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Hey! Take a look at the upper right corner of your screen, next to where your Gold is displayed. See that new number? It's your Gaia Cash, the new replacement for the old Gift Credit system. As a little "thank you" to our loyal members, we've given every active Gaian a small introductory balance of Gaia Cash.

(If you already had Gift Credits in your account, you may have noticed that the number up there is much smaller. Don't worry! You're rich! Read on for more info.)

After a lot of debate and economic tweaking, we decided to phase out Gift Credits and create a new currency that would be much more valuable and versatile. Here are a few of the benefits:

  • You can use it to buy shop items AND Monthly Collectibles, whereas Gift Credits could only be used in the shops.

  • The value of Gaia Cash is much higher than Gift Credits. We didn't feel that Gift Credits were a good enough deal, so Gaia Cash will get you about three times as much value for every dollar.

  • We introduced a promotional code system along with Gaia Cash that will allow us to do some massively cool stuff. These codes can be given out during special promotions (conventions, contests or whatever) and redeemed for Gold, items, Gaia Cash or just about anything else. Neat!

For now, Gaia Cash is just a cool new way to get a good value for your money. But in the future, we'll be able to do boundlessly cool stuff with it.

What are you waiting for? Hit the shops and spend your Gaia Cash! If you'd like to pick up a little more Cash, you can visit the Gaia Cash page here.

Gaia Cash Q&A:

    What happened to my Gift Credits? I had a lot of them, and now I only have a few!
    Your gift credits have been automatically converted into Gaia Cash. Though the number may be smaller ($1 is equal to 100 Gaia Cash), you can buy a lot more stuff with it. Gaia Cash has a much higher value than Gift Credits, so you actually have the equivalent of about three times as much purchasing power as you had before.

    I didn't have any Gift Credits, but now I have a small balance of Gaia Cash in my account. Is this a bug?
    No! We've given every active member a small balance of Gaia Cash to thank them for using Gaia. You can go ahead and spend your Cash in Gaia shops, or save it toward a future Monthly Collectible. Enjoy it!

    Will everyone get free Gaia Cash, even new users?
    The introductory balance of Gaia Cash was only given to people who already had active accounts. Any new accounts registered will not start out with any Gaia Cash. If you registered your account after this announcement was posted, or if you had not logged in for many months, you may not have received any free Gaia Cash.

    Where can I buy Gaia Cash?
    To get some Gaia Cash, you can click the "GStore" link in the top navigation bar and then click the Gaia Cash image. You can go directly to the Gaia Cash purchase page here.

    Can I buy Gaia Cash for someone else?
    This is another big difference from Gift Credits: for the moment, there is no way to purchase Gaia Cash for other people. In the coming months, it will be possible to purchase Gaia gift cards for your pals.

    Can I trade my Gaia Cash with other members?
    No. Once Gaia Cash is purchased, it stays in your account until you spend it.

    Can I spend Gaia Cash in the marketplace?
    No. Gaia Cash cannot be used to purchase items on the marketplace. It can only be used for items in the Gaia shops and for Monthly Collectibles.

    Is this some sneaky way to turn Gaia into a pay site?
    Absolutely not. Gaia will remain just as free as ever. We just wanted to make sure that the people who do choose to spend money on Gaia will just get a fair bargain for their money. Upcoming (optional!) items or features might use Gaia Cash, but they'll be worth it!