Guide To The Exchange v1.3
*Updated May 09 09*
Contents
I. What's New
II. Introduction
III. F.A.Q.
IV. Tips To Exchange
V. Buying in The Exchange
VI. Selling in The Exchange
VII. Evolving Items
VIII. EI F.A.Q
IX. Exchange Terminology
I. What's New?
1. Added other stuff section in the terminology
II. Introduction
This exchange is for anyone who wants to start exchanging, but don't know anything about it. Of course, this can also be useful to mostly everyone. I hope this guide will be of use to you.
III. F.A.Q.
Q : What is The Exchange?
A : The exchange is where sellers can make threads and sell their items to others. Many use it because A : they need quick gold, or they want to avoid tax.
A : The people in the exchange generally buys for profit, so you really need to be lucky to sell your item A : at market price OR market price minus tax.
A : Because they want profit, most people buy at below market price. For example for a 30k item, people A : may offer 26k, or 27k.
Q : Where is it?
A : Gaia Forums » GAIA Gaming » The Gaia Exchange
Q : I want a place to beg to people, can I do it in the exchange?
A : No. Begging / asking for stuff is not encouraged in the exchange, as many people there wants profit A : anyways, you'll have nearly no chance to get anything.
A : To beg, go to the Charity/Quests Subforum.
Q : What should I do in the exchange?
A : Buy low and sell high. That's how people get profits. First you buy something cheaper then market for A : a reasonable price, then you sell it either at market, or try selling it in the exchange for higher.
Q : What's a generally good price to buy things at?
A : A good price to buy is at a price that doesn't rip off the seller, and allows you to get profit.
A : For example, if you offer 15k for a 30k item, it's obviously a rip off. But if you offer 26k or 27k, it's A x : more reasonable and there's better chances for the seller to accept it.
A : Moreover, bad first offer usually gets you a bad first impression, so that's not encouraged.
Q : I got a trade offer, what should I value their items at?
A : Obviously, don't value it at market price. But value them reasonably.
A : For example, for a 300k item, I might value it at 280-290k. On the other hand, you should not value A : your item at market price as well, be fair.
A : Another example, I get a 8x Fremere's 1st Gen(worth 300k each at market at the time) + 160k for A : x my Angelic Pendant (2550k at the market at the time). I'll value the offer at 2480k, and I value my A : Angelic Pendant at 2480k. So it's a fair offer, and we trade.
A : As you can see, I value the fremeres at 290k each because it's not really hard to sell, and the tax A : xx for the item is not that bad. For my pendant, I value it at 2480k because the tax is already at 50k+, A : decreasing it's value to 2499k, and giving a 20k off on a big item like this is good enough.
Q : What should I take in mind when buying?
A : Average buy price, AND Lowest market price. If the average is way lower than the lowest market, big A : x chance the item is artificially inflated. In this case, treat the average AS the lowest buy price in mind.
A : For example
A : D Pitchfork AVG : 400k, LMP : 500k
A : I'll offer 380k. In this case, I'm treating the average as the real lowest buy price, and base my offer A : on that
Q : Should I look at tektek values?
A : Tektek values are a big no no. Marketplace is where you should be looking.
Q : Any tips?
A : Of course, I'll list the tips on the next section
More questions? PM/Comment this Guide, and I'll try to answer the best I can.
IV. Tips To Exchange
©IanCC - Created by IanCC
01. Don't lowball - Lowballing is very annoying. And often makes bad first impression. And like Real Life, first impression is very important, you want to success? Don't make a bad first impression.
02. Offer reasonably - Don't waste your time to offer very low that you know the seller won't accept it. Offering reasonably can also make a good impression. It shows that you're serious, and is not there for joking around.
03. Be fair - Obviously, be fair to others. For example, if you get a trade offer, if you want to value the other party's items not at MP, then you shouldn't value your item at MP as well.
