Tips for a restocker?
Wed Apr 26, 2006 12:40 am
I've now decided to get into restocking, but i haven't been foing to well. granted, it is only like my second day.
but anyway, i decided to go for the card shop, since it's possible to get decently rare items and it doesn't seem as crowded as the book or toy shops. so, i haven't succeeded indoing much at all. i seem to be left with the relatively common pink and green cards that i can only sell for a small profit. and the black cards the i buy are generally not worth as much as i pay for them. i did see an r97 though. that was cool.
i've also found that i can't haggle to the TNT set value of the card, but i guess this is for everyone.
anyone got any tips on better restocking?
but anyway, i decided to go for the card shop, since it's possible to get decently rare items and it doesn't seem as crowded as the book or toy shops. so, i haven't succeeded indoing much at all. i seem to be left with the relatively common pink and green cards that i can only sell for a small profit. and the black cards the i buy are generally not worth as much as i pay for them. i did see an r97 though. that was cool.
i've also found that i can't haggle to the TNT set value of the card, but i guess this is for everyone.
anyone got any tips on better restocking?
Wed Apr 26, 2006 12:45 am
The card shop really isn't a good idea...for beginning restockers I'd suggest Bakery and perhaps Coin as a Second Shop, in Bakery most things are profit, Coin restocks around :20-:25 and anything that is rather expensive is good.
But, just experiment with shops and find the ones you like.
But, just experiment with shops and find the ones you like.
Wed Apr 26, 2006 2:57 am
Also, once you get a "feel" or general idea of how much things cost, visit the Igloo Garage sale every now and then. You can only get one item, but if you know approx. values you can snag one with a pretty good profit margin. I agree, Bakery shop is probably one of the best. Check out the shops in other worlds too, sometimes they don't get as much traffic (Grundo's Cafe?)
I think my bro and I just loved going, "it RESTOCKED!" tho.
Yes, we were on Neopets at the same time 2 feet from each other doing this (I have a wireless lappy lol).
I think my bro and I just loved going, "it RESTOCKED!" tho.
Yes, we were on Neopets at the same time 2 feet from each other doing this (I have a wireless lappy lol).
Wed Apr 26, 2006 3:35 am
Knowing what time the shop restocks is a big plus (meaning you only have to refresh around those times). Also, the first 2 weeks of trying to restock in a shop, dont buy any items and just observe and learn which items are worth restocking. Thereafter, take 3 or 4 of the items that come up the most often or give you the most profit and just concentrate on those.
Wed Apr 26, 2006 3:36 am
I'd suggest the Chocolate Factory for beginners. It's easy enough to get at least a little profit, and once in a while you'll get something with a bigger profit. Once you get better, I'd go for Stamps.
Wed Apr 26, 2006 6:09 am
Don't feel like it's not going well yet, since it's only your second day. I haven't been rs'ing for more than a few weeks, and it's only thanks to the encouragement of a friend who rs's. You just have to practice over and over to develop your reflexes and your eye for spotting good items.
I got a new zippy playtime computer a few months back and really wanted to rs now that I had a chance, but I failed miserably (admittedly I tried only halfheartedly). I'd rather given up til this friend encouraged me. I gave up again two days after she showed me the ropes, lol. She basically tied me to my desk and forced me to practice after that
I'll pass on the few bits of knowledge I have from this.
1. Don't try to buy anything yet, or at least don't expect to get what you go after
2. Pick one shop to study, and price everything interesting you see stock
3. Make mental notes of the junk that stocks repeatedly and is worthless, and block them from your brain
4. Make notes of the areas where pricey items stock (eg, bottom left corner), and train your eyes to flit there at rs time
5. Start trying to buy items, and just try to improve your reflexes each time
There are some pretty good rs guides on petpages, googling those can be helpful for some random tips that might help you improve your technique.
