The Complete Beginner's Guide to NC Trading

Trading Basics:

Have a bunch of items you no longer use? Or searching for the perfect item for your pet's customization that is no longer in the mall? Well, then trading can help you out! However, in order to trade NC items, you need to have an NC gift box for every item you are trading. Once the item and the gift box are in your inventory, you click on the box, select the item being traded from the drop-down list, and type in the recipient’s username and send it to its new home! NC gift boxes are one use and for extra safety you can change your pin preferences to include NC boxes.

The only constant way to get NC basic gift boxes is to redeem a neocash card. Neocash cards give out one gift box per $5—so a $25 NC card gives you five basic gift boxes. Thus gift boxes tend to be very limited for NC traders and can play a big role in a trade. Also note that buying NC online does not give you boxes as of right now, sadly. TNT has given out free gift boxes in the past (also, they decided that these could be accepted on side accounts). Also for Valentines 2010, an item called the Sweetheart Gram (blue or purple) was released that could be sent to anyone without the aid of a gift box! The gram is now retired, but offers hope for similar items that don’t require gift boxes to be traded.

Note: Unlike in pet trading, multiple NC items can be traded for one! Actually, that’s usually the case, especially when trading retired items.

The second thing you should have when trading NC items is a tradelist and potentially a wishlist. The tradelist is simply a collection of the NC items you want to trade. Typically it has both the pictures and name of all the items (many people don’t know the exact name of items but are quick to recognize the picture). The tradelist could either be on a petpage or a section of your gallery, though if you have a ton of items, I’d suggest a petpage since galleries can get expensive to keep upgrading. A wishlist is basically the same thing as a tradelist. Many people separate their wishlist into sections based on how wanted each item is. You can have both buyables (items currently in the mall) and retireds/limited edition items on your tradelist and wishlists. Now that you have the basics ready, it’s time to find trades!

Helpful tip: Avoid just saying entire album or album uft. Albums only show a small number of items per page, which makes it a long task to see what the trader has. Also, albums show all items that have been on the account, so someone might be interested in an item you have already given away!

NC Mall Board:

The NC Mall board is where you can find trades. As you can see from a quick glance at the board, there are tons of traders out there seeking and trading hundreds of items. There are two ways to find a trade on the board:

1. Make your own board.

2. Go to other people’s boards and look at their tradelists for items you are seeking/wishlists for items you have.

Making your own board might seem like the easiest way, but oddly enough it can actually take longer. If you decide to make a board, make sure you have a descriptive title such as “Seeking NQ Wizard Robe” or “NQ Wizard Robe and Gobbler MT UFT!” Titles that spell out the exact item you are seeking are much more likely to bring in someone who has the item UFT or is seeking the item. Even if you make a board, I’d suggest lurking on the main page of the NC Mall Board to look at titles of other people’s boards to see if they have something you want.

Well, now that you have a board up, you are ready to make/receive offers on your NC items. Like in the PC, you can offer by posting on the board or neomailing offers. Make sure if you are offering, you read the first post in case the trader doesn’t want neomails or prefers them. Also make sure if you prefer offers one way or the other that you say so in the first post of your board. Always, always make sure the trade you are about to do is fair for both parties! An easy way to check is to make a “Fair Trade” or “Trade Help” board on the NC Mall Board. It might take a while to get a response, but don’t neglect it, especially when you are first starting out, since there are people who try to get “good deals” for rare retired items.

Etiquette Tip: Always acknowledge an offer even just by saying no thank you (don’t use “nty” as it comes off as rude). Also if a trade is unfair to you, just say “that doesn’t sound fair for me”, rather than accusing them of being greedy or trying to rip you off.

What is my item worth?

The “worth” of an NC item that is retired or limited edition (special item from a mystery capsule) is determined based on its rarity and demand--simple economics. It’s also hard to determine the exact worth of an item because there are thousands of possible trades, so many NC mallers use “cap value.” Cap value is the number of buyable mystery capsules a particular item is worth. Even if you aren’t looking for capsules, it can be easier to compare cap values of the items in the trade to determine the trade’s fairness. There are a few rules of thumb, but keep in mind that there are many, many times that these do not work, particularly with highly popular items.

Rules of Thumb:

1. A recently retired mass released item (meaning not a LE from a mystery capsule that is retired) is worth 2-3 buyables.

2. A LE (limited edition) item from a current mystery capsule is normally worth 2-3 of that capsule. Note: if the item is very popular, then this does not apply.

3. MMEs and Ticket packs should not be viewed by the number of final items they give, but rather by the buyable cost of the item—keep in mind that often times the trader is saving precious boxes by trading these!

4. Remember for most people boxes are limited! So the amount of boxes needed for a trade does play a role in whether the trade is fair or not.

Remember the “worth” of a retired/limited edition item is determined largely by the demand for the item! So the “worth” commonly varies. There are even items that can go for over $100 worth of buyables!

Acronyms/Terms:

ToT? LE? RE? PLS? The NC Mall Board uses a variety of acronyms. So here is a helpful list of commonly used NC acronyms/terms so you won’t be completely lost.

Buyable – item currently in the NC mall that is available for purchase

Retired – item that cannot be obtained from the NC mall anymore

LE – Limited Edition item, specially obtained from mystery capsules

Re-Released – a retired item that came out/is coming out of mystery capsules

BG – Background

FP – facepaint

MC/ Cap – mystery capsule

ToT – Trick or Treat Background

PLS – Paper Lantern Staff

Blooming –Blooming Garden

Gingies/Gingy wings – Gingerbread Wings

Gingy bg – Gingerbread Dream House Background from the 2009 Stocking Stufftacular

Fluffy – Here lies Fluffy

NQ – Neoquest Wizard items

GULP – Gulp... Underwater Reef Background

BoF -- Balthazars Bag of Bottled Faeries

AoTR – Attack of the Revenge Background

UTT – Under the Tree Background

Nutty – Nutcracker items

NY in FL – New Years in Faerieland Background

NY in MI – New Years in Mystery Island Background

NY in SK – New Years in Shenkuu Background

MME – Mysterious Morphing Experiment

DD – Daily Dare

SS – Stocking Stufftacular

GMC – Games Master Challenge

Safe Trading!

Now you should have all the info you need for safe NC trading! Remember to use Fair Trade boards and try to update your wish list/tradelist often! Good luck with your wishes and happy Trading!