Author - katzfiel

I've been playing this game for some time now, and while I'm no great expert by any means, there are a few things that I've noticed and/or picked up about the game that I felt a lot of new players should know, and I've been meaning to put up a list of tips for some time now. After organizing my thoughts, and talking to other players about their opinions and experience, I figured I was about ready to start doing just that... so here it is.

This is my first little guide, focusing on the subject of (as you've already surmised by the title) making money quickly. As I've had lots and lots of new players asking me how to make some quick cash in the game, I figured that I might as well put up all the stuff I told them right here, so that next time, I can just direct them to this post, and I would have also provided a resource for others to look up before ever ask me or anyone else. I also hope that the few things I'll relate will be some help to the more experienced players, or that they will offer some better advice than I can give.

Keep in mind that this is not a definitive set of rules: I am not saying that this is the only way to make money in 9Dragons. I am pretty sure that other people have some tried and true methods of collecting that oft sought gold that will make my tips pale in comparison... but they haven't posted them yet, so you're going to have to settle for me. However, I will say that as far as I can tell, these guidelines will help you get some money fairly quickly, easily and reliably, as it has for me ever since I started playing. Granted, some of the things I'll be saying may offend some people; while this is not my intention, the fact is, some of the ideas and methods here may not mesh well with other player's plans for your in game wallets. Since I do not want to get into a flame war, all I can say is, this guide is not meant to attack anybody, and I am not ordering or commanding people to do everything I'm posting here. But I WILL say venture to say that the only people who could possible have a problem with this will be those who would rather you blow all your gold on them, rather than make some of your own.

Also, I have to warn you guys that this will be a long one. I'm sure those of you who've ready my other posts know how long I can make these things... sorry about that. I just want to make sure that I explain my ideas as well as I can.

Anyways, let's get to it.

First, I suggest that you head on over and read this guide first. It's an excellent beginner's guide written by kixor, and it pretty much gives you most of the tools you'll need to get out there and make that money. In fact, I'll just say right now that you should consider my guide a supplement to his, as many of his ideas I'll expand on, as well as add a few of my own. His is wordy too, by the way, just warning you all.

Read it? Good. Now, let's take this a bit further with some guidelines:

Be willing to sell for lower, but at faster rates.

I can't stress this tip enough: it is the core to the entire theory of this guide. The Crazy Katz way of making money adheres to the idea that selling lots of lower priced items quickly and consistently will gain you more money quicker than selling items at higher prices, but at a slower pace. I think that's self explanatory, but for those who don't get it, let me explain.

You got one guy in Hefei selling a bunch of LF tomes for 50k. You got another guy near him selling the same tomes for 35k. Question: who's going to get their money quicker? That's right, the second guy. The first one will still be hanging around in Hefei, along with the rest of the people selling their tomes for the exact same prices. And the second guy is off to level up and collect even more loot to sell later, also at lower prices than other people. So he's gonna be getting his gold at a faster rate, which means he'll get his pockets filled much quicker, than the person with the standard prices. And that's the whole point of this guide... making lots of money quicker.

For those who doubt this, let me offer myself as an example. In two days, I went from having 42k, to 337k, simply from selling weapons I got from drops. Many were the same weapons that other people were selling... but I got rid of mine faster. I am sure there are some major money making tycoons here that can do it even faster than that, and make lots more, but I can tell you one thing; the people next to me who were selling the same stuff at common prices for 4 days in a row weren't one of them. If you want to make your money fast, you have to be willing to cut off a bit from the price. Trust me, it's totally worth it in the end.

Don't bother selling low level items to other players.

Don't. No, really, DON'T. You're just not going to sell them. Be honest with yourself: Who playing this game is willing to buy your Fine Iron Sword?? Ok, a newb would. You think they actually have the money for it???

Do yourself a favor: just turn those low level items in to an NPC or contribute it to your clan for those valuable Contribution points you'll need for your skills. If you would rather another player have it (as I usually do), then just give it to some lucky new player. Who knows, they might do you a favor in turn, like gathering those big pouches that you so desperately need for that collection quest. But seriously, don't bother selling anything lower than GC. Hell, I've never sold any weapons or clothing to another player that was lower than RC.

Don't bother selling early quest items.

I guess this should be part of the first guideline, but I figured it could use it's own headline. Basically, don't bother selling stuff that people are going to be getting within the first few hours of playing and questing. For one, it's a lower level item. For another, it's already beginning to be common knowledge that they'll be getting these items from quests. I know when I first played, other players quickly told me about stuff I was gonna be getting my hands on fairly soon, so when I saw people selling them, I saw no reason to buy them when I knew I was going to get them for free later. If I was able to figure that out, other players will too. Of course, there's no reason why you can't just take a gamble and put it up in your stand, I know people tend to buy this things now and then, especially some of the later quest items that you get from RL and beyond. I just know that I'm one of those people that don't, and I know quite a lot of others who think the same way. So don't be surprised if that Unnamed Hero's Sword isn't moving as quick as you'd like.

Don't sell higher than NPC price.

You would think that this would be obvious, but I see people doing this all the damn time, particularly with things like basic weapon refinement items. Usually this is either because the player doesn't know about the NPC price, or more likely, is trying to prey on the ignorance of other players. Sometimes it's a combination of the two, but as time goes on, this tactic will get more and more unreliable as people learn more about the game, and the info becomes more and more common. People will start thinking you're stupid, and you'll start wondering why your stuff isn't selling. To avoid this, and to make that money fast, remember the 5-2 standard.

What's the 5-2 standard?

