The Wishing Well
How to get your wish granted!
Intro:
The wishing well is something almost all of us have tried at some point, probably when we were newbies, hoping for that extravagant Baby Paint Brush. Who doesn't want cute baby pets? After several futile donations you probably gave up on the wishing well and spent your time doing other things (like ABing). I'd like to take you back to the wishing well and explain how it works and how you can actually make profit* from the wishing well.
*Note that as more people become familiar with the mechanics of the wishing well, the chances of profit will decrease.
Item Rarity:
Here is what you see when you go to the wishing well:
Spoiler
This should be straight forward and familiar to you. Enter the neopoints you want to donate, the super expensive item you're wishing for and never hear from the wishing well at all is how it usually goes. If you look closely at the items being granted by the wishing well however, you notice a pattern. The same items keep appearing: Usukicon Y13 Goodie Bag, Bag of Peanuts, Neopets 11th Birthday Goodie Bag etc. What do these items have in common? They are the most expensive items at rarity 89 or below!
The wishing well only gives out items of rarity 89 and below. Now, you can use various item databases to find the most expensive and therefore most profitable items of rarity 89 and below.
Jellyneo Item Database
Spoiler
Neocodex Item Database
Spoiler
If you don't mind selling a HTS item, go ahead and choose the very most expensive items (Glyme Collectable Charm, Beautiful Columns Foreground, Geraptiku Bushes etc.). If you want a more ETS item with a stable price, I recommend Bag of Peanuts. If you don't want to deal with the trading post at all then you should go for buyable items. The various expensive spooky foods are good for this (Strawberry Ice Cream Apple Lantern, Brain Ice Cream etc.).
Donation Amount:
Other users' experiences have shown that the minimum amount donated that will result in a prize is 21np[1]. This means that for an item like Bag of Peanuts for example, which is worth ~210000np, you can put in 10000 donations before you break even. You can see you have pretty good chances to make a profit.
When to Donate:
The wishing well says that it gives out wishes 4 times a day. This is false. It has been observed that wishes are granted twice a day[1], with 10 wishes granted each time for a total of 20 wishes granted a day. This means you can win twice a day. It has been hypothesized on the neodaq forums that the wishes are granted at 6am/pm NST. If you make a wish around every 12 hours though, it should be fine. I make my wishes at 10am/pm local time, since it fits best with my sleep schedule.
Key Points:
- Ask for items with rarity less than or equal to 89.
- Minimum donation is 21np.
- Make a wish every 12 hours.
- Profit!
Sources:
[1] Neodaq Forums (Neodaq account needed to see the thread)
Edited by TheV, 08 September 2011 - 03:02 PM.
