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Savvy Pirate

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What is Hoarding? How does it work exactly?



What is hoarding? How does it work? Well, it's the easiest way to earn gold.
Unfortunately you have to have some gold before you can make it this way. But- you don't
need to have a lot of gold, it does help, but it's not totally necessary.



Hoarding is a form of investment that involves buying items for a certain price and then
waiting a significant amount of time for that item to naturally inflate in price and then selling it at
a profit.
In an attempt to put it more plainly- You invest in an item. It inflates. You sell it at a
profit. This can take some time.

The way it works is this: Many items released on Gaia are released for a limited time only. Since
they're released for a limited time, whether they're released in an event or as a G-Cash item,
once they're no longer available there is a fixed number of them. It does not matter if the fixed
number is massive (as with sponsor items) because it's still a fixed number. In fact, you could
even consider the number to be dwindling because of other people hoarding the item,
people getting banned/loosing access to an account or just people who are going to have
bought it and keep it forever. As the Gaia population grows demand for that item also grows and
since the demand grows the price inflates. Slowly, steadily, erratically but pretty much inevitably.

An example would be MCs. They're released and available for one month only. They're also only
available for G-Cash which also limits the number that exist. After that month is over- no more
will ever come into existence. But people will still desire that item and their desire for it will raise the price.

Savvy Pirate

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Picking a Hoard



There isn't really a general way to go about picking what you want to hoard except something like maybe: "Hey, this item is popular, I'll think I'll buy some and see if the price goes
up." But that's kind of messy and wouldn't always work so I'm going to be more specific and I'm
going to talk about all of the different types of items Gaia has from the "yes do buy this for
guaranteed profit" to the "no, this isn't ever going to be profitable." We'll start with the good ones.




RIGs
Officially known as CIs or Chance Items but also referred to as "rando-boxes" and "magic
boxes" they are Gaia’s random item-generating bags and boxes such as Gee Boi Turbo,
Crystal Overdrive, and Love Charm just to name a few. I like to call them magic boxes
because, as advertised, they can make you insanely rich but not by opening them.
Never open them. Never. I mean it. Statistically, (and yes I am about to get all mathy
on you, learn to deal with it) the odds of getting an item worth more than the box you
opened aren’t great. The odds of getting an item worth enough more than the boxes you
opened with shitty items in them to cover your losses are even worse. So just don’t do it.
The odds of buying a recent box for 80k and turning around and selling it in a month
or two for 120k are very good. So, why would you go for the extremely risky profit when
there’s an even more profitable “sure bet?” Well, I sure wouldn't. I've made millions and
millions of gold on these things. Plus, they are very short term. No need to hoard for
months and months or even years with these. I'd buy some of every batch (they come out
monthly) if possible.


MCs/DIs/Letters
Gaia’s monthly collectible items. They don’t go through a lot of drastic changes in price after
about a month or so of being released but they will naturally inflate because there is a fixed
amount of them. The more popular a MC the better idea it is to hoard it because it will go up
faster and be more profitable. Be aware that MCs take a long time to profit from. No less than six months.


EIs
Evolving items. Picking an evolving item can be tricky. How much G-cash it costs, who
the artist is and the subject matter all have a huge bearing on whether it will be popular and gain
a lot of profit. A great deal of research may need to be put into this to see a good return. The
ten-dollar EIs will always do well. The seven-fifty ones can do well. The others are kind of
wildcard and mostly I wouldn't bother with them.


CS
Cash Shop items. Still available CS items are not good for hoarding unless (as with
the many item generating “magic boxes” they like to put out) you know they are going to
be discontinued after a short period of time. Cash Shop items that have already been
discontinued or are going to be soon make for good long-term investments. Between
March of 2008 when they were discontinued and January of 2009 the Magical School
Girl Uniforms went from 6-7k each to 20-40k each (varying by color). That’s just an
example. An example of a Cash Shop item that was still in the Cash Shop but did make
a good hoard were the Bunny/Chicky Hoodies but those were an exception and fall under the
"seasonal" hoarding category. However, you may not want to hold onto Cash Shop items
forever as Gaia can and will re-release them in RIGs or bundles.


Event Items
Events items are the items given out for completing tasks during seasonal events. I suggest
buying Halloween and Christmas items in the Spring and Summer and Valentines & Easter
items in the Summer and Fall for hoarding. Even buying in the few months leading up to an
event and then selling off quickly in the few weeks or days before and during an event can bring
tremendous profit. Because profit is all about supply and demand. The supply remains relatively
the same but during an event the demand goes way up so the price goes way up. Another thing
about Event Items: Never buy right before, during, or right after the event. You will lose gold or
you will have to wait a long time to profit.


Quest items
Not items that you quest for but items that come from promotional NPC quests. These are a lot
like event items except that they aren’t worth any more at a particular time of year. A lot of them
get made so there is a very large supply and typically not much demand. You can often buy them
for less than ten gold each. You’re not likely to make any immediate profit from them but pick up
a dozen at one gold each and six months or a year later when you’re having an inventory sale
you sell them for a hundred gold each. High percentage of profit even though it takes a long
time and doesn’t seem like much.


Rares/RIG Items
Rares are the many items that can be obtained only from specific ones of Gaia’s many item
generating “Magic boxes.” I refer to the item generating bags/boxes as “Magic boxes” because
not only were the original item-generating boxes called “Magical Gift Boxes” but there is the
statistically small chance that opening a so-called magic box can make you instantly pixel-rich,
as if by magic. However, Rares/RIG Items are not hoardable. Not the Bustier that came
from the Pink Gift Box and not the shiny new item that just came out of the latest RIG. The
old-style boxes and trunks such as the Pink Gift Box have been around forever and are
continually released so the items inside them are continually released. And as for RIG items
there are instances in which hoarding these items has been profitable but because Gaia
enjoys releasing many of the popular items again and again you're much more likely to lose
money. I therefore do no recommend this.


