I think half the problem with smaller shop malls is that they see the bigger malls putting on the markup and they think they can do the same. If everyone in the smaller malls does this and not worry about SW pricing then where are the visitors to the mall system going to come from. When they get into the shops they may then explore further but it is getting visitors into your mall system and lets face it spooky & even Island market are not that great for shop hits.. Shop hits V sales These are not really a true indication as I have had some great sales when I have had less hits with 1 or 2 big buyers in my shop. When I have had 600 in one day sure it was ok but a lot of the time it was only 1 to 3 items being sold to each visitor which didn't even equal the big buyers totals with the less hit day

The bottom line is you get out of a mall what you put into it. Sure if you have other mall members that put a lot into their shop, you get hits from them, but the idea is for everyone to carry their own weight. That's the point of a mall. By working together you all do well. Unfortunately, for one reason or another, many members of most malls don't actively 'work' their shop. They don't stock good items and/or price some of those items at Wiz to get traffic. That wiz traffic not only results in sales for your shop, it generates hits (and sales) for other shops in the mall. If all the mall members are 'working' together that can be a win-win for everyone. Yes, there are other things like, NB, boards, top of huts ... those are great too. Now if I could only find a mall where everyone does what I described above ... please contact me (I like weaps/magic/cures). - peter

[quote=bid_on_it_3]The bottom line is you get out of a mall what you put into it. Sure if you have other mall members that put a lot into their shop, you get hits from them, but the idea is for everyone to carry their own weight. That's the point of a mall. By working together you all do well. Unfortunately, for one reason or another, many members of most malls don't actively 'work' their shop. They don't stock good items and/or price some of those items at Wiz to get traffic. That wiz traffic not only results in sales for your shop, it generates hits (and sales) for other shops in the mall. If all the mall members are 'working' together that can be a win-win for everyone. Yes, there are other things like, NB, boards, top of huts ... those are great too. Now if I could only find a mall where everyone does what I described above ... please contact me (I like weaps/magic/cures). - peter[/quote] Yes, I would MUCH rather see 3 malls in Neopia with every member working their shop than the hundreds of malls that have many many members who are just coasting along on the success/hard work of their mall mates. This goes hand-in-hand with the point Larissa is making. If everyone in the mall is a great shopkeeper then everyone is bringing-in hits and potentially hits for others on the mall banner. In my opinion individual members' excellence always trumps a filled position with dead weight. I've said it before, I'll say it again: Thank goodness I am not a mall manager! I also agree with Gavin (I think that's who said it). Many players want to jump the gun with marking their prices up. I wondered why mallers did this until I experienced shop popularity first-hand. I sell-out of certain items almost instantly so I keep marking the prices up about 25-50 nps each time I restock. At this point some of my prices feel ridiculous to me because they are 700% markup but people still buy them like they were 1np items?! It has been a very long road to get to the point I could mark things up (and there are only certain items I can markup and still sell)! Just to reiterate, malling isn't rocket science but it is hard work in the sense that you have to put time and effort into it to be successful. My kids can't understand why I am still interested doing the same things each day on neopets. They get bored with RS'ing, pricing, etc. and I think I've done it every day for about 20 months now - at least for a few minutes each day. I explain it to my kids this way: My favorite game on Neopets is the shop game because it's the most grown-up game on neopets. I love the complexity of the strategics and I tend to be a work-a-holic so a game that uses knowledge of business, sales, PR, advertising, etc. is fascinatingly fun to me. ~ Mimi temps_bons graphics ~ http://www.neopets.com/~Mimi_Miaulement

[quote]I also agree with Gavin (I think that's who said it). Many players want to jump the gun with marking their prices up. I wondered why mallers did this until I experienced shop popularity first-hand. I sell-out of certain items almost instantly so I keep marking the prices up about 25-50 nps each time I restock. At this point some of my prices feel ridiculous to me because they are 700% markup but people still buy them like they were 1np items?! It has been a very long road to get to the point I could mark things up (and there are only certain items I can markup and still sell)! Just to reiterate, malling isn't rocket science but it is hard work in the sense that you have to put time and effort into it to be successful.[/quote] Even just starting malling I completely understood that concept. And I understand that even if you've been malling for awhile, you shouldn't have really high markups until you reach market size because besides advertising the way you're receiving shop hits is through the wiz. But I think a big problem is so many mini mini malls starting up - like everyone being size 25 or under and I don't see how those malls work at all. It's like someone thinks malling is this grand idea so they want to start a mall without upgrading. And everyone that is searching for a mall I see, I tell them they need to upgrade and be above 25 when they start because its not only having inventory stocked its having enough of a variety that people want to come back. http://www.neopets.com/browseshop.phtml?owner=evilbluemunkeyz

I think there is a misconception of what a mall is. At least for the newbies who want to start a mall right away, because they have the thought that just by creating a mall (having a banner with members linked) you will instantly get more hits, more sales, etc. ----- http://www.neopets.com/browseshop.phtml?owner=shflash

I personally use the counter from this site to see if people actually go to my shop when i post on the boards and such. I have under 10 hits and i sold alot of pricey items today. (a Robo Eyrie 20k profit!) and i got over 100k in my shop til today so I think hits dont tell you how sales are but do give you a little bit of a clue depending on what you sell. ~~ http://www.neopets.com/browseshop.phtml?owner=leelo513&misc

LOL. I was going to write a full in depth paragraph about this but I got tired and deleted it all. HAHA. Overall... Lots of sales doesn't necessarily mean its a good thing when you are profiting little neopoints from it (1NP, etc.) Profits of your items make a huge difference even if you have low sales. Lots of hits doesn't necessarily mean its a bad thing (some people advertise their shops more than others and therefore they get lots of hits or they have many shop wizard stock prices). Lots of hits can be a good thing because if no one visits your shop then how are they going to know that its a great one? [url=http://www.neopets.com/browseshop.phtml?owner=1434sweet#p][img]http://img40.imageshack.us/img40/1889/1434sweet.jpg[/img][/url]

[center] Whenever I get hits... someone is buying items... my percentage ratio for hits to sales would be.. 95/100 (that's good) + + + + + + + + + + + + + + Shop Size Goal : 650 Current Size: 230 Help me? : http://www.neopets.com/browseshop.phtml?owner=obsolete_soldier [/center]

I think the problem with mini-malls is that some of the members aren't fully dedicated to malling. They're just trying something new, and most will probably get tired of it in a few weeks. Once you get into a MM mall, then you know most members are going to work hard simply because they've already put so much time and effort into it already. I only got 11 mall hits yesterday, and that's probably one of the better days. I think we should just scrap the NB ad idea. I only get about 1~2 hits each day from them, so I really don't see the point. 42k for maybe 10 hits? That's not worth it! Maybe we should save up for 4 mil NB ads, or not do them at all. I'd rather spend that money on upgrading my shop than wasting it on an ad that gets me nothing in return. Petpet Paradise http://www.neopets.com/browseshop.phtml?owner=mizleah