Welcome to Gaia! ::

≎≎≎≎≎≎≎≎≎≎≎≎≎≎≎≎≎≎≎≎≎≎≎≎≎≎≎≎≎≎≎≎≎≎≎≎≎≎≎≎≎≎≎≎≎≎≎≎≎≎≎≎≎≎≎≎≎≎≎≎≎≎≎≎≎≎≎≎≎≎≎≎≎≎≎≎≎
The purpose of this guide is to give the reader a better understanding of what vending/hoarding is
and the best methods in performing those tasks. it is important to read every step carefully, and fully comprehend
the lesson.

If you lack the desire and drive to reach your goals, they'll be nothing but a dream.
≎≎≎≎≎≎≎≎≎≎≎≎≎≎≎≎≎≎≎≎≎≎≎≎≎≎≎≎≎≎≎≎≎≎≎≎≎≎≎≎≎≎≎≎≎≎≎≎≎≎≎≎≎≎≎≎≎≎≎≎≎≎≎≎≎≎≎≎≎≎≎≎≎≎≎≎≎




☆ FOR STARTERS:

- Choosing a browser

____ > By far, Mozilla Firefox has proven to be the fastest, user friendly, and easily tweaked browser around.
______There are numerous speed tweaks out there that can actually increase productivity when using Firefox.
______ However, if you change the wrong things, you can end up really jacking up your Firefox.
______ But that's the joy of what I believe to be one of Firefox's greatest
_______perks amongst competing browsers, the add ons.
______ There are a few add ons in particular that serve to be very useful when vending.

This is what you'll need:

____ → Tweak Network 1.5

______ ▪ Speeds up the loading of web pages and increases the maximum number of
________simultaneous downloads from a site.


____ → After you've downloaded the add on; restart Firefox.
______ Click Tools>Tweak Network Settings
______ You will recieve a warning explaining the pros and cons of using the add on.
______ Click OK.

_______ ▪ You should then see a box similar to this.


┏━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━┓
▍
▍ Max Connections: [50] ______________
▍
▍ Max Connections per server: [30] _____
▍
▍ Max persistent connections per server: [15]
▍
▍ Max persistent connections per proxy: [15]
▍
▍
▍
▍
▍
▍ ☑ Pipelining
▍
▍ ☑ Proxy Pipelining
▍
▍ Pipelining maxrequests: [15]
▍
▍
▍
┗━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━┛


______ ▪ Copy everything exactly as I have shown here, then click [Apply]

Now that you've got that taken care of, let's move onto the good stuff.

≎≎≎≎≎≎≎≎≎≎≎≎≎≎≎≎≎≎≎≎≎≎≎≎≎≎≎≎≎≎≎≎≎≎≎≎≎≎≎≎≎≎≎≎≎≎≎≎≎≎≎≎≎≎≎≎≎≎≎≎≎≎≎≎≎≎≎≎≎≎≎≎≎≎≎≎≎



☆ HOARDING:

- In a nutshell, hoarding is basically the process of buying several of the same item, keeping the load for an
_extended amount of time, and selling it later on for a rather rewarding profit.
_ Patience is key here, if you don't have it you can't be helped.
_ But I guarantee you, this will earn you the most profit overall if you play your cards right.



______ > There are a few steps you need to follow when making a plan to hoard.



_________ → Pick an item

____________▪ Consider this when choosing an item.

______ » Quantity
______ » Popularity
______ » History



▪ Quantity: You need to know if the item is either unlimited or limited. If the item is only distributed
_________for a set amount of time, then forever discontinued, it is limited. If it's not, you'll have
_________to rely on some other aspects. We'll discuss that in a bit.

__________For example, we all know RIGs (Random Item Generator) typically come and go very fast.
__________They usually hang around in the cash shop for 2-3 weeks and stop selling.
__________That said, it's quite easy to see that any item originating from that particular RIG
__________is limited in quantity.
__________Typically, it's less of a gamble when hoarding limited items like RIGs.


▪ Popularity: Obviously popularity is going effect the price tremendously. If a bunch of people want the same item,
__________the price is going to get jacked up. Why? because there will be significantly fewer people selling
__________ than buying, therefore raising the price rather than dropping it.
__________ When the demand is higher than the quantity, the price is high.
__________ On the otherhand, If the demand is lower than the quantity, the price will fall.

__________ Don't ever mess with items that can be bought in a shop. They are limitless in quantity.
__________ Sometimes a particular event may come around celebrating the holiday; and usually you get
__________ a few items for participation. Since the holiday will soon end, so will the event and the
__________ items along with it. Some people like to hoard these kinds of items, since the usual
__________ trend is that the price drops during the rest of the year but starts to rise again as
__________the holiday approaches once again.
__________ This is because more people are buying it in an attempt to show holiday spirit.
__________ Although the items are limited in quantity, think about just how many of them were
__________distributed during the particular event. Think about how many Gaians participated, earned the items,
__________ then turned around and sold them. That's quite a bit.
__________Since there are so many of the item in circulation, the price may never rise by much.