Luck Key/Lucky Chests & Lucky Chest Items
A strange RIG-like non-RIG with a limited selection of items inside, the selection changes
periodically. No. Do not bother. These will never profit from hoarding. Not ever. Not the keys
and not the items.


Aquarium Items
Fish and other items that go inside your aquarium. Neither aquarium fish nor decorations are
good hoarding material. Do not try to hoard them.


Commons
These are the items you can buy in Gaia stores from the NPCs. There are an infinite number
available so they have no hoarding potential.


House Items
Most house items can be bought from NPC stores and therefore technically fall under the
category of “commons.” Except the thing about house items is that there is even less
demand for them. Don’t bother with them at all. There is no point.


Prize & Joy
The items that can be obtained by trading in tickets at prize and joy. They have no hoarding potential.


Game items
Game items are items such as ink, bugs, flowers, “trash”, any items received from fishing, fish
bait, tokens, tickets, credits, pinball power-ups, ELF powerups, and anything else I might be
forgetting along that vein. These have no hoarding potential.


Rings
Rings come from the zOMG game and due to the developers changing their minds there are
few rings floating around that are not soulbound. Theoretically they may be worth hoarding since
there are fewer and fewer all the time but they're such a bother to sell they're not worth the effort.


Recipes
A special monster drop or prize for quest completion these recipes tell you what is needed to
create a zOMG crafted item. They have no hoarding potential.


zOMG ingredients
Ingredients that must be used in the creation of recipes. They have no hoarding potential.


zOMG-crafted items
Items crafted from recipes and ingredients obtained in zOMG. These have no hoarding potential.


Overseer Items
Things given to you by the overseer. All of the Regalia and Armor, etc. These have no hoarding
potential or value. Do not bother.


Alchemy Formulae
These can be obtained from the Alchemist's Case, Events, and other areas of Gaia and are used in the creation of Alchemy items. They have no hoarding potential.


Alchemy Components
These can be obtained from Daily Chance, Philosopher's Cache, zOMG, Fishing, Towns, Games, Golden Magical Giftbox, Enki's Catch, Events, and other areas of Gaia. These have no hoarding potential.


Alchemized Items
These are the items created through Alchemy. They have no hoarding potential.

Savvy Pirate

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Traditional Hoarding, Seasonal Hoarding, Short-term Hoarding

The three different kinds of hoarding you can do.



Traditional hoarding is when you pick up a bunch of some item that has a fixed amount with the
expectation that you will have to hold onto them for at least six months in order to profit from them.


Seasonal hoarding is picking up event items or other seasonal items from a past year in the "off"
season and waiting for that season to come around again. The event will cause massive
demand for items that are typically in low demand and the price for them will skyrocket, netting
you a great profit when you sell.


Short-term hoarding is a little more complicated and volatile. RIGs are the best bet for short-term
hoarding. Wait about a week after they first come out and buy a bunch, then wait a month or so
until you're satisfied with the profit and sell them off, they're that easy. EIs can be hoarded
short-term by buying them early on and waiting for a popular evolution and selling. A lot of
research must be put into EIs before buying otherwise you may end up with something
unpopular that you will never earn money on. Always sell for a good profit now and not a maybe-
better profit later.

Savvy Pirate

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When to Buy; When to Sell



You never want to buy a hoard too soon, but you don't want to buy it too late, either. When an item is first released it's usually pretty obvious from the start whether it will be worth hoarding or not. But you don't want to buy it right away. All items, especially G-cash items are overly expensive in the first week or two they are available because there are so few of them and a lot of people throw their gold away immediately snatching them up. For new EIs (or second generations you think are worth getting) you'll want to wait a week to a week and a half after release before buying them. For MCs you'll want to wait two or three weeks to a month after the letters are opened before buying your hoard. For RIGs you'll want to wait about two to two and a half weeks from the release date. For event items you'll want to wait until the event is over. For sponsor items you'll want to wait until they've been out for a week or two. For seasonal hoarding you'll want to leave a one to two month cushion on either side of the actual event (an exception is that
just-released items are often dumped for extraordinarily cheap and are worth picking up if you
see them cheap). Otherwise you can buy any time.

For MCs you'll have to wait at least six months before seeing a profit big enough for it to be worth selling. Be prepared to wait out the long haul. I don't recommend this for those without a lot of gold to start with or inexperienced hoarders.

For EIs you'll have to wait a few generations. I say no more than four to six. But if the first evolution is super amazing and the price rockets up 300%, sell. Just do it. It's already an amazing profit and chances are if you wait you won't get to earn any more gold on it so just sell when you're happy with the profit.

For RIGs you'll want to sell after one to two months from when they were pulled from the Cash Shop. I usually wait until they've gone up 30-50% and then sell unless there are some kind of extenuating circumstances. But there's no use waiting longer than a few months. At that point the inflation slows way down and you can profit a whole lot more by selling off your hoard and re-investing in something else.

Obviously for seasonal hoarding you want to sell them when they're in season or about a month or so before if you have a lot to unload.

For sponsor items you can sell them whenever you feel happy with the profit. Or you can never sell them like I do but hey- that's just me. I'm weird.

Savvy Pirate

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Savvy Pirate

30,075 Points
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Savvy Pirate

30,075 Points
  • Battle: Rogue 100
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