Are you new to buying Neocash (NC) and wondering how the NC Mall and NC boards work? Are you an established NCer but want some great tips to trading? If you answered “yes” to all of the above, you’ve come to the right place! I will be teaching you everything you need to know as a NCCer and more.

To start off, I will introduce the two types of Neocash items. Neocash items have two categories: They are either buy-able or retired.

Neocash Item Types

Buyable: NC items that you can buy directly from the NC mall.

Retired: NC items that were attainable for a limited amount of time. It can be all the way from a day to a few years. These are the most valuable NC items to have! There are also some categories of retired items, which I will explain below.

Daily Dare retired items: You can only get these items on the one day Lulu awards them during the Daily Dare. You must buy tickets to challenge her at the flash games and beat her score! These can be pretty valuable and rare because they are attainable for only one day. One good example is the Pink Mountain Cloud Background which trades for several caps!

MME/mini-MME: These are a gamble but many highly valued items come from these! You buy these in the mall for 300NC-700NC. Then, you watch it as it morphs in your inventory. You can even put it on your pet and watch the item morph. At the end of the morph, you will get all stages and a bonus item if you are really, really lucky! Many bonus items trade highly.

NC Event items: There are some NC events like the yearly Altador Cup NC events and Easter events where NC plays a part. You are usually required to purchase a set of tickets to the event that will let you redeem prizes. These too, can be quite valuable and rare. If there’s a bonus prize after completing the whole NC event, it can usually trade well.

Premium Monthly Collectible NC Items: These are NC items given out monthly to Premium players. Many people will have them but they are still retired and can be valued quite highly if they are popular among NCers. Maybe this is a good reason to get premium.

Key Quest tokens: Most of them are buyable but there are a few that retire! When unlocked, a token is added to your Key Quest album and you receive a limited edition NC item. The NC items that come from retired Key Quest tokens can be highly sought after. Some examples are Isca Wig and Sweet Silver Violin.

Capsules: There are a few capsules that are buyable but most of the existing capsules are retired. Capsules give out NC items when opened and often have some limited edition NC items too. Capsules can be pretty sought after but are hard to trade. Some capsules are valued over $1000!!

NC Game Items: Not to be confused with NC Daily Dare prizes. These are NC games like Shenanigifts, Jub Jub Power Bounce, Wonderclaw etc. There are usually a few months when you can get them before they retire. You buy a set of tickets and use them to play the games and win prizes! It’s usually quite a gamble because you cannot choose which prize you want. What you can do is swap them for other prizes with other NCCers, which I can explain in the next topic of trading.

NC Mall boards: The NC Mall boards are one of the most active boards in Neopets. Most of the threads are for the purpose of trading NC items. Typically, on the title of their thread NCCers will advertise what they are seeking and what they have for trade. NCCers usually make their own tradelist and wishlist on sites like Jellyneo and Dress to Impress. They trade their own NC items for other NC users’ NC items using gift boxes, the only method of transferring NC items.

Neocash Gift Boxes: For a while, NC items were no trade. But that has changed when TNT introduced the gift box. Each gift box can transfer ONE NC item to another Neopets account. The gift boxes aren’t free though. You can get them by opening gift box mystery capsules (200 NC), which are buyable for a week every month. GBCs award minimum TWO gift boxes but this number can be five if you are really lucky! You can also get gift boxes by redeeming Neocash cards, which a cheap option. One $25 Neocash card gets you 5 gift boxes. However the ultimate cheapest method of obtaining gift boxes is to get them through Turdy’s surprise, the daily slot machine.

Neocash Acronyms

NC: Neocash
GBC: Gift box mystery capsule
UFT: Up for trade
HTPW: Hard to part with
VHTPW: Very hard to part with
NTY: No thank you
GLT: Good luck trading
LE: Limited edition
Popular: NC items that are very easy to trade and get offers on. Everyone wants these. They are usually pretty highly valued too. Populars rarely trade for multiple small items. They usually trade for other populars that are similar in value. Some populars can rise in value rapidly, so it’s important to get them earlier when they are cheaper.
BG: background item
NCCer: Someone who frequents the NC boards.
Custom: When a trader is willing to buy NC items from the mall with their current NC. For example, a 600 NC custom means they are willing to spend 600 NC for a trade.
GBC sale: Some users hold GBC sales where they put their UFT items in a list or gallery. You can get some great deals, since some retired items in a GBC sale will trade 2:1. If you send 1 GBC to the trader, they will send you two NC items back. The magic number is 2 since GBCs are guaranteed to give out at least 2 boxes. Your trader will be betting on the change that they will give more!
WL: Wishlist
TL: Tradelist

Note that some populars also have acronyms. For example, Curly White Wig with Bow is “CWWWB” and Altadorian Wig with Gold Ribbon is “AC Wig”.

