Prizes - Keep, Sell, or Use? Part 2

From what I heard, it helped out quite a few Neopians- but now with more events, more prizes, and a variety of categories, it becomes hard to decide what to do with your latest prize, or when the Altador Cup comes, PICKING a prize.

We'll go more in depth with some of the categories and give some examples to help that 'decision making process' to see if your item is worth holding on to or not by going through some of the popular categories.

Battledome Equipment

As mentioned in the first article, part of the price of the 'Battledome Equipment' relies on the strength of the item.

We'll take a look at one example and hopefully give you a good idea for special Battledome items in general.

ITEM: Deadly Treasure Chest

To look at something recently released, Deadly Treasure Chest for instance, does not seem very powerful- for a 'Battledomer', it's not. The strength of the item is low. The price is surprisingly 2,000 neopoints which is quite high for the strength of the item- but mainly because it was released recently. Given time, it will fall to about the average price of what its strength is.

VERDICT: Sell. You'll make more NP now than you will later on when no one even glances at the item.

Books

Books will start out exceptionally high. Why is this? Because a variety of people are reading them, raising their neopets' intelligence. Those that don't read them, or those lucky enough to have read them and kept the books, will likely sell them or hold onto them. Here's one instance of another recently released prize.

ITEM: How to Serve Meepits

This is a scary book to some, but a book nonetheless. Earning this prize alone was difficult, giving it a good price increase already, but the fact that it's a book and one time use? It just raises the value more. The current value is around 16,000 neopoints; however, it is extremely likely to increase. HOWEVER, the value will raise very, very slowly. Most Neopians that wanted to read the book have already done so, so what's the point of them buying another? Newer Neopians that want to read it, though, will buy it and use it quickly.

VERDICT: Sell or Keep. If you keep it, the value is likely to go up, but it will take some time before it goes up a considerable amount.

BONUS: The name 'Meepit' is a popular gallery category, likely to result in a somewhat faster sale of the item.

Let's look at one more book item, though-

ITEM: Im Too Full! The Dieter Story

(A book that doesn't need no stinking apostrophes.)

This book came from the same place- the value is much, much lower than 'How to Serve Meepits', though- 9,000 neopoints at most. This is mostly because earning this reward was actually easier compared to the book listed above, meaning more people have it and more people are trying to sell it, which gives it a lower value. The same rules apply too- anyone that wanted to read this book has likely done so, or will do so.

VERDICT: Use or Sell. The value isn't quite high to begin with, and will increase tremendously slowly. If your Neopet's intelligence will not matter to you, you can sell it- if it does matter, though, use it.

Grooming

Something I didn't mention before because I didn't think it was needed. Grooming and Toys are in the same boat. They make your pet happier, but cannot break or be 'used'. Because a variety of items already do this that you can simply buy, it makes the value of these categories tremendously low. To make it worse, because it can never be consumed, the price increase will be very, very slow- I'm talking YEARS here.

ITEM: Suspicious Perfume

This prize was given to a very large amount of Neopians- lowering the value. It's a simple Grooming item, but it just means that it's even lower in price. You could very likely find any grooming item for less than 10 neopoints, and the value of this item is about that much- 10 neopoints. Will it increase in price? Eventually; however, it will take years for it to do so, not to mention, due to its name alone, it will not be a good gallery item for most people (unless they are a Daily Dare fan).

VERDICT: Sell. You won't make much profit, but the value itself is highly unlikely to go above 100 neopoints, even in three years.

Food

Food was mentioned before- all it does is fill the belly of your Neopet. There is one example, though, that should be mentioned due to a highly unlikely exception for it.

ITEM: Snowager Negg

This item was released during the Advent Calendar- a lot of people have it. Yet its price is 1,200 neopoints. Why is this?

Simply put- the name of the item.

'Snowager' is a popular gallery category name for people to stock Snowager things. 'Negg' is another popular category, giving this the double whammy of having two very popular categories- and another for being part of the Advent Calendar, which also has a category of its own- making this a nice gallery item. It is food, a category that doesn't rise in price slowly, but due to the simple fact it can go in three different kinds of galleries, gives it a good price.

VERDICT: Sell. Most Neopians that already want this for their galleries already have it. However, new Neopians may be interested in buying it to start a gallery of their own. The price itself can increase over time, but it will take a very long time for the price to be high. As a food item, some may eat it though- making it increase a little faster than grooming and toys, but not by a very large amount.

Petpet

Lately TNT has been releasing special Petpets- ones that cannot be painted. Petpets released through events are popular in at least two gallery categories. This gives them a good price to begin with, but slow to rise.

ITEM: Geeky Geb

The value is about 20,000 neopoints. It's quite high to begin with as it was fairly hard to obtain. Being a Petpet, it's a popular category for collectors, and being from Daily Dare also helps it some. Unfortunately, it falls under the same rule as Grooming, Food, and Toys- anyone that wants this item likely has already purchased it. That's not to say that, in time, more people won't want it, but it will be a slow and steady increase.

VERDICT: Sell or Use. 'Using' the Petpet means equipping your Neopet with it- it has a chance of being in the Petpet league after all! (However slim.) If you don't wish to do this, then you are better off selling it. The price value will go up, but it will be a slow and steady process.

When it comes down to it, though, use your best judgement. Look at the item, think to yourself 'If I wanted this item.... what could I DO with it?' as that answer is likely the same one most Neopians would do with the item.

With a variety of examples listed, it should give you a better idea of what to do with some of your prizes when it comes time to clean out your SDB. Most prizes are very, very slow to raise in prices. In fact, books and stamps are the two most likely things to go up in price the quickest.