Maximizing Your Shop Profits

     There are many different types of user shops out there, and many people sell many types of products. A big factor in what you sell is going to be how large your shop is. If you have a giant shop, you can sell a massive amount of different products while keeping them all in stock. If your shop size is small, you might want to hone in on a smaller selection of items that you can always keep well-stocked.

     I want to first break down some types of shops along with their pros and cons!

     Faerie Quest Shops

     These shops sell items that are requested by different faeries travelling Neopia. Since players on faerie quests cannot search using the shop wizard, a lot of them will bookmark shops they know sell faerie quest items. If you have a smaller shop size, you might want to hone in on one specific type of faerie quest item, like earth faerie quest items. If you have a giant shop, you could sell every faerie quest item that is out there and make your shop a one-stop for anyone on a faerie quest!

     Specific Item Types

     You could focus on selling one specific type of item, like running a book shop or a toy shop or a weapon shop. These types of shops are best combined with faerie quest shops. For example: a book shop can sell all the items a water faerie might ask for on her quests, or a toy shop has all the items a dark faerie asks for on her quests. By combining the themes, you can really get a lot of constant traffic into your shop and a lot of sales. This is a preferred technique for many Neopian shopkeepers.

     Wearables Shops

     This is a separate category from the above because it is so unique. You can also sell Fire Faerie quest items in this type of shop. I think wearable shops are one of the most profitable shops out there because wearable shopping benefits greatly from seeing the items on display. Just hearing about a clothing item doesn't tell you what it looks like, but when you can browse through page after page of wearable it makes people more likely to buy a few different things and stay in your shop longer. The amount of wearables these days is insane though, so you'd want a pretty big shop size to have a good selection available. Even then, just focusing on shirts or dresses or something can be very lucrative! It also could keep buyers from being overwhelmed with random things they don't want.

     Budget Shops

     Budget shops, like 1,001 NP shops or Misc shops, can be very profitable. It allows users to buy a lot of items for very cheap and cover all their basic needs of food, toys, clothing, etc. You can make this shop as big or as small as you want and sell items from a huge range. You could also go with a packrat shop, selling items for 100-200 NP and having over 1,000 unique items. This way someone can just come in and mass-buy everything to fill their safety deposit box for the avatar. These shops can be harder to keep in stock due to price fluctuation and low-profit margins, but if you have the time to invest then you can make some serious money.

     There are many other types of shops out there than just this, and you can go as speciality as you like: Usukis, gourmet foods, pink items, etc. But this should give you a good overviewing.

     Now, when it comes to stocking your shop, stick to your theme! Don't sell a bunch of junk either. If people come to your shop and browse, they want to see that you are selling quality items or they will back out immediately. Keep your shop stocked with pretty, colourful items that catch the eye and keep people scrolling. This will also make people more likely to impulse buy. Stocking multiple of the same item is also very important, as it will stop things from selling out. If you are running a faerie quest shop and someone comes for a specific item and finds that it is sold out, they may never come back and you lose out on a lot of future money. I try to keep at least 3-5 of each item in stock, and 10 of the most popular.

     Pricing your shop is important. You don't want to lose money by pricing yourself as the lowest on the Super Shop Wizard, but you still need to keep prices affordable. I'll keep a couple of items the lowest on the shop wizard, and then mark everything else up a few hundred or a few thousand Neopoints. That way I get traffic coming in from the shop wizard, and they stay and buy other items for a higher markup! If you are running a shop, you should definitely invest in Premium so you have the Super Shop Wizard and can stock your shop with the lowest priced items!!

     Advertising your shop is important too. If it is large enough, it will end up in the marketplace and your shop banners will show up there. I advise making your banners short and sweet, so that if someone sees them it draws them in. If they are too much or too big, people visiting from the Shop Wizard will be overwhelmed and click right off. You can also advertise on the Shop Ads board to help draw traffic to your shop!

     With these tips and tricks, you'll be drawing in hundreds of faces a day and thousands of Neopoints! Try to restock your shop at least every couple days to keep the money rolling in.