__________Take the Nitemare Scarf for example, a personal favorite of mine.
__________It is a Monthly Collectible, released back in 03.
__________At the time, there were not nearly as many users on Gaia as there is now; therefore the number
__________of users buying a monthly collectible was significantly less.
__________The demand was high to begin with, so it started out with a pretty high price from the start.
__________But as time went on, it began to cost more and more.
__________The number of Nitemare Scarves in existence were slowly starting to diminish, but the
__________demand continued to grow.
__________There's a number of reasons why an item would decrease in quantity over time.
__________For instance, some users like to keep everything they have, even if they quit.
__________Others get banned and lose everything to the account forever; I'm a prime example.
__________The account I got banned from about a year ago is still there, with all my items as well, including
__________my old Nitemare Scarf.


▪ History: History always plays an important part when selecting an item to hoard. For items that are
__________brand new, not so much. But if you're planning on choosing an item that has been around for some
__________time, it's always a good idea to check the history charts behind the item.
__________Upon observation, you might notice a price trend; the highs and lows.
__________If, at the time the item is at a low point, it might be a good idea to start hoarding.
__________When the price gets close to it's highest point, of course, you'll sell your hoard for profit.

__________When dealing with E.I.s (Evolving Items), it's often best to buy it within about the same
__________week and a half that it is released. This will provide some time for it to drop a little more
__________before you actually start buying.
__________E.I.s can be dangerous. Since the item is constantly changing, you have no idea if the
__________price is going to drop or not; because that all depends upon whether or not the next
__________evolving form is pleasing to the eyes.
__________On the bright side however, due to the nature of E.I.s you have quite a few chances
__________ahead of you to either see the price skyrocket or plummet.
__________You need to decide for yourself when you're satisfied with the amount of profit.
__________If the E.I. hasn't fully developed yet, but you've made a ton of profit already, think
__________about if you're willing to take the risk of waiting longer.
__________Waiting longer, it could go either way. It could flourish or wither.
__________If the item is doing very well, and has continued to do so, then it may be in your best
__________interest to hang onto it and sell it later on.
__________But as I said, it's all about what you're willing to walk away with.
__________These are a huge gamble.


__________If you're like me, you'll favor new items over the old.
__________My reason is simply because I tend to choose RIG related items over any other.
__________They are limited, often quite popular, but at the same time they have no history to
__________look into. However, this is not always a bad thing. Remember that quantity and popularity
__________are key players regarding the price. I usually buy a nice hoard of the items I choose about a week
__________and a half after they released.
__________Never buy brand new items immediately after it is released; sellers will overprice it from the
__________get go. For every day that passes after the matter, generally the prices begin to drop because
__________there are so many people wanting to sell the same items.

__________After I have my hoard nice and tucked away, I wait patiently for the RIG to leave the cash shop.
__________I'm sure you've noticed that when this occurs, the RIG itself and all the items
__________associated with it begin to raise significantly in price and quite rapidly for some.



__________- These three elements are essential. If you don't observe them all within the item you choose, the chances your hoard
__________will fail is greatly increased.

__________- Remember that there will always be risk involved. Risk is forever embedded into Marketplace life. Afterall, someone
__________has to be losing the money if you're to be gaining it. That's life.
__________With knowledge and experience, hopefully you'll be the one gaining.





≎≎≎≎≎≎≎≎≎≎≎≎≎≎≎≎≎≎≎≎≎≎≎≎≎≎≎≎≎≎≎≎≎≎≎≎≎≎≎≎≎≎≎≎≎≎≎≎≎≎≎≎≎≎≎≎≎≎≎≎≎≎≎≎≎≎≎≎≎≎≎≎≎≎≎≎≎


☆ Buying & Selling on the Spot


______- To buy an item for cheap and immediately sell it for quick and painless profit.



______ > The Easiest Method




__________→ First off you'll need to head on over to the [Marketplace] section, located within the [Shops] tab.
__________→ Now, if you'll look towards the top left you should see the following:

______ ▪ Shops
______ ▪ Marketplace
______ ▪ Premium Items
______ ▪ Chance Items
______ ▪ Evolving Items
______ ▪ Monthly Collectibles

______→ Click on the little [▼] shaped box next to the Marketplace tab.
______You should now see a dropbox with more options:

______ ▪ Item Search
______ ▪ All Listings
______ ▪ My Store
______ ▪ Sell an Item

__________→ Click on [All Listings]
__________Now, if you'll look to the right side of the page, you should see a box labeled "sort as".
__________By default, it's set to show you all listings that are soon to expire.
__________You need to change it to "Just Added".
__________In doing this, you are now shown all the items that have most recently been put up for sale by users
__________at that very moment.



__________→ Now that you see your prey, it's time to learn how to strike.

__________Many people don't have a firm grasp of the usual prices of items, so they have to double-check before making
__________a purchase. This is okay, and I highly recommend it to those who are new to vending.
__________There's no shame in making sure the item you're about to purchase is a solid deal.

