After recently starting a gallery myself, I was perplexed about the rules of owning a spare account. Neopets has been very vague about rules concerning gallery and spare accounts, so I had an email exchange with staff to get some answers. Recently, these rules were changed at the same time the new chat rules were updated. Here is a basic F.A.Q. I compiled about how to manage your gallery account without breaking the rules. Special thanks goes to Bryan on staff for putting up with my pestering mails about these rules. 🙂
Q: How many accounts am I allowed?
A: You are allowed one main account, and up to four accounts (which are only to be used as galleries or spare accounts).
Q: Am I allowed to play games on my accounts?
A. You are only allowed to play games on your main account, period. The rules used to be you could play games to help fund shop upgrades for galleries, etc, just as long as you didn’t do the dailies like Tombola, Coltzan’s Shrine, Snowager, Fruit Machine, etc. However, with the change in the rules you are now NOT allowed to play ANY games on any account except your main. Sarah the Helpful Zafara still has not been updated on the site when it comes to this question, so please take note of this new change.
Q: Am I allowed to restock on my spare/gallery account?
A: Absolutely not. Buying from the main shops on any account except your main is like buying a one-way ticket to Iceville. Staff implemented new programs to help detect multi-account RS’rs and by restocking on a spare you are sending them a red flag, even if you are NOT banned on your main account. Don’t do it.
Q: Well, can I resell then?
A: Yes, you can resell off the wiz, trades, or auctions provided you have the overhead to finance it in your spare. Don’t ever bid on an item in auction that you’ve bid on with another account already though!
Q: How do I feed my spare pets?
A: You’ll have to either send the food items for them from your main account, or buy food items for them (but like said above, NOT from the main shops). Do NOT get free omelettes, jellies or use the Soup Faerie. I’m not certain why the Soup Faerie is off limits, I suspect that TNT doesn’t want you creating any new pets (and taking up new pet names away from the database) if you can’t financially take care of them.
Q: What if I get something via a random event? (map pieces, codestones, nerkmids)?
A. You are free to sell that item in your gallery/spare account via trades, shop, or auctions. You may NOT however transfer the funds or the items to your main account however.
Q: I want to start a gallery, but expanding the size of my shop is expensive! If I can’t play games or restock, how am I supposed to fund my shop upgrades?!?
A: You’ll need to transfer your NP for upgrades from your main. You may do this by buying overpriced junk items in your shop or through trades. NOTE however, if you don’t have an item to use for the transfer, do NOT go and get a free omelette, Tombola item, or jelly. Send your spare the junk item from your main first. Try not to transfer large amounts of NP though, just enough for what you need.
Q: Am I allowed to use spare accounts as storage for items and neopoints?
A: Personally, I wouldn’t. Darcy B. on staff gave this answer, and I don’t like the word “suspicious” in the way she used it. “Theoretically you can…. keep in mind it will look a bit suspicious. As long as you’re not using secondary accounts just to make neopoints for your main account, you should be fine. Thanks for writing!”
I hope this FAQ has been helpful to you. If you didn’t find the answer you are looking for, don’t just assume, find out from staff BEFORE you act. It may take up to a week before you get a reply, and yes, its inconvenient, but it beats being in the freezer.
Good luck and best wishes in Neopia. – valerielundberg