The Cap System: The currency for NC values are caps. One cap is equivalent to 200 NC, the price of a Gift Box Mystery Capsule. So for example, to trade for a NC item worth 16 capsules, you must spend 3200 NC, if the trader is looking for a custom. Value guides will show how many caps each NC item is worth. The current value guide is located on /~clara. However, take the values for popular NC items with a grain of salt because the value of your item is ultimately what YOU value it.

Neocash Trading

Now, onto trading! As I said, NCCers often have a wishlist and tradelist that they advertise on the NC mall boards. Tradelists often contain a HTPW section (or a highlights section!), a regular up for trade section, and sometimes a 2:1 GBC section. Wishlists often are composed of a Priority section and a Casual section. Priority means that the trader is actively trying to trade for an item. If you’ve got the item, there’s little chance they would reject a fair offer. Casual means items to be obtained casually, the trader is not actively seeking the said item. They can be value fillers in a trade for a popular item too.

Most NCCers are ALWAYS seeking GBCs. On sale days where GBCs are only 100NC each, you can get some pretty awesome deals!

Neocash Trading Etiquette

– Send your part of the trade before you receive the other persons’ items!
– Thank your trader for the trade.
– Don’t back out of a trade especially when the trader has already bought a custom for you!
– Don’t be greedy
– Don’t auction your items. This is different however than taking your time to choose the best offer!
– Be kind to other NCCers and don’t create drama. – Don’t block others just because you don’t like them. You never know…You can end up getting your sought after dream item by trading with them!
– Some people don’t like it when you reject offers with a “NTY”. Doesn’t take long to type: “No thank you, but good luck in trading!”
– Don’t take advantage of newbies’ lack of knowledge to the cap value system. Don’t rip them off!

Neocash Trading Tips

– Trade up by trading your multiple low-cap items for higher ones! This is less costly than trading a 8000 NC custom for a 40 cap item even though it may cost more gift boxes and time.
– Overoffer to get the item as fast as possible. Some populars inflate very fast and the value guides may not have accurate up to date information. Besides, most traders are very reluctant to trade off their populars.
– Be prepared to bump your boards for hours, depending on how hard-to-get your dream item is.
– Never give up!
– Invest in MMEs, especially MME bonuses as many populars originate from there! Daily Dare prizes are also a great investment as they can only be obtained on one day.

Neocash Events

• Crafting Faerie Quests Guide
• Dyeworks Guide
• Mysterious Morphing Experiments Guide
• Noda’s Fortune Cookies Guide
• Neopets Patapult Guide
• Neopets Shenanigifts Guide
• NC Gift Boxes and Gift Box Capsules Guide
• NC Mall Wonderclaw Guide

In November 2008, Neopets released NC-related “gift boxes” that (finally!) made it possible to send NC wearables to other users and side accounts. Gift boxes have now become a means of currency in NC trading.

A classic Basic Gift Box.

WHAT ARE GIFT BOXES AND GIFT BOX CAPSULES?

• Gift boxes are the single, plain boxes (like the one pictured above) that you need to move items. You use these to send NC items from one account to another.
• Super Gift Boxes are special gift boxes that were released in Winter 2010. Users could receive them from the holiday GBC and use them to send 4 items at once. They have not since been released.
• Gift box capsules (GBCs) are items that can be opened to reveal one NC item and 2 – 5 Basic Gift Boxes.

HOW TO GET GIFT BOXES

There are currently quite a few ways in which you can find or purchase gift boxes!

• When you redeem a physical Neocash card, you will receive a certain amount of gift boxes depending on how much the card is worth. For every $5 that you redeem, you will receive one gift box. This means that if you redeem a $10 card, you will receive two gift boxes; if you redeem a $25 card, you will receive five gift boxes. These cards can be found at specific WalMart and Target locations, among other places.
  NOTE: You will not receive gift boxes when purchasing Neocash online through the NC Mall — only when redeeming a physical Neocash card.
• For one week every month (generally the last week), you can find gift box capsules in the NC Mall for 200 NC each. Gift box capsules, very commonly referred to as GBCs, contain one buyable Neocash item (meaning the item inside is available for purchase separately) and between two to five gift boxes. The number of boxes inside is completely random, but receiving two is the most common. You can choose to open the GBC in order to receive the item and boxes, or you can leave it closed as a collectable, an item to trade, or just something pretty to look at!

Look at all that sparkle.