I got a new zippy playtime computer a few months back and really wanted to rs now that I had a chance, but I failed miserably (admittedly I tried only halfheartedly). I'd rather given up til this friend encouraged me. I gave up again two days after she showed me the ropes, lol. She basically tied me to my desk and forced me to practice after that
I'll pass on the few bits of knowledge I have from this.
1. Don't try to buy anything yet, or at least don't expect to get what you go after
2. Pick one shop to study, and price everything interesting you see stock
3. Make mental notes of the junk that stocks repeatedly and is worthless, and block them from your brain
4. Make notes of the areas where pricey items stock (eg, bottom left corner), and train your eyes to flit there at rs time
5. Start trying to buy items, and just try to improve your reflexes each time
There are some pretty good rs guides on petpages, googling those can be helpful for some random tips that might help you improve your technique.
Wed Apr 26, 2006 2:33 pm
Q's hints are great -- here are a few more details that I would like to add.
I suggest starting in a shop that doesn't have as many items to choose from.
When I came back to neo after a year, I had no idea what stuff was worthless or valuable. I picked an unpopular shop that carries only a small number of items, and every time it restocked, I would do a shop wizard search on every item in there.
I didn't even try to buy anything the first couple times. I just wanted to compare what the items were selling for in the shop with the resale value. In the shop I was in, there were really only about four items that could resell for more than the store charged. Once I knew which things were valuable, I would watch for them and ignore everything else. That is the basic idea of learning to restock, and it's best to start small.
RS'ing is easier if you have a good memory and try to remember lots of different items, because if you just try to sit around for a single item and ignore all your other opportunities, you might be waiting a long time! You need to be able to recognize items at a glance, whether they're commonly stocked and worthless, or rare and valuable. The rare and worthless things are a bit more of a challenge....
So how do you remember all that stuff? Well, practice. And also.... spreadsheet!
Now that I have been back for a while, I moved up to a big store.
I went to neoitems.net, and copied and pasted the whole list of items from that store into a spreadsheet. I made columns for Name of Item, "Own" (meaning do I already own one), and Value (meaning resale value), and Cost (in shop). if you want, and if you know how, you can actually make a last column that shows the profit (Value - Cost = Profit).
When I have free time, I'll go down my list and fill in the Value column using the Shop Wiz (actually the SSW, woohoo premium!) until it says I have to stop for a while.
You can fill in the Cost by searching for the item in the neo search bar.... unless it's r99, in which case, you should just write it in if you ever see it in the shop. I keep the spreadsheet open when I'm rs'ing. When I see an item in the shop, I check my spreadsheet. if I don't have the COST, I fill it in. Yeah, I might miss it the first time it restocks, if I'm busy working on my spreadsheet... but that's where the next step comes in.
Once your spreadsheet is fairly well filled in, look through it for high profit items. Make those items either bold or brightly colored. When you see low or negative value items, make them grayed out. The idea is to make the profitable stuff easier to read, and the bad stuff harder to read.
Once you have colored it, print it out, or have it open in another window while you rs.
If you run across something you don't know, take a minute and fill in the spreadsheet for it.
I have found this to be SO helpful-- I see a medium-rare item selling for 3k in the store... think, I can't remember if that's valuable or not... and then see in my spreadsheet it sells for 2800. Even if I can haggle it down to 2700, that's still not going to be much of a profit. I'd rather save that 3k for buying six 500-np items that will sell for 750 apiece, which would give me 1500 np profit!
Hopefully that helps!
I suggest starting in a shop that doesn't have as many items to choose from.
When I came back to neo after a year, I had no idea what stuff was worthless or valuable. I picked an unpopular shop that carries only a small number of items, and every time it restocked, I would do a shop wizard search on every item in there.
I didn't even try to buy anything the first couple times. I just wanted to compare what the items were selling for in the shop with the resale value. In the shop I was in, there were really only about four items that could resell for more than the store charged. Once I knew which things were valuable, I would watch for them and ignore everything else. That is the basic idea of learning to restock, and it's best to start small.
