Taking Advantage of the Neopian Economy

Firstly, let's break the system down into its very simplest terms: inputs and outputs. The main inputs are, of course, games and the stock market. Smaller inputers are prizes for quests and referral cash, but those aren't too important. Outputs are more varied, the main ones being money spent on gambling, consumable items (food, codestones, etc.) bought in shops, and- although not technically an output, it acts very much like one- money resting in the bank account of somebody who doesn't want to spend it.

So, what does this mean?

Well, as you can probably guess, input usually outweighs output, leading to that infamous word: inflation. Inflation, if you don't know, is when people generally have more money, and so the prices of items go up. This, in theory, means that it is better to buy items and keep them to be sold later, rather than leave your money in your bank account, but in actuality, it is a rather weak economic force compared to others, and to be at all practical it would have to be done with codestones, which produce perhaps 500NP profit per year, if you're lucky.

Now, for this information to be useful, I'm going to split the market into two categories: the luxuries market and the commodities market.

Let's look at the commodities market first. This is the market based on cheaper items, usually under 10,000NP, often consumables, which are bought without much forward planning and thought, such as cheap food, cheap toys, cheap books, dubloons, codestones, cheap weapons, etc. This is perhaps the more difficult of the two markets to take advantage of, as items usually have to be bought en masse to produce much profit. Now, the important things to look at are what affects the market, and- and here's the bit you've been waiting for- how to PROFIT.

The main affect on this market is war. For any astute entrepreneur or business man, the word "war" should be music to your ears. Unfortunately, nowadays the supply of codestones, healing potions and dubloons is so high that the increased demand from war is not enough to impact the price... but war is still excellent for the opportunistic. Take this recent war... after people discovered how useful Leaf Shields were, the price increased fivefold. After people discovered that Pteris were healed by eating food with "worms" in the name, the price increased over TWENTYfold. What's more, it was easily spottable, and very easy to take advantage of. It is important to note that some of this value is artificial, caused by people stockpiling as they see the price go up, meaning that when there is a lull, which could mean a peak in the price, it is a good idea to undercut the cheapest person you see by at least 20NP, because once people stop buying, and sellers realise that they may be going to end up with a stockpile of unwanted items, prices will drop like a stone.

Unfortunately, the commodities market is rarely unaffected by anything else in such a predictable way, but looking at the Shops board can help to identify "fad" items, and trying to buy them while they're still on the increase.

When the commodities market is looking stale, the luxuries market is a good alternative. Luxury items are those hugely expensive items, like coins, stamps, gourmet food, expensive battle dome items, and so on. Something is almost always happening here. Unfortunately, you need a good amount of starting capital to get into this, a very minimum of 50,000NP. This, too, is affected by war, but to a much lesser extent. If you want to make money here, there are three places you NEED to look: the Battledome board, the shops board, and the stock market board. The Battledome and shops boards will let you identify popular items, and the stock market board will allow you to keep an eye on the condition of the market. It's usually easy to find four or five popular shares... and it's common knowledge that the vase majority of 'rich boys' in Neopia have a whole load of capital in shares, so checking out how the popular shares are doing will allow you to get a good idea of whether or not the richer people will be in a mood to buy. The other two will let you know WHAT they want to buy.

Now, this isn't to say that you'll immediately be able to make your fortune. After all, the economy isn't always in a state of such useful fluctuations, and foresight into what will happen is certainly not 20/20, so here are a few tips for in between peaks, and for getting capital in the first place:

-Aim for a good 10,000 per day through games. It's easy, especially when you have a schedule.

-Always collect on freebies and quests.

-Take advantage of the stock market. The board is very useful.

-Neopoints sitting in your bank account don't help anybody. Commerce is the lifeblood of Neopia, so try to profit with whatever money you have available.

-Don't focus too much... you'll get bored if ALL you do is buy, sell, buy, sell. Treat yourself, talk on forums, etc. In the long run, it will help.

-If you ever are going to leave for a while, sell your trade items and your shares. It's always best to have things in Neopoint form (preferably in your bank) when you're not going to be able to react.

Hopefully now you have some idea of how to use the economy's nature to your advantage, and what to look out for. If you have any questions, just Neomail me.