Mid-term Investments
There are several aspects to consider in selecting mid to long term investments. Mid-term investments should be considered items bought with the intention of selling within the year. Long-term investments are items purchased to be sold with in a period of one year+.
Typically, regarding mid-term investments, one should first be mindful of the different factors which take part in the flux of the market during specific periods of time, such as holidays, plot/events, and regional weather changes with the seasons. These should be paid attention to for two reasons; they are the periods of time in which some items spike in value, and others dip.
Take the Christmas Paint Brush for example. In the Winter, these item’s prices spike, as they are more high in demand since all the little neopians want their pet to match the season. Although this item has been on a steady incline in price for quite some time now, one can see a noticeable rise in price every December/January. Looking at the graphical information available through our item database, we can view the price range for this item throughout the year; and therefore gauge which price point at which we’d like to purchase the item for, and which we’d be looking to sell at. For the Christmas PB, there is one *consistent* dip which occurs every year (previous years dips have been inconsistent from year to year, although do occur, and should be paid attention to). This dip occurs in February, which in my opinion, comes from short sighted investors selling off their remainder stock of product after the holiday season. This is the best time to buy; as weekend-warrior investors have a plethora of stock on hand, and they witness the price point of the item they invested in spiral downward, they get nervous and sell of their stock as a stop-loss measure; which you, as a more level-headed investor, can fully take advantage of. Something to keep in mind; if you end up selling off the remainder of your stock as a discount, it will probably offset the much of the profit you made during the peak price-point, fully negating all of the time you spent researching, buying, and selling; not to mention the biggest folly, having your NP tied up, preventing you from making other potentially profitable investments. In my mind, which after a decade of playing, a longer term approach is advisable. If you find yourself in the situation where you have purchased more stock than you can sell for profit before the price deflates; hold onto it. Another more risky endeavor is to purchase the other cheaper items on the wiz in order to bolster the average price point back up. This method is only advised when the stock available for purchase is limited; in the case of retired or limited edition items, and is not advised for less experienced investors.
Many of you are probably looking for a list of items I’d recommend for mid-term investment. For this section, I will not be doing this, as I am truly more experienced at long-term investment. If users wish to submit items for consideration, I’ll be happy to research them and add them in via edit.
Long Term Investments
If you invest in a large number of an item at a time DO NOT FLOOD THE MARKET WITH THEM WHEN YOU DECIDE TO SELL. For example, say you have 100 of an item worth 1m. The first ten or so you sell will sell for 800k or so. By the time you sell the other 90, since many of the items you sold were purchased by players who attempt to resell them, the market is flooded, and they will drive the price down to 150-200k. You just one step forward and two steps back. Instead, continue to sell the item at 800k, releasing one or so a week. This will ensure that the supply is not too great, and the price remains stable. It will take more time and patience on your part, however, I’d rather have 10m and eighty 1m items, than 30m and zero 1m items at the end of three months.
For this reason, it is my personal preference to spread out my long term investments. I’d rather purchase, say, a 100count of ten different items, than a 1000count of one item. Endgame, this will keep my bank flush, as I can sell ten different items at once, and do so without flooding the market.
Long Term Investments are not for players who get antsy or make decisions on impulse. I will focus my investment advice on buyable items, as they have the most potential for growth, and as they carry the least risk, and because they can be purchased in mass quantities as opposed to UB’s. Some items take years to naturally inflate to a higher price; and this can be driven by multiple factors.
Firstly, limited edition items from plots or site events. Back in the day, snowbunnies were an item that could be picked up for <400np, and were used as the junk item in trades. Given out through the advent calendar, every single neopian who participated had one, so generally, there wasn’t a market for them. Fast forward to 2013, and the price for one is ~400-450k. If a player had the mind to collect 100 or so of these, they would have seen a profit of ~39m.
Rare item code items: Although there is never a guarantee that TNT won’t release these items into the main shops, or release more codes; these items make for good long term investments since there’s always the chance that this item will never be released again.
With few exceptions, stay away from items such as toys and foods; although foods are once use, the people who buy these don’t buy them to feed to their pets. They buy them to put them in a gallery, or to resell them. As there aren’t too many galleries for toys and foods, the market for these items is low, and these items will therefor fetch lower prices.
In times of war (plot wise), various items will inflate well beyond their natural price. Several years ago, I bought 1000 of one type of healer, waiting for war to occur and spike the price. Although I was absent for several of the plots, I eventually sold these healers at 14X the price I bought them at. A cheap investment turned into a tidy profit. Beyond healers, I recommend defensive items, such as items that block a large majority of icons, or reflect. Oh, there’s an item that blocks 50%, and a more expensive (but still buyable) item that blocks 75%? Buy both. Both of these items will have markets; from the unprepped everyday ‘domer to the somewhat experienced (and more likely, with deeper pockets) battler, you will find that both do well. If you have limited funds to invest, I would suggest sticking to healers or one use high-icon-dealing weapons. Reason being, that if you only have enough to invest in one defensive item that blocks icons, well, there are many to choose from, and only a faction of a chance that you’ll guess what icon the next foe will be dealing (and therefor making your defensive investment relevant). After the plot is over, make sure to jump on investment opportunities that pop up in the event prizes. In the week following the prize release, these items may be the cheapest you will ever see them.
Retired Books and Retired Stamps: These are my bread and butter. Being one use, and highly collectable, these items will inflate the fastest; as over time the end consumer (as opposed to resellers) will grab ahold of the item, and then there’s one less available; which over time drives the price up as supply dwindles and demand remains constant.
Follows is a list of one-use items which are still buyable, and retired. Remember, a User Shop AutoBuyer is your best friend when purchasing items en masse! If anyone has additions to make to the list, let me know and I’ll be more than happy to edit them in.
Sparky
Feeding Lupes
Neopian Encyclopedia F – J
Neopian Encyclopedia K – O
Neopian Encyclopedia P – T
Neopian Encyclopedia U – Z
Radio Active Pteri Part 1
Healing Koi
Train Koi
Feed Koi
JubJub Manual
Big Foot the JubJub
JubJub Roll!
JubJubs Day
Kaus Guide to Better Grazing
Raising Young Kau
Dance Away
Scaredy Acara
Purple Power
Kiko – Fu
Kiko Care
Keeping Peophin
Cybunny Financing
The Happy Blumaroo
Drawing Kiko
When Your Meercas Hurt
Confident Kyrii
Seasonal Faerie Tales
Neopian Times Year 6 Annual
My Neighbour the Zombie
Brightvale, A Complete History
I’m sure that my readers will suggest improvements to this guide, which I’ll be happy to make, if I find the reasoning behind an edit to be sound. Enjoy!
Disclaimer: Some/all of these items may take *years* to see their true growth potential. As I said earlier in the guide, one must have patience.
Edited by Silver, 03 September 2013 - 02:06 PM.
