab ray and fountain faerie quest, so that makes it more marketable than just a paint job). If you find yourself with a fountain faerie quest, offering it with a Draik egg custom will get you some nice offers! The neocash item, Faerie Quest Fortune Cookie (available at Noda's Fortune Cookies and at the NC Mall) gives you a faerie quest everyday for one week, which increases your chance of getting a quest from the fountain faerie.

One of my Trades:

My experience trading converted pets for unconverted pets has been very good, although it did take a lot of time and neopoints.

Here is how I obtained one of my unconverted neopets, so you can see exactly how I did it:

I am a huge reader, so when I read a new book, and find a name that I like, I see if it is taken. This specific name was not taken, so I created him. His name is from one of my favorite books! Another user loved the name too, so she offered me an uncommon real word for my pet with a royal custom.

I traded the royal custom + book character name for the uncommon real word.

A few months later, I traded my uncommon real word with a Draik morph (per the request of his new owner) for a very common real name misspell, which also happened to be an uncommon real name.

I traded this guy for an unconverted Desert Poogle with a bad name (xxx_xxxxxx)

I then traded my Poogle for a fandom real name.

That lovebug then traded for an unconverted Coconut JubJub with a bad name (xxxxxx_##).

So simplified:

Book character name + Royal custom > Uncommon real word > added Draik morph for very common real name misspell (uncommon real name) > UC Desert Poogle > fandom real name > UC Coconut JubJub.

Keep in mind; this trade sequence took about six months (but I am not as active in trading as some traders).

Is it Worth it To Train?

Since the new battledome was founded, many (if not most) players now participate in the one-player battledome, because of the amazing prizes it offers. Because of this, some stats on pets can help to increase the chance of trading for an unconverted. I wouldn't rely too much on stats, but it could be the extra push that the trader needs to accept your offer.

It is possible to (and some people do) trade battledome pets for unconverted pets. Around 1000 hsd is normally needed to trade for an unconverted, so I think it is faster and cheaper to trade with names.

The Best Tip I Can Give You: Patience. Patience. Patience!

The major downfall to name trading is that names are subjective. I have seen traders offer unconverted pets on names that I wasn't even sure existed, just because they had a special meaning to the user. Since names are subjective, it can take a while to find the offer that you want. If you think that your pet is worth an unconverted, then don't give up. Keep advertising and eventually your sweet pet will find its way to you.

Advertising is Key.

It is very tempting to stick all your pets up on a board and bump it for hours on end, but, in my experience, I have had many more successful trades by offering my pets on other's boards.

Make sure when you offer on unconverted pets, you read what the trader is seeking. A lot of the time, unconverted traders are only looking for other unconverted pets, and will be put off by your offer.

If you are turned down, don't become angry or discouraged. Like I said, names are subjective! I have been turned down more times than I can count, but it is all worth it, when you finally get that one yes (because that is all you need).

REMEMBER....

Please, please, please remember that neopets are not commodities! Writing this guide made me feel heartless, because I was talking about pets, which I care a lot about, as tools for trading.

There is a lot more to do on neopets besides trading. Constantly trying to trade neopets will only result in boredom when the goals are achieved. My favorite things to do here are writing poems for my pets, drawing and working for my guild. Trading pets would not even be in my top ten favorite things, but to obtain the pets that you want, it is necessary.

Good luck to all you traders out there, and remember to have fun!