04. Don't be rude to serious buyers/sellers - It's a whole another case in my mind if it's a not-serious buyer/seller. I'm often rude to the lowballers myself, XD.
05. If anything TOO good happens, double check everything, there's a possibility of something unwanted happening - For example, someone offers at market price in the exchange. This is a little bit too good to happen, and there's a big chance there's something going on. Maybe he/she plans to scam you. Probably by offering one zero less in the trade. Sample case,
A : 30k for your mythrill armor!(Worth 29k at market)
B : *sends trade out of happiness*
A puts 30k, B puts armor and accepts, A change the trade amount to 3k, B didn't realize and accepts again. B is scammed.
06. If there's anyone in your thread kind enough to say good luck or bump, say thank you, it's just proper etiquette.
07. Be literate - Don't use chatspeak, and make sure what you're saying can be easily understood by others. And there are several emoticons you shouldn't use if you don't mean bad. Because these emoticons can be found rather offensive and annoying. The emoticons are : stare rolleyes neutral . Only those 3
08. Be careful - Be aware of the scams that are happening around. And be careful of who you're buying things from. If it's an account that's just 1 day old selling an 03 item, it's really suspicious, and there's a chance it's a hacker/scammer.
09. Make exchange friends - Exchange friends can tell you if there's any new scam going around, and they can also accompany you when your thread is dead. And hey, having friends couldn't hurt, XD.
10. Don't disrupt sales - As you know, this is also in the exchange's rules and guidelines. Disrupting a sale means saying things like "That item is inflated, you shouldn't buy it", to a potential buyer. Sure, you may see it as a good gesture and try to help others, but this is disrupting a sale, and is not allowed. If you want to help, simply PM the buyer you're trying to warn.
V. Buying in The Exchange
Usually, buying in the exchange is, of course, to get profit. But, there's one principle that I consider very important in buying items.
Offer reasonably
Basically, I know you're there to get profit, but that doesn't mean you should rip off a seller badly. Remember, even the seller needs his/her profit as well. You should offer reasonably that's not way off market, but it allows you to get a good enough profit. For example,
Market price : Emerald Seed(43k), Wind Security Blanket(346k)
A : 11 Emerald seeds for my wind security blanket?
This is a clear example of a rip off, and I advice you strongly to NEVER do this. It gives a bad impression, and will just make people don't like you.
When buying, also take notes of the graph of the items. Just click "Show Graph" at the item's marketplace page. From the left graph, you can see the price fluctuation on the item.
Is it stable, rising, or dropping. Of course, it's best to exchange with it when it's being stable, or slightly rising. But hoarding is good to be done when the item is in it's all-time low price. If you think the item has dropped to the rock bottom, it might be a good idea to hoard it.
Now, from the right graph, you can see how many units of the item is sold per day. If the total item sold per day is between 0-10, that item is very hard to sell ( excluding high end 04s and 03s ). Take into consideration the number of units sold per day. If the item is hard to sell, there's a chance someone will undercut you in the market before the item actually sells. It's common that the harder the item it is to sell, the further from market people offer. For example, if the item X is 150k in the market, but only 1 get sold per day. I'll be happy enough to sell it at 100-120k. BUT, if the item Y is 150k in the market, but 100 units gets sold per day, I'll want at least 135-140k.
The average is also to be taken into serious consideration. Sometimes, there are items that are Artificially Inflated. It means, someone deliberately inflating it, usually by buying most supply of the item. For example, someone buys all below 100k listing of magical girl, but the average is still 14k. This is an obvious artifical inflation. And surely, you'll be better off buying at the non-inflated price. Treat the average like the lowest listing X)
VI. Selling in The Exchange
Sellers in the exchange usually has an objection of,
1. Wanting to know what kind of offers they'll get on their items, with small intention of selling, this is called Taking Offers
2. Need quick gold, or want the item get sold quick.
3. Wanting to get rid of a hoard.
Most sellers fall into one of those categories.