Remember what kixor said about all items being sold to NPC's for 1/5 their in-game value? That basically means (for those who didn¡¯t do the math) that if you times the amount you'd get from them by 5, the result is how much the game set's the items worth. If the item is something that an NPC is selling, you obviously want to sell less than that. kixor stated that you should sell the item for a third, or half of that price, and I agree wholeheartedly, except I'd just say forget that third, and stick with half. If the item is rare, make it 2/3 the price. Trust me, those prices are still lower than what most people are selling for, and you'll still get your cash before they do.

Of course, then there's the question of what to do with those rare items that AREN'T sold by NPC's? Well, anybody will tell you that at that point, anything goes, and it all boils down to simple economics: supply and demand. The more a whole lot of people want something, the more they are willing to pay for it. Of course, you should take advantage of that... but up to a point. Sure, you can go and sell that Blood Essence for 100k; people are willing to spend the money for it, and it is the standard price. But if you are following these tips, then you aren't doing the standard thing. You're trying to get your money fast. So what do you do? Sell them at around 75k-85k. Trust me: They'll go real quick. Hell, just MENTIONING To other players nearby that you're gonna sell those kind of things cheaply will get them sold right then and there. I can't count the number of times I've gotten a Blood Essence from a drop during a party, and just by casually mentioning that I was going to sell them in Hefei for 75k to my team, I ended up 75k richer just a few minutes later. It's no secret why this happens: people LIKE lower prices. Hell, YOU like buy things for less, so why would you think that people would chose paying lots for your items, just because you want them too?? People want bargains, and if you offer them, they'll jump on in, allowing you to take off with their cash. Which leads into the next tip:

Let people know you're selling at fair prices.

For the purposes of this guide, a fair price is pretty much any item going for 1/2 to 2/3's its game appointed value. And it's something you might want to consider letting people know about. It's a little thing yes, but it can go a long way. You don't have to be flamboyant about it... just put in you stand name something like "All Items Half NPC Price!" or "Lower than the people next to me!!" or something like that, or every now and then throw out the price of a random item in your stand through General Chat (of course, you can only do that if you aren't sleeping while your character dutifully tends the stand in silence). Trust me, people WILL show up. Doing that in Hefei is a very powerful thing; you're pretty an oasis in a very large desert. There are very few people who are actually pricing their items this way, and despite people like me saying it's a good idea, that's not going to change anytime soon. That's fine; more power to them. People can sell items at any price they wish; no one's gonna tell them what to do, and sooner or later, somebody's gonna buy it. But there¡¯s no reason why you can't take advantage of this either; you want your cash NOW right? So put up those lower prices and advertise the fact, so that the other players will trip over themselves to give you their money promptly.

Consider being consistent with your stand name.

This is a pretty small tip, and it's not something that's really all that necessary, but it helps. Having a common stand name, or stand name phrase to use will help frequent shoppers remember who you are. And if they remember you as the guy who keeps showing up with those low priced items, they'll come back to buy more stuff from you, or at the very least see what you got. Granted, I don't think this happens very often; I just speak from personal experience, because there are a few players in game that I keep coming back to in Hefei, because they always have some good prices for what they sell. No reason why other people can't do the same.

Also, here's a tip from JadeAngel07:

Quote:
Regarding the stand name, I change it every time. I think it's more useful to have a stand name that actually indicates what items you are selling, so that people who want the item will see it and go to your stand.

It's actually good to have some indication of what items you are selling in your stand. Think about all the lag that you have to go through when wading through Hefei: wouldn't it be a bit more tolerable if you knew what each person had in their stand before you clicked on them? It would make shopping that much easier and quicker. So if you have a bunch of weapons in your stand, say so. Something like "Half NPC Priced Weapons!" or "Lower priced Tomes!" would be perfect... not only would you be advertising low prices, but people will know exactly what you have. So the people actually looking for weapons will find you a lot quicker. And that can only work in your favor.

Consider having a big payoff.

This may sound contrary to my "make money fast" theme, but it's not really. Basically, one thing you might want to consider doing is waiting a while till you have a whole bunch of loot to sell, THEN going to Hefei and selling them off. That way, you get the advantage of selling your crap fast, AND getting lots of money at once. I once got rid of a whole lot of weapons this way, and got some quick cash to get me some elixirs for myself. Trust me, it¡¯s a great feeling walking away several hundred k richer from one item selling session.

takura187 has a rather interesting thing to say about NPC prices....

Quote:
if you notice on trying to sell weapons past a certain lvl to an npc they wont offer much more than 20k for it... i've looked into that with differant weapons at differant lvl ranges and they really dont want to give you more than 20k for it. though im sure there are a few things out there that can be sold to a npc for more, i just havent found them yet.

That's something you should take into account when you're selling weapons. If they aren't going to buy your weapons back at prices no bigger than 20k, ifyou do the math, that means that, generally speaking, selling any weapon higher than 50-75k is really pushing it. Of course, this opens up the debate on how much refined weapons should cost. This is probably a cop out, but I'm staying out of that argument. What I will say is that, from my perspective, you might want to avoid selling them to the mass market anyway... at least the highly refined ones like 4+ and up. I'd rather wait until I'm at a higher level, and do that to my best sword (or in your case, whatever weapon you are using) to keep for myself. Of course, forging refined weapons being a high risk investment, I'm sure there are some people who will rather pay for someone elses refined weapon than make their own and risk losing their killing tool of choice. No reason why you can't try to tap this market... but don't expect to sell those weapons quickly, since you are most likely going to try to recap the cost of making them, which makes them highly expensive items that just won't move right away... the very antithesis of this guide.

Well, that¡¯s what I have for you guys for now. Hopefully, some of you were able to get something out of this. If I remember any more tips, I¡¯ll be sure to add them on. And any veterans with good advice on the whole ¡°quick money making¡° thing, feel free to comment. ^_^