RS'ing is easier if you have a good memory and try to remember lots of different items, because if you just try to sit around for a single item and ignore all your other opportunities, you might be waiting a long time! You need to be able to recognize items at a glance, whether they're commonly stocked and worthless, or rare and valuable. The rare and worthless things are a bit more of a challenge....
So how do you remember all that stuff? Well, practice. And also.... spreadsheet!
Now that I have been back for a while, I moved up to a big store.
I went to neoitems.net, and copied and pasted the whole list of items from that store into a spreadsheet. I made columns for Name of Item, "Own" (meaning do I already own one), and Value (meaning resale value), and Cost (in shop). if you want, and if you know how, you can actually make a last column that shows the profit (Value - Cost = Profit).
When I have free time, I'll go down my list and fill in the Value column using the Shop Wiz (actually the SSW, woohoo premium!) until it says I have to stop for a while.
You can fill in the Cost by searching for the item in the neo search bar.... unless it's r99, in which case, you should just write it in if you ever see it in the shop. I keep the spreadsheet open when I'm rs'ing. When I see an item in the shop, I check my spreadsheet. if I don't have the COST, I fill it in. Yeah, I might miss it the first time it restocks, if I'm busy working on my spreadsheet... but that's where the next step comes in.
Once your spreadsheet is fairly well filled in, look through it for high profit items. Make those items either bold or brightly colored. When you see low or negative value items, make them grayed out. The idea is to make the profitable stuff easier to read, and the bad stuff harder to read.
Once you have colored it, print it out, or have it open in another window while you rs.
If you run across something you don't know, take a minute and fill in the spreadsheet for it.
I have found this to be SO helpful-- I see a medium-rare item selling for 3k in the store... think, I can't remember if that's valuable or not... and then see in my spreadsheet it sells for 2800. Even if I can haggle it down to 2700, that's still not going to be much of a profit. I'd rather save that 3k for buying six 500-np items that will sell for 750 apiece, which would give me 1500 np profit!
Hopefully that helps!
Wed Apr 26, 2006 3:52 pm
WOW ! I love your organisation on the spreadsheet , sounds very useful , are you going to publish it ?
I found that after RSing at the same shop for ages you figure out the good items from the bad ones .
I found that after RSing at the same shop for ages you figure out the good items from the bad ones .
Wed Apr 26, 2006 3:57 pm
I thought about publishing it, but I'm not ready to yet. I know it's a little greedy of me, but I'm afraid if I publish it, there would be an influx of people RSing the same items I do!
you know what though, I *CAN* publish the template and let you fill in your own info!.... hmmmm.... give me a little while on that k?
you'll need to have MS Excel to use it.
EDIT: Ok, here it is.
Right click on these words and Save Target As...
Lawyerbot piece: I give my word that this is a safe item. It is a spreadsheet for use in restocking. The only formulas in it are simple addition (well, subtraction). There are no macros or anything that I put in it that can harm your computer, and once it's on your computer I no longer have access to it; I can't steal anything from you. However, if you don't feel like you can trust me, DO NOT DOWNLOAD IT. Please also let's not have any discussion about whether this is safe or not. I say it is, if you don't believe that, I am not making you download it, so just ignore it.
If you download it, you are saying that you read the instructions below, and you are releasing me of all responsibility if anything bad happens on your computer because I'm not there with you to be your excel tutor. Also, of course remember to back up your work frequently, and I am not liable for loss of data if you mistakenly save this item over your own spreadsheet with the same name, blah blah blah.[/color]
Ok.
How To Use This Spreadsheet:
*First, you must save it to your computer, and you must have MS Excel to open and edit it.
*Second, there are two tabs at the BOTTOM LEFT of the screen. One says Enter Your Data Here. That should be self-explanatory. The other tab says Print - Do Not Type Here. Pay attention when you are typing in this spreadsheet. If you type on the print side, the sheet won't work!!!! I can't tell you how important this step is. Mainly ignore the Print tab until you are in step 4.