There's a main principle in selling items, and that is
Be reasonable
I mean, don't ask for market price obviously in the exchange. Or even market price minus tax. Very low chance people are buying it, or people will just say "Go to market if you want market price". But this does not apply for the sellers in the 1st category. The sellers in the 1st category, just wants to see offers, thus making them having a slim or no intention of selling.
Remember, sell at a price where you gets your profit, BUT, the buyer can get profit as well. This means, at least sell below the market price minus tax. And give reasonable profit, not a 1g profit rofl .
VII. Evolving Items
It has been raised to my attention that many users doesn't understand the concept of the Evolving Items, thus, I'm making this part to tell and teach everything you need to know about EIs.
The process is like this,
Gaia : "NEW EI, "X" IS IN CS!"
The new EI in the cash shop, X is 1st gen
In a couple of weeks
Gaia : "EI REPORT! X IS EVOLVING!"
The EI that is now in the cash shop is 2nd gen and has the old poses instead of the new pose. The 1st gen however, is the one that gets the new poses.
Gaia : "EI REPORT! X IS EVOLVING FOR THE 2ND TIME!"
The 1st gen now has the newest poses, the 2nd gen will have the poses the 1st gen had before, and the 3rd gen(now in CS) will get the oldest poses
Now, after a number of evolution, the 1st gen X finishes evolving, let's say it's this week.IF it usually evolves every 2 weeks, 2 weeks after the 1st gen finish evolving, the 2nd gen will finish and will get all the poses. After that. 2 weeks after the 2nd finish, the 3rd will finish, and get all poses.
If it usually evolves every 3 weeks, then 3 weeks after the 1st gen finish evolving, the 2nd gen will finish and get all the poses.
VIII. E.I. F.A.Q
Q : What's the difference between the later gens and the first gens then?
A :Well, for one, first gen are easier to sell, as most people want them more. One reason is that they don't want to wait until the later gens finish evolving. The other difference is the name. Once an item is 2nd gen, it's name will never change, only it's pose will change.
Q : Is EI the same as MCs? I mean, will it value rise over time?
A :I'll say no, because EI, CAN get re-released. And this has happened before. MCs on the other hand, will never be re-released, so it's safe to hoard the MCs.
Have any questions? PM me or Comment this Journal Entry.
IX. Exchange Terminology
This is a list of terms commonly used in the exchange. Get familiar with this, or you'll be in trouble >:3
AB - Auto Buy
HB - High Bid
SB - Starting Bid
Label Trade - Put what you're buying and the price at the trade title
Lowball - Offering very very low for an item. ( In my opinion, offering >25% off market price on a 20k+ item is counted as lowballing already )
AI - Artificial Inflation
AD - Artifical Deflation
EI - Evolving Item
MC - Monthly Collectibles
DI - Donation Item
These are usually in thread titles, so don't get confused on what they mean, XD
T/O - Taking Offers
[ S ] - Selling
[ B ] - Buying
[ T ] - Trading
There are also nicknames for items, and it's suggested that you know what the nicknames are. They're quite commonly used among exchangers
Wanklets - Winged Anklets
Pengies - Penguin Slippers
Seals - Seal Slipppers
D Pendant/Pitchfork - Demonic Pendant/Pitchfork
A Pendant -Angelic Pendant
Toilet Paper - Angelic Sash
Buttplug - Devil Tail
NM - Nitemare
Other stuffs:
SDB - Slow Down Ban
This refers to the "Slow Down, Hotshot!" page that you get if you refresh/move too fast.
Dump - When someone puts up a lot of cheap items in the marketplace/vend, vendors call it a "dump"
Vendor - Someone who camp the just added page in the marketplace and try to get good deals
Hoarder - Someone who keeps items for a certain amount of time, and sell them when they get profit. They can get great profit, but great capital is needed.
Exchanger - Someone who buys low and sells high. Usually lurks and make threads in the Exchange
IanCC Community Member 
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