New here! Hi everyone
As a kid, I played Neopets in my own little bubble, happily playing Flash games to my heart's content. I don't think I ever managed to save enough to buy any sort of desirable PB. As an adult, I've been enjoying the ~economy~ of Neopets. Never dabbled in NC before, so that's been fun, too! Just curious to see if people try to guess or keep track of patterns in popularity of species, colors, items (NP/NC), and so on!
If you want to make money and be successful in this game (or any with some sort of economy) it’s definitely wise to pay attention to what kind of items inflate and when and invest wisely. It’s a huge part of the game IMO
I tried to predict some NC items only to quickly realize what I think is cool is almost always trash
I do this all the time; I was just in a DM convo with someone chattering on about how the new Altador Cup Team Sparklers will probably inflate a huge amount. Why? Because the only other animated sparkler item is a popular NC item ((you need an account to see links)) and the only other sparkler items are either wand-shaped, have ugly colors (e.g. red and yellow, not pink/pastel), or are not animated.
I gamble and invest pretty heavily in NC; as @(you need an account to see links) said, watching current aesthetic trends and what items are trading hands is exceedingly helpful. As much as the NCC hates on /~Priscilla (and even I did at one point), it's been pretty handy in seeing what the "trendsetters" of the NCC are planning to inflate next.
Usually handheld mugs are often a safe bet. Necklaces are iffy; some of them look bad on Draiks and Aishas so they won't be as popular. Earrings are almost NEVER popular for some reason, and ditto with shoes. (Some of the older shoes, now rarer, are pretty sought after.) Baby and Maraquan items are always worth a buy, since they're exclusive to that body type, but I never buy too many because they don't trade well for people who don't have Baby/Maraquan pets - they're niche trade fodder.
Halloween garlands almost always do well, but Halloween BGs are 50/50 - some people like dressing their pets up spooky, but they don't want it SEASONALLY spooky (no pumpkins pls). Face paints and contacts vary; I've found the contacts that do the BEST are the ones that cover the yellow part of Draik eyes (like Armins), since not everyone paints their Draik Desert in order to remove it.
Any, and I mean any, pastel seasonal item is worth the investment. I think it's the same thing as the Halloween thing - people want to be able to use the aesthetic year-round without it screaming "seasonal."
These are just a few of the things I've noticed. I don't keep a spreadsheet, or anything, but tracking trends like others do stonks is part of the fun of the site for me.
Last edited by Flordibel; 05-15-2020 at 09:23 PM.
I've definitely tried to with NC items, and as much as egaeus gets on my nerves, he's not wrong about the DTI stats (specifically the # of ppl who have the item UFT) being a decent indicator of what has the potential to inflate in the future xD
Other factors to consider are whether an item is currently being re-released/RR'ed (probably won't go up in value anymore) or has RR'ed in the past (an indication that it may RR again in the future), so generally old items that have never RR'ed are a good bet. And like Flordibel said, it's important also to consider aesthetic! Purple/pink, pastel, floral themes, space themes, and fantasy themes are all well-loved
That said, it generally takes months or years for the items to actually go up drastically in value I've sat on nice-looking HTF ~1-2 cap items for years before they finally went up to like 6+ caps
Always with NC items, and I'm always wrong.
Disregard reality, aspire to become a magical girl.
Chenbi (05-15-2020),jbujbu (05-15-2020),My name is Yoshikage Kira (05-15-2020)
Oooh with your point about RR - always consider Dyeworks; there's a page out there (can't remember it right now) that polls users on what items they want to be released for Dyeworks. Try to get your mitts on any of the items on that page because the last two batches of Dyeworks have been directly from it (TNT-confirmed).
Ratios are usually a good indicator of what item is rising or what is kinda leveling off, but it doesn't count old accounts/on hiatus accounts.
Theme-wise, everyone loves some good old flowers, sparkles, or night sky/space backdrop. Also if the item is animated well. Like I think Mutants Hideout could have been so much higher in value if it didn't go frame by frame for the animation.
What I've been wary of is a potential Shenani RR.
As for specific items that might go up in value? My guess right now is Maraquan Jeweled Foreground & Beaded Paper Background! Potentially Windswept Wig and Hat but I hope that gets knocked out by the upcoming Summer Dyeworks. Vote people!