*Third, I have included some samples on how to fill in the data.
Type the item name in the Name column (on the DATA tab, remember!)
The Cost column is for how much it costs in the shop. I recommend just putting what the shopkeeper originally asks for, not the price you'll haggle for, because haggle prices can change.
The Value column is for how much it sells for on the shop wiz. I recommend putting the LOWEST price you see, not an average price.
The Profit column will automatically calculate. Do not type anything in that column, or it will stop working.
*Sort the ENTER DATA HERE tab before going on to step 4, and DO NOT sort the print tab. You will see that the print tab automatically sorts itself according to what you have in the data tab. just don't touch the print tab, ever, except for step 4, which is really not necessary.
*Fourth, once you have figured out profit, if you know how to use Excel, I recommend going into the Print tab and selecting the items that have good profit, and making them either bold or red (i put one example of each for you to look at). If you don't have a color printer, use bold, not red.
Select the items that have bad profit (under 100 np, or negative) and make them gray, or italic or something hard to read.
OTHER NOTES:
*If you don't know how to use excel, and don't have the chance to learn how to bold/change text color, then I recommend printing it plain and using a highlighter.
*DO NOT, and I repeat again more emphatically DO NOT change the font sizes, font type, or column widths on the Print tab. If the small size is too hard for you to read, I recommend making it whatever size/font you want IN THERE, and printing it from there. Do not mess with the print tab unless you really know what you're doing. It can cease to work if you mess with it.
*The print tab will always print out as 3 pages, even if you have only 10 items. If you have more than 349 items, you will either have to set up more print pages if you know how, or just pick your favorites and delete the others (recommended), or print from the other page.
you know what though, I *CAN* publish the template and let you fill in your own info!.... hmmmm.... give me a little while on that k?
you'll need to have MS Excel to use it.
EDIT: Ok, here it is.
Right click on these words and Save Target As...
Lawyerbot piece: I give my word that this is a safe item. It is a spreadsheet for use in restocking. The only formulas in it are simple addition (well, subtraction). There are no macros or anything that I put in it that can harm your computer, and once it's on your computer I no longer have access to it; I can't steal anything from you. However, if you don't feel like you can trust me, DO NOT DOWNLOAD IT. Please also let's not have any discussion about whether this is safe or not. I say it is, if you don't believe that, I am not making you download it, so just ignore it.
If you download it, you are saying that you read the instructions below, and you are releasing me of all responsibility if anything bad happens on your computer because I'm not there with you to be your excel tutor. Also, of course remember to back up your work frequently, and I am not liable for loss of data if you mistakenly save this item over your own spreadsheet with the same name, blah blah blah.[/color]
Ok.
How To Use This Spreadsheet:
*First, you must save it to your computer, and you must have MS Excel to open and edit it.
*Second, there are two tabs at the BOTTOM LEFT of the screen. One says Enter Your Data Here. That should be self-explanatory. The other tab says Print - Do Not Type Here. Pay attention when you are typing in this spreadsheet. If you type on the print side, the sheet won't work!!!! I can't tell you how important this step is. Mainly ignore the Print tab until you are in step 4.
*Third, I have included some samples on how to fill in the data.
Type the item name in the Name column (on the DATA tab, remember!)
The Cost column is for how much it costs in the shop. I recommend just putting what the shopkeeper originally asks for, not the price you'll haggle for, because haggle prices can change.
The Value column is for how much it sells for on the shop wiz. I recommend putting the LOWEST price you see, not an average price.
The Profit column will automatically calculate. Do not type anything in that column, or it will stop working.
*Sort the ENTER DATA HERE tab before going on to step 4, and DO NOT sort the print tab. You will see that the print tab automatically sorts itself according to what you have in the data tab. just don't touch the print tab, ever, except for step 4, which is really not necessary.
