I’ve been playing Neopets for years as Forestsong12

Here are my tips for new players:

Lesson 1: Sick Neopets
 

It is always unfortunate when your pets are sick. The first thing to do is to figure out what the cure is, you can find out that information by visiting the Neopian General Hospital the doctors there are always very knowledgable. If you have learned the cure and find it to be out of your price range then you can take your pet to the healing springs, it may take three or more visits, but eventually you pet will be healed, and you can save your neopoints for a special treat for your pet instead. Also, please remember that neopets don't actually die, so no cure is worth a price you can't afford.

 

Lesson 2: Earning your first Neopoints
 

Sometimes it is hard to believe, but there is a time when each and every Neopian has been completely broke. When I first started playing I earned lots of neopoints by playing Hide and Seek. You can play until your pets get bored with it and make around 1000nps a day. The biggest tip I can give is save almost all of what you earn. So of that 1000nps you make put 750 or so in the bank. In the bank you can collect interest and make more neopoints. When I first started out I would always have a set amount of about 500nps in my pocket and everything else would go to the bank. This way I didn't over spend and I always had neopoints for a rainy day. There are a TON of games to play, way more than when I started playing. Games are the most basic way to earn neopoints, if you have a fast connection, you can also buy and resell things from the main shops, but that takes a lot of paitience.

 

Lesson 3: Living on a budget
 

Once you know how to earn neopoints, the next natural step is to learn how to spend them. While just starting out on Neopets, it is important to remember that you don't need *rare object x* While it may look like the coolest thing in Neopia, all it will most likely do at this point for you, is make you broke. So what do you buy when first starting off? The basics: food and toys. Certian types of food are much cheeper than others and good idea to start out with. No pet will die from a diet of free Jelly and Omelette. In fact, your pet will be happy that it is fed and it can save you money. Toys are a bit different. There is no place to get free toys, although some types of toys are much less expensive than others. Currently Year 5 Usukis are rather cheep, as are most types of Keyrings. One of my favorite toys is the Spiky Ball, fun to look at and fun to play with. So, while still playing games and saving you can keep your pets well fed and happy.

 

Lesson 4: Growing your account
 

Now that you are making neopoints and not spending friviously, the next thing to do is grow. There's always the chance of hitting it big and to always take those chances, make sure you do the following activities as often as allowed: Once a day activities: Fruit Machine (free) Coltzan's Shrine (free) Once every three hoursBuried Treasure (200nps)Once every two hoursWheel of Excitement (100nps). Now, many people who do these activites sell the items they get from them, which is an acceptable method. I keep every thing I win and that way, if something suddenly goes up in value and she have some of it, I can make a profit. Once upon a time, when food was cheep, green apples sold for about 5nps. Then one day, they increased in price to 5000nps! Imagine all the riches people who collected green apples had! Make sure you keep every thing in your saftey deposit box where it is safe from all bad guys. Just saving items and saving neopoints is the first step to growing your account.

 

Lesson 5: The Shop Wizard
 

The ultimate resource for all Neopian's, rich or poor, is *dum dum dum* The Shop Wizard. The Shop Wizard is not only the best location for you to find cheep prices and where you can decide how much to sell your own items for but it is also where you can learn an item's actual worth. Some items look like they are worth a lot when you bring up their menu, but in reality, the item might sell for 10-20 nps. Sand is a prime example of this, selling around 5nps, while it's value is listed around 3000. The Shop Wizard can't read minds, so have as accurate a phrase as possible when entering what you want. Please remember to refresh the "wiz" as well, as the 2nd or even 5th time he may find a cheeper price. I have found items priced at 1-10nps that are worth thousands many times. This is not a very frequent event, but sometimes you can get lucky. When pricing items in your shop, if you put your price 5-10nps below the lowest price you've found on the Wiz, your item will sell very quickly. Once I sold 200 items, all priced below their Wiz value in 3 hours. If you price below the Wiz value you do not need any sort of advertising, as your prices will sell themselves.

 

Lesson 6: The Trading Post
 

The Trading Post is a very overlooked commidity. There are some important things to know when useing the Trading Post. I have traded for all the important things I ever wanted: all our paintbrushes, rare items, etc. The reason for this is that an item is worth only what someone will give you for it. If you have something someone wants, it will increase in value in their minds. For example, I was in the codestone trading buisness for a while. She had a codestone someone needed, and they traded me not only another codestone for it, but also a Cloud Paint Brush. So before making any major purchases, see what kind of items you have in your saftey deposit box that may be of value. This way you can keep your nps and get the items you need. Another very important thing is that people at the trading post thing you are stupid, they want you to bid large things on small items and they bid small items on your large ones, just ignore them. Also remember that if no one is bidding on your item your a)asking too much for it or b)no one wants it. (Usually it's a combonation of the two.)