Restocking: A Guide for Everyone
v1.0 by fallenist
 

Well, here is another help topic from Reign of Shadows, bought to you by Grey. For all of those who want to make big bucks off restocking, but can't get the parents to plot down $1000 a month for T5, this guide is for you!



Restocking on Low-speed Modems

There are a few steps to restocking on a low modem, but once you have mastered them, you will have it made! Here we go.

Step 1: Pick a shop!

This may sound simple, but it is the first step. You need to pick a shop for you to restock in. In order to find a shop that fits you, you need to take in mind a few things. First, pick a shop that is out of the way. Don't pick any of the main shops, and do some research to see which other shops are quite popular. You need to steer clear from these, because it is highly unlikely you will get anything. Next, once you have a shop in mind, watch it restock once or twice. If it restocks tons and tons of different items each time, steer clear from this as well. You won't be able to determine which items are best. Once you have a shop that you would like to restock from, move on to step 2.

Step 2: Do Research!

This is one of the most important steps and easily the most overlooked. This is 100% ABSOLUTELY NECESSARY TO BEING A SUCCESSFUL RESTOCKER! Once you have your shop, go to an item-listing site such as www.neoitems.net. Look up the type of items your shop sells, and make a list of them all. This is why you want to pick a shop that doesn't stock thousands of different items. Once you have copied all the items down, look each one up one-by-one in the shop wizard. If you wish, you can right down the prices in a little notebook for your future reference. It is absolutely crucial for any restocker with any modem in any shop to be able to pick out which items have a high resell value. Now that you have a feel for how much each thing sells for, it's time to go to step 3.

Step Three: A Dry Run!

For the first few days in the shop, you will want to keep your notebook handy. Each time you see an item restock, make a note on how much it costs in the shop. This way, you'll be able to check prices with their resell values in order to make the best decisions on purchasing. If an item stocks for 47,000NP, and sells for 48,000NP, there is little point in purchasing it. Now that you have a good grip on pricing, you can get to the real stuff.

Step Four: The Awaited Day!

With your trusty notebook in hand, you are ready to begin! Open your shop in a new window (it helps if you add it to favorites by pressing control + D) and begin refreshing. The easiest way to do this is by pressing the F5 button on the top of your keyboard. Keep doing this until you see an item you want to buy. Click the item, and type in the price. More often than not, it is pointless to haggle. Just go with the named price, and hit enter. If you are right handed, you will find that using the number pad on the far right hand side of the keyboard is much faster, but if you are left-handed, just use the top numbers. Be patient! In the smaller shops, it could be awhile before a rare item appears, but it will. With your shop in a separate window, you can go about your business without leaving the store. Make sure you check back every few minutes to check it and refresh, though. Don't constantly refresh 10 times every second, as you will get restocked banned. Restock banned means that you won't be able to see the items in a shop and it will appear empty. If you think you have been banned, check the Tiki Tack Shop as it will always have the Tombola Items piled up. If you are banned, all you can do is wait. Sometimes it will last for a few minutes, sometimes a few days. Just check back with the shop every five minutes or so until you see items. The restock in most shops is random, so you might not see any items for several hours, or it might be every few minutes. The more important shops such as food and medicine will restock faster, more often, and with a larger variety of items than the other less important shops. Well, now that you have acquired some items, it's time to sell.

Step Five: Making the Sale!

There are a few ways to determine how best to sell your item. If it is buyable, go ahead and price it in your shop for the amount listed in the wiz. If it is unbuyable, then complications come. Check out the auctions and trades, and if it is weaponry, check a battlepedia or the chat. Get an idea how much it is worth, and put it up in your trades. In your wish list, it is best to put a set amount of NP that if offered, you will accept. This is called an "Auto Amount." Also, list one or two items that you would like that total up to be a bit more than the amount of pure NP you are asking. Be reasonable with your wish list. You can advertise your find on many of the chats. If your item is R99 or another sought after or collected items, make sure to include that. Look up trades for similar items, and see if you can find people who collect your particular kind of item. These people will often purchase from you. If all else fails, you can always auction or bid the item on a different lot. Selling is often the most difficult part of restocking. Just remember, be patient and reasonable, and surely it will sell!

Step Six: Advanced Techniques!

There are a few keys to restocking that are outside of your realm of control. These can be used to your advantage if you are smart, however, they can also be detrimental. Times are crucial in restocking. If you restock from 12:00AM to 4:00AM (NST), you will find less people will be on. These are often the easiest times to restock. However, weekends and days when school are out will often cause restocking to be much harder since more people are on during those periods. Check the news often. If new items have just been added to your shop, you should probably consider leaving your shop because EVERYONE will go to that shop via the link on the news page. Alternately, if a large event is taking place such as a war or a new game, many restockers will be quite busy with those things and leave the shops wide open for you to grab things. Also, pay attention to fluctuations in the market. If you notice the price of the things you restock falling, keep that in mind when you make your buys. That about sums up restocking for slow modems, so I shall leave you with a few good shops to try. Remember, be patient, be reasonable, and be determined... And you will prevail!



Good Shops for the beginning slow-modem stocker to start with: (Recommended for people who have never tried restocking before. They don't restock good items often, but are rarely visited by the more elite stockers so there is a good chance of getting the higher-end items or practicing.)

Space Petpets



For the more advanced slow modem stockers: (Recommended for people who have gained a lot of experience and are good at restocking, these shops are more popular and provide more of a challenge, along with better profits.)

Slushie Shop



Well, that concludes it. Try your hand, see what you get! Even though it might seem impossible to get those rare items at first on a 56k modem, it is absolutely possible. Being stuck on 56k myself, I have had quite a success in Space Weaponry, including a total of three Brass Grundo Toes. Most importantly of all, have fun! If you find that restocking is not for you, fear not! There are many more ways of making NP other than restocking. Check back to the Reach of Shadows Aide page for more tips to get you on your way to riches!