*Fourth, once you have figured out profit, if you know how to use Excel, I recommend going into the Print tab and selecting the items that have good profit, and making them either bold or red (i put one example of each for you to look at). If you don't have a color printer, use bold, not red.
Select the items that have bad profit (under 100 np, or negative) and make them gray, or italic or something hard to read.
OTHER NOTES:
*If you don't know how to use excel, and don't have the chance to learn how to bold/change text color, then I recommend printing it plain and using a highlighter.
*DO NOT, and I repeat again more emphatically DO NOT change the font sizes, font type, or column widths on the Print tab. If the small size is too hard for you to read, I recommend making it whatever size/font you want IN THERE, and printing it from there. Do not mess with the print tab unless you really know what you're doing. It can cease to work if you mess with it.
*The print tab will always print out as 3 pages, even if you have only 10 items. If you have more than 349 items, you will either have to set up more print pages if you know how, or just pick your favorites and delete the others (recommended), or print from the other page.
Last edited by miz sparrow on Wed Apr 26, 2006 4:29 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Wed Apr 26, 2006 4:25 pm
Sorry , i meant the template , not your actual setup you use that would be crazy !
Wed Apr 26, 2006 4:31 pm
If anyone uses this, please let me know if it is useful for you.
Wed Apr 26, 2006 4:34 pm
The other tip I heard recently was to use Firefox, and then watch a shop, learn its restock times, then price items up slowly.
Any that don't make a profit, adblock the image so you only see items that will make a profit
Any that don't make a profit, adblock the image so you only see items that will make a profit
Wed Apr 26, 2006 5:38 pm
arogance1 wrote:The other tip I heard recently was to use Firefox, and then watch a shop, learn its restock times, then price items up slowly.
Any that don't make a profit, adblock the image so you only see items that will make a profit
This is a questionable policy however. This is essentialy gaining an unfair advantage over users that do not have firefox, and could be freezable. I would think twice before doing this, even if it isnt detectable.
Wed Apr 26, 2006 6:15 pm
I don't think that is any different, policywise, than turning off your internet explorer images (telling it not to display any images), so as to make the pages load faster, or making your computer resolution higher so that the icons are smaller and more of them show on the same page.
It's not like turning off the pictures definitely makes you more likely to get the items you want - someone else might be better than you at identifying pictures quickly, even without turning off their images.
I would say that people who have DSL or a T1 line have a distinct advantage over those who can only afford dialup, yet there are many successful people running accounts - and restocking - on dialup. Yet it is not considered an unfair advantage to have a faster connection, a faster computer, and so on. Furthermore, Firefox is free, so anyone that actually wants it can have it.
Still, the operative thing is that it's not doing the actual work for you - you still have to load the page yourself, make the determination what is going to be profitable, click fast enough, haggle properly, and then sell the thing at the correct price that will be profitable and yet allow the item to sell rather than rotting in your shop.
Now, if Firefox was figuring out which images didn't make a profit and adblocking them for you, well, that would be a problem!!!
It's not like turning off the pictures definitely makes you more likely to get the items you want - someone else might be better than you at identifying pictures quickly, even without turning off their images.
I would say that people who have DSL or a T1 line have a distinct advantage over those who can only afford dialup, yet there are many successful people running accounts - and restocking - on dialup. Yet it is not considered an unfair advantage to have a faster connection, a faster computer, and so on. Furthermore, Firefox is free, so anyone that actually wants it can have it.
Still, the operative thing is that it's not doing the actual work for you - you still have to load the page yourself, make the determination what is going to be profitable, click fast enough, haggle properly, and then sell the thing at the correct price that will be profitable and yet allow the item to sell rather than rotting in your shop.
Now, if Firefox was figuring out which images didn't make a profit and adblocking them for you, well, that would be a problem!!!
Wed Apr 26, 2006 9:51 pm
Wow, this spreadsheet is really good. but i can't be looking at this every time the shop restocks, and it'll probably take a while to gather enough data. and what's the PRINT section for?