__________I've seen instances where a user bought an item for far more than it's worth because they mistook the item to
__________be something else due to visual similarities of the icon displayed. Don't let that half seconds' worth that it
__________takes to double-check, end up ruining you.

__________When buying and selling on the spot, you'll quickly come to realize that it's all about SPEED.
__________Whoever has the quickest reactions reaps the rewards.
__________You need to able to identify, double-check, and BUY.
__________The faster you do this, the better.
__________With experience, and a better knowledge of current prices, you may even be able to skip the
__________double-check step, and go straight to buying.



______For example:
______You spot an item listed for 15k
______Upon checking the listings for that particular item, you see that 15k is currently the
______lowest priced item listed.
______The listing immediately after that is 30k.

______Common sense tells us that we need to buy the 15k item, and sell it for 29,900g.
______But there is a couple factors we need to consider first.


______ ▪ Average Buy Price
______ ▪ Item Nature


__________ » The Average Buy Price will give you the average price of all listings recently purchased.
__________If the item you're about to buy is significantly priced higher than the Average Buy Price,
__________you may be better off leaving it be. There is no telling if your listing will sell quickly
__________or be left behind by other sellers undercutting you. This is the reality will virtually
__________all items, but the chances are greater if the Average Buy Price is greater than
__________LMP (Lowest Market Price); because more people are going to be selling in an attempt to
__________make a little bit of profit.

__________If the Average Buy Price is lower than the item you're about to buy, then chances are, it will
__________sell faster, and you won't have to deal with other sellers undercutting you as much.

__________» Item Nature is very important. If the item is very unpopular, it will most likely be a waste of time
__________to bother buying it; unless the price gap is huge.



__________ → ALWAYS DOUBLE-CHECK YOUR PRICE WHEN SELLING. So many people have lost gold instantly because they
__________were in too much of a hurry and accidentally listed an item for much less than they intended.
__________1,000,000g is quickly changed to 100,000g if you forget to add that last '0'.
__________That's a HUGE loss on your part if that ever happens.
__________Don't let that person be you.
__________You should be the happy vendor that snags deals like that.
__________Feed off of other peoples' mistakes.

__________And remember to check your store frequently.
__________Check back to see if someone has undercut your listing.
__________If they have, simply price your item for 1-100g under them.
__________You want your items to sell as quickly as possible.










≎≎≎≎≎≎≎≎≎≎≎≎≎≎≎≎≎≎≎≎≎≎≎≎≎≎≎≎≎≎≎≎≎≎≎≎≎≎≎≎≎≎≎≎≎≎≎≎≎≎≎≎≎≎≎≎≎≎≎≎≎≎≎≎≎≎≎≎≎≎≎≎≎≎≎≎≎
Remember that patience is a virtue when hoarding.
Buying and Selling on the Spot requires quick thinking and speed.

Don't let yourself get discouraged.
With experience you will improve, and gain much more than you hoped for.

It takes gold to make gold. The more gold you dedicate to vending/hoarding, the more you will make.
Don't spend too much buying things you actually want to keep.

Have fun with it!
I for one, always enjoy watching my wealth grow; especially when it's earned with hard work.

If you have any questions at all, feel free to contact me:




~ lvl a t a e






≎≎≎≎≎≎≎≎≎≎≎≎≎≎≎≎≎≎≎≎≎≎≎≎≎≎≎≎≎≎≎≎≎≎≎≎≎≎≎≎≎≎≎≎≎≎≎≎≎≎≎≎≎≎≎≎≎≎≎≎≎≎≎≎≎≎≎≎≎≎≎≎≎≎≎≎≎

[Words to Know]



AB: Auto-Buy, the vend's quick-buy option.

HB: Highest-Bid.

Exchange: Forum where many high-time entrepreneurs come to buy and sell items to the highest bidder.

Vend: The Marketplace, where you can buy and sell items using a listed system. 2% sales tax.

Bid: The act of offering gold on an item, in hopes that you will "win" and get the item for that amount.

Exchanging/Vending: A quick-flip. One buys an item from the exchange or vend and then sells it for a higher price;
often associated with "Day-Trading".

Peak-Hours: The time in which the majority of people are on Gaia, therefore making for a bigger pool of items
to buy from, and additionally allowing for quicker sales.


Hoarding: The idea of holding onto an specific item for a long period of time, and waiting for the value to naturally
rise due to popular demand. The idea is to buy and store in BULK.

Harvesting: The "Fool's Gold" style of hoarding. Buy buying everything in sight, or one of each new
item and then holding onto it. Not recommended, as there are much better ways to earn profit.
Over a matter of years though, this method plays out quite nicely as the majority of items
naturally rise in price due to diminishing quantity over time.

Miss-price: A mis-fortunate event for the seller when they fail to double-check their prices before
listing it in the Marketplace.
No one will give you a refund.
Everyone is out to make it big, and it's those mistakes that they love seeing most.
Always double-check your price before listing it, or you may as well be donating to charity.