• One of TNT’s most recent projects has been a daily called Trudy’s Surprise, which is a slot machine that appears at the top of users’ screen every 24 hours. You have the chance to randomly win one Basic Gift Box every day when you play. Whether or not any icons match is not a factor; receiving a gift box is completely random.

GIFT WRAP

Sometimes you will see something being sold in the NC Mall that looks like a very pretty gift box. Be careful! Gift boxes are not ever sold individually. What you are looking at is a set of gift wrap with which to dress up your Basic Gift Boxes.

Wouldn’t you be happy to receive this?!

You’ll need a Basic Gift Box in your inventory or Safety Deposit Box in order to purchase gift wrap. Once you buy it, one of your gift boxes will automatically be wrapped, so you don’t need to activate the item. If the box that is wrapped is in your SDB, it will be moved to your inventory after being wrapped.

Gift wrap is generally season or related to an event, meaning it cannot be found year-round in the NC Mall. It can rarely be awarded when opening a Gift Box Capsule.

SENDING & RECEIVING ITEMS WITH GIFT BOXES

Sending items

Sending items with gift boxes is relatively easy.

1. First, you need to make sure you have the gift box and the item that you would like to send in your inventory.
2. Next, select the gift box.
3. The scroll down menu will only show the NC items in your inventory. Select the one that you would like to send to another account.
4. You will then be asked to type in the name of the account you would like to send the item to. It is very important that you spell the username correctly. You will be asked to verify if the account you entered, but you still want to be very careful since this is real money on the line!
5. You can select a message to send along with the item, such as “Hope you like it!” and “Congratulations!” This part is optional.
6. Finally, you will be taken to the last screen in which you will type in your account password and verify that you would like to send the item to the account that you entered. This is your chance to double check the item you are sending and your spelling of the account’s name.
7. Send your item!

NOTE: The receiving and sending of NC items is available in the following languages: English, Spanish, Dutch, Portuguese, French, and German. If you are using another language, you will not be able to accept/decline an NC item when it is sent to you, and you will need to change the site’s language (at the bottom of the page) to do so.

Items that cannot be sent

Certain items cannot be sent with gift boxes, including:

• Individual gift boxes
• Elite Boutique items
• Golden Lulu Medallion

Mis-typing usernames, M.I.A. users, etc: Getting your item back

Sometimes gifting or trading doesn’t go quite as planned. Whether the person you want to send an item to is not accepting the item you’ve sent them or you accidentally sent an item to an inactive/non-existent account, don’t fret! Your item is not lost forever! After 48 hours of your item sitting in limbo, it will be returned to your inventory. The same goes for when someone sends back an item you have sent them. In both cases, you will also receive back the gift box you used to send the item.

You will always receive a neomail within 48 hours from TNT letting you know whether a user had accepted your item, sent it back, or done neither (in which the item has been returned to your inventory).

TRADING NC WITH GBCs

It is completely “legal” to trade NC items for other NC items between users. This is generally done on the NC Mall neoboard. The “currency” for NC trading is Gift Box Capsules, which are valued at 200 NC (because this is what they sell for in the NC Mall). Other items also have NC value, but these values are based on popularity, rarity, availability, among other things.

So, for example, when an item is valued at roughly 800 NC, someone might say that it is worth 4 “caps,” since 200 NC x 4 = 800 NC. Therefore someone with an NC item valued at 800 NC who is seeking Gift Box Capsules would likely be interested in receiving four GBCs in exchange for their item, in a fair trade. Yes, it is okay to trade multiple NC items for a single NC item and vice-versa.

There are many guides and value guides, this being the (by far) most popular and circulated. Remember, value guides are suggested and based on limited collected data — they are not law! As long as a trader and tradee are aware of the supposed values of the items and agree to a trade, it is legal. Attempting to trade with someone who does not understand values with the intent of “getting a good deal” on an item is considered scamming, and this is a freezable offense.

If you do not know the value of your retired Gift Box Capsule or item, you can also do a price check on the NC Mall chat.

NOTES

• You can not ever trade NC items for neopoint items, pets, or anything else that is not also an NC item. Do not use gift boxes to send NC items to users in exchange for anything besides other NC items.
• You are allowed to purchase or redeem NC on a side account, and you may buy GBCs on your side accounts. Moving NC between your accounts to dress up your pets is completely legal — and you need gift boxes to do it!
• You can PIN protect the use of gift boxes in your PIN Preferences.
• Gift boxes, like other NC items, do not expire.
• Very, very occasionally, Basic Gift Boxes will be given out in the NC Mall for free. They will simply appear on the homepage with the word “FREE” underneath and you can redeem one on your main and side accounts.
• Sometimes, Basic Gift Boxes will be given out in association with events such as Stocking Stufftacular and 13 Days of Trick or Treat.