Trading Post - a Simple Guide

First and foremost, keep your head on straight and follow the rules of the site and avoid making deals with those players who do not. The very best way to ensure the deals you make at the Trading Post are legit and beneficial to your bank account (whether you are buying or selling) is to always follow the three golden rules when working a trade with another individual:

1. Never exchange or send an item/NP to another without using the Trading Post trade features. If you give an item/NP directly, you put yourself at great risk of losing that item/NP without getting anything in return. No matter how sweet they might make the deal sound, if it sounds too good to be true, chances are that it is. If they aren't willing to use the trading features provided, tell them to take a hike and move your business elsewhere.

2. Never make impulsive decisions. Just because they claim their item is "Way below wiz!" doesn't mean it is necessarily true, and while there may be others looking to place their offers on this so-called super deal and you don't want to miss out, you don't want to jump into anything without knowing the real worth of the item you are bidding on. Unless you are generally aware of the going price for an item and can make a well-informed decision, take the time to check prices before placing your offer. I find it helpful to keep an extra window open with it set on the Shop Wizard and remember to refresh your search page more than a few times to get a good feel for the general price range of the item you are interested in. For unbuyables, check the Trading Post itself or the Auction House to get a better idea at how much they may be worth. If all else fails, visit the Neoboards. Asking for a quick price check in the appropriate locations, such as Trades/Auctions, can often get you the information you need, when all other avenues have come up dead ends.

3. Know what it is that you are bidding on. Just because the wishlist claims the item up for offer is a rare petpet does not make it one. Sometimes the pictures of certain foods, like a Crablett, may look like one, but it is really just a piece of Tyrannian food that you can easily get for a few hundred neopoints or less. The same is true for invisible foods with names that might be mistaken for something they are not. In short, do not buy something you are not sure about. Always, always double check everything.

Once you get past the basics and get the hang of how things run in the Trading Post, you will soon realise that there are a great many good deals to be found at the Trading Post. For someone with a few thousand neopoints to spend, you can easily amass a hoard of nice items in a relatively short amount of time. I found this to be an especially helpful place to hunt for items when I was working to obtain the ever popular Packrat Avatar.

But they said it was Free!?!

Yes, there are a great number of Trades that proclaim "Free Free Free!!" and yet when you offer them something trivial, they outright reject your offer within a few seconds. Don't let this discourage you! There are indeed some folk willing to part with their "precious" items for next to nothing, so if you have the patience and remain persistent, you will be duly rewarded with a sweet deal worth bragging about. I have found that if you offer a trivial item plus a few NP to go with it, you usually have better luck at getting their attention. What you need to remember is that you are not the only individual cruising the Trading Post, so even giveaways are subject to competition and often go to the "best offer." When I say offer a few NP to go with your junkie item, keep it reasonable. If it is something easy to get anyway or you do not really *have* to have it, give anywhere from 1-25 NP, but if it is something like a book or other "valuable", something more like 100-200 NP might be a more suitable "thank you" for their "freebie." A lot of the books that I have read to my pets have been purchased in this manner, so you can imagine the savings I have made when you consider that the majority of books, even the "cheapy" ones usually go for at least 3 to 4 times that amount.

I don't have what they ask for in their Wishlist

While nine times out of ten a lesser or different offer than what they are requesting will be rejected, it has happened that traders will sometimes decide to accept, so if it is an item you really would like to have, don't be afraid to send in a fair offer. Worst they can do is reject it and that just means you will have to keep looking.

I'm not looking to buy, though; I want to sell or trade my item!

Super, since the Trading Post can be used for either. ;) The thing you want to remember is that folks will be looking to make a better deal than they would expect to find in a shop. So if say an item is valued at 5000 on the Shop Wizard, it's likely that you will receive offers that are slightly under that. If you are not willing to haggle it out with another and are set in stone, expecting only a top-range price for it, you might be better off simply putting it in your shop and waiting for the right buyer to come along.

While not all traders can tack on a wishlist, if you can, do so! Part of ensuring you get a good number of reasonable offers is being specific about what you want or expect for your trade lot. If you simply put "Anything!" then expect anything to be offered, including junk. If you simply put "Free!" again, you should not be surprised when a good number of offers are considerably less than what you are expecting. While posting "Free, free, free!" is a common tactic used to get everyone's attention, it is considered bad form when the trader is not really intending to let an item go for relatively little in return, yet advertises in that way. I can assure you that Trading Post veterans such as myself usually pass these types of trades over as it is most often just a waste of our time and yours, so stick to asking for what you really want and go from there.

Lastly, always keep the general rules of the Trading Post in mind at all times. Do not be guilty of using the Trading Post as an advertisement panel for your guild or shop or simply as a bragging tool for your super gallery collection, etc. With responsible use, the Trading Post is an excellent source of a variety of good deals, so keep things honest, post your trades/offers and most of all, have fun!