How to Get Lent Avatars Items!

     Whether you are just starting out on Neopets, a returning player, or a very active player, you will soon realize that getting every avatar on your own can be an extremely difficult and expensive endeavor! Some avatars are very attainable for newbies, however some are hard for even long term players to achieve on their own. So what's the solution? Lenders of course! Although several guilds have lending programs, the most common place to look for items lends is the Avatar Chat. There are many boards on there that have players who are willing to lend their avatar items to needy players. Two very popular choices would be the Friendly Neopian Lending Board (commonly referred to as FLNB) who have existed on Neopets for many years and are nearing their 900th board. Another popular choice is the Secret Lending board. They’ve been around many years as well and have nice established rules for lending. You can also make your own board asking for lenders to consider you!

     Before we get too far let’s get some definitions out of the way. You have probably seen acronyms and terms galore on the boards and it can be intimidating.

     Collat: Collateral. This is basically the amount of NP you have that you could give to the lender should something happen to the item. Most people won’t have all the NP needed to pay back rare items, but having a high percentage of the total is always good. Sometimes a lender will ask for this before lending the item and give it back after you return the item.

     Full collat: Having full collat means you can completely pay back a lost item.

     The big 3: The big three are the hardest lent avatars to get. They are (in no particular order) MSPP, SuAP, BGC. Due to the expensive nature of these items (especially during their release) most players can’t dream of affording them and lenders take a big risk lending them. This makes them very coveted avatars by Neopets players.

     MSPP: Malevolent Sentient Poogle Plushie (TCG) is a trading card valued at 22.8 million NP.* At its peak this item cost 450 million.

     SuAP: Super Attack Pea. SuAP is a battledome item valued at ~150 million NP. Jellyneo actually lists it as “too rare to price.” At one point this item was actually valued around 1 billion NP! Although the price has dropped drastically from that, it's still easily the most expensive of the big 3.

     BGC: Bony Grarrl Club. Another battledome item valued at 17 million NP. At its peak this item cost 200 million NP.

     Voucher: Somebody who confirms to your trustworthiness. Vouchers originated many years ago when the avatar items were at their highest values and the community was massive. Although occasionally used today, it has generally fallen out of favor - unless the voucher is given by a well-known member of the current board you're on

     There are many more but these are the most important and frequently used.

     With the lowered cost of many avatar items, lenders are more inclined to lend items out then they once were. There used to be avatar count minimums. Trophies, account age, unconverted pets, pet levels, etc. used to be heavily considered for lending. These things are still important today, but to a lesser extent. Instead lenders nowadays are looking for active and involved players. Most lending boards (including the two above) want users to stick around and chat. The lenders want to get to know you, to see how you treat others, and to see how serious you are about your account. You would be surprised by how many little things lenders look at. I don’t want to give away all their secrets though! I will let you in on a few though ;)

     A nice lookup will take you far. If you’re lookup is customized and personalized this can give you a leg up. Blank lookups seem suspicious as do customized lookups with nothing written on them. Add some info! Let lenders know a little bit about yourself (your favorite books, movies, music). Take the time to make your lookup nice as it shows you care about your account. This may be a lenders first impression of you. I know I check every lendees lookup before I lend anything. There are things we check, your shop size, your gallery (how full it is, the quality of it), your pets and their customizations and pages, your avatar count, age account, stamps, cards, site themes, trophies. These things give little clues to who you are and what you like to focus your time on. It's important to note that all lenders follow their own set of rules and values. Just because one lender isn't impressed with your profile, that doesn't mean another won't be!

     Your interaction on the boards. MAKE SURE TO READ THE BOARD RULES FIRST! This is so important I put it in caps. Nothing is more off putting then someone coming on a lending board and flat out demanding lends. We don’t owe you anything. Be polite and follow the rules. Some boards want more specific information than others. Secret lenders have nice specifications for what they’re looking for and when to post. FNLB are a little more laid back, but they also have rules. One common rule among all lending boards is to keep lenders secret! You heard that? KEEP LENDERS SECRET. If their names get out there they can be bothered or targeted by people. They’re doing you a favor, so do them one and don’t mention them (unless they give their permission!). I think lending boards guarantee better success than making your own board but that’s just my opinion. In the boards the lenders can see you and know you’re looking.

     No matter what item that you want loaned, it's important to follow some simple precautions/etiquette. First, return the items a fast as possible. If you've been posting regularly on the boards and have to leave, let them know! You never know when you'll get lent, and if you get lent immediately after logging off, the lenders will almost definitely get nervous. Secondly, fill your inventory to almost full! Random events can cause items to be turned to sludge or stolen by the Pant Devil. If you only have a few items, it's now more likely that the items are lost! Under no circumstances though should you have petpets in your inventory. They can sometimes eat adjacent items! Trust me, you don't want a SuAP eaten by a Robot Turmac! Speaking of eating items, pets such as Grarrls and Skeiths can sometimes randomly eat your items. You also have the option to feed non-food items to them via the inventory menu. Avoid any misclicks or random feeding by keeping these pets bloated in the Neolodge for the duration of your lending experience (especially when borrowing BGC which requires you to have a Grarrl)!

     Remember you might not get lent the first day...or week....or month! If you’re looking for the big three expect some wait time. There are fewer lenders and they aren’t always on. On the other hand you might get lucky and get lent all three at once! This happens too. You just gotta stay positive and kind and you’ll get lent eventually. In the meantime, keep improving your account! Some lenders specifically look for progress over the days/weeks as they're deciding whether or not to lend.

     Not getting lent? Try to figure out why. If you have a very young account and aren’t very active on the boards this could be why. If you’re not a big chatter try building up your account instead! Work towards trophies or if you’re bad at games, expand your shop! Start a gallery or stamp collecting (and try not to cry at the prices)! Being active on the site promotes you as a lendee! I have seen 3 month accounts lent the big three before. It can happen for you too!

     You may just find that you will accidentally join the community! This happened to me. I went to the FNLB for avatar lends and ended up practically living on the board. The avatar community is very much just that...a community! People are (generally) kind, helpful, and motivational! Upon joining the FNLB I gained 40 avatars I had never planned to get. With their kind words of encouragement and help I suddenly felt a great motivation to collect! Now I have 300+ avatars a number I never even dreamed of achieving and I have them to thank!

          *All pricing done 6/29/19