Are You Tired of Having a Shop That's ALWAYS Full?

SHOP LAYOUT

Now, this is probably one of the most important parts of your shop. The shop layout should have a theme, and it should be inviting. After all, would YOU want to buy from a shop that looks like the user isn’t willing to work hard and doesn’t care about their shop? I don’t think so! You want to make your shop look inviting and interesting, or else people will think you don't put much work into it.

Try soft colors like blue, pink, purple, or things like that to make it look relaxing or inviting. Or, if you want to make your shop look like fun, try red or orange, colors like that, and yes, it's okay to show a little of your personality in your shop. For example, if you just can’t get enough of basketball, make a basketball layout.

If you are very tech savvy, then it might be a good idea to make your very own shop layout! I suggest you do that! Many people will appreciate the originality of the lookup, and they will want to buy more from your shop.

If not, then don’t fret! There are many different layout sites out there specifically designed for neopets! If you’re still having trouble finding one, try looking at other peoples shops. Often times there will be a link to the web-site where they got the layout (although you SHOULD NEVER MAKE YOUR SHOP LOOK THE SAME AS SOMEONE ELSE'S! 1, that’s stealing, and 2, where’s the fun in that?) These sites usually have great user look-up graphics, too.

However, there is too much of a good thing X(! Some things to avoid are the gothic look, too many fun-images, and links to quizzes! AVOID THE GOTHIC LOOK! Not only does this make your shop look uninviting and evil, it is also very hard to read the prices (unless your shop is SO overpriced that you don't want other Neopians to see it)!

It's also a good idea to have a blog to announce sales and new items that will soon be sold. Try getting one that’s colorful, easy to notice, and simple to read. After all, what’s the point of having a blog if no one will read it!?

Another thing to avoid is too many fun images. One or two are fine, but when you have too many, it takes a very long time to load, and it's also VERY distracting! DISTRACTED SHOPPERS DO NOT BUY! I know those cute little animated images are almost irresistible, (especially all of those petpet ones!) but you MUST RESIST! Don't let those little dancing petpet images control you!

THE BIGGEST SHOP LAYOUT NO IS LINKS TO QUIZZES! The shoppers will be FAR too busy taking a quiz to buy ANYTHING from your shop! If you really like these quizzes, put the link on your user lookup, not your shop!

Music is also a nice thing to add; just make sure it goes with your layout and it isn't too annoying. For example, if you had a layout with faeries and unicorns, you wouldn't want heavy metal to be playing, right! That would be too weird! Don’t get something really annoying, either! If you can sit through the song for 5 minutes without wanting to smash the computer with a SLEDGE HAMMER, then your music is fine. (Note, I do not encourage doing that, you will get in so much trouble, and you have to buy another computer!)

THE PRICES AND ITEMS!

Now that you know how the layout should look, let's talk about PRICING! You don't want to sell a pile of dung for 50,000 neopoints (unless you're LOOKING for idiots to buy your stuff), but you don't want to sell your prized, rare, “it took me 3 years to save up for this” Queen Fyora doll for 15 neopoints, either! To make sure the price isn't too high or low, enter the name of your item on the shop wizard, and refresh 3 to 5 times. That way, you can see what it's really worth. If it is worth over 99,999 neopoints, then put it up for auction or keep it in your trades! Try making your item one neopoint lower than the cheapest item; that way, people will notice your shop, and they will buy a lot more from it. It’s also a good idea to have sales every once in a while. That way, you will get loyal customers, and more buyers!

Now that you you know how to PRICE your shop, it's important to know what items to sell! Now, neopets provides HUNDREDS, MAYBE THOUSANDS of items to buy (thanks TNT!), but these are some of the best items to sell…

1. Petpets. Everybody LOVES THEM!

2. Any food item with the word “day” in it. These items can easily double, even triple in value!

3. If you have any map pieces on hand, SELL THEM, but first, you should try collecting the whole map! I’ve noticed that people who have a full map sell a lot more for a higher price! It saves people the inconvenience of having to search all over the place for it.

4. SELL BOOKS! Every time I put a book in my shop, it sells almost instantly!

5. You can never go wrong when you sell codestones or dubloons! These always sell out; many Neopians are addicted to collecting and/or using these items for improving their pet’s Battledome skills!

6. You can NEVER go wrong with avatar items. Just remember ALWAYS post which items are avatar items and which are not, and explain to your customers how to USE the avatar items to get the avatar.

ADVERTISING!

Now, what’s the point about having an extremely well-run shop if no one KNOWS about it? That’s what advertising is for, and you don’t need to spend 4,000,000 NP on the noticeboard to do it, either! If your shop is quite small, you will probably need to depend on the shop wizard since it’s MUCH easier to find the big, size 1000 shops on the marketplace page! Try pricing your items one neopoint lower than what they usually cost.

Now, some of the best places to advertise are the noticeboard, on the chat boards, and by neomailing your friends.

When you are advertising on the neoboards or neomailing, here are some dos and don’ts.

DOS!

-DO have a nice, friendly message.

-DO have a link to your shop.

-DO make a nice little poem or list.

-DO tell your shoppers how to bookmark your shop. That way, they will visit more often, AND they’ll tell their friends! THAT MEANS MORE CUSTOMERS! :D

DON’TS

-DON’T spam, you WILL get reported for this!

-DON’T make your message inappropriate.

-DON’T say “come and donate to me!” This is annoying; people don’t want to “donate.” They want to BUY good, well priced items!

-DON’T say to people, “if you don’t buy from my shop, you’re not cool.” This is VERY mean! Who would want to buy from a mean person? If you do this, it WILL backfire on you, I guarantee it!

Another good idea for advertising is to have the link to your shop as your siggy. That way, even when you’re chatting for fun, you will be gathering up potential buyers!

Oh, and when you advertise on the noticeboard, try advertising on the LAST page! This may seem crazy, but more people go to the very last page instead of jumping from page to page! This also saves you a LOT of neopoints! Try using fun images to get your notice noticed even more!

Now that you have read my article, I hope you use these tips wisely, and you run a VERY successful, hard-to-keep-even-half-full shop!