[quote]When you buy the expensive items do you only buy items that have a gap? say the first item is 30k on the ssw, and then the following item is 35k, do you buy the 30k item and price it at 34,999? Like I said also, I bought a bunch of the newer items when I first started that have deflated tremendously so I think I might just change the price to the shop wiz price and take the loss because it's doubtful a r90 will recover to 50k+ (unless it's an avatar item or something special)[/quote] Yes, I only buy expensive items when there is a gap, but if it's an item I know sells fast (within an hour or two) I will buy several and create my own gap, if possible. My shop is not as large as you all's, so I can't afford to get stuck when prices fluctuate. For that reason, I buy in the gap and set my prices either right at the bottom of SSW or just a few above. I find when I set my prices mid-range of SSW, I can easily get stuck with something. Whether I buy one or several depends on my experience with how fast that item sells, or with using the prices on SSW as my guide to how fast it sells. If there are a lot of gaps, then it's probably not a fast selling item. If most of the prices are really close together, then it is a fast selling item. Of course, this time of the month (end of month/beginning of next) is when you will see all the crazy price fluctuations, so this time of month I try to use that to my advantage. In general, end of the month is when people clean out their shops and SDB to get np for half-price day so the prices drop like a rock. After half-price day, you have a day or two of grace when prices will actually rise a bit as people have bought up all those bargains and items become scarce. Then about a week to 10 days later, everyone seems to be adding their HPD items in again, so prices drop a little again. If you learn to recognize the waves and ride them, it will help a lot with not getting hit in a price fluctuation. I also agree that if something drops like a rock, but it's NOT due to one of these natural tides, then get rid of it fast so you can join the new price tier. Buy the cheapest item and balance your price between them so you break even on the one you were stuck with (or even take a little loss), then you are in a position to start restocking them again and moving them again. You loose money when you hold an item waiting for the price to rise, because you could have sold 5 or 10 of them (and received all that profit) during the time you sat holding onto it. You make more np in the end by just marking it down (with a quick moment of remorse) and keeping that item moving. :) Just FYI: I normally move out about as many items as I move in, per day. If I restock 100 items, I will sell a little over 100 items. Normally, the items I restock (which I'm pricing low when I stick them in there) will mostly sell that same day, plus a batch more that people found when they came in to buy them. I would say I normally sell about 1/3rd to 1/2 of the exact same items I added in, then the rest + about 1/3 more of items that were already in there from previous restocking. The rest of my newly added items will sell out within 2-3 days, plus some left over. I don't restock every day, so the old items get cleaned out, then I have to spend a day or so catching up and doing major restocking (250 - 350 items in a major restock). I don't know how everyone else's inventory flow is, but for me, I get nervous if I keep an item in my shop for more than 48 - 72 hours because that is when you can get hit with the price fluctuations. That may be just me, but I like to see an item move out pretty fast. There are some wonderfully fast selling items that I restock constantly. For example, between Friday and Sunday, I sold 49 of a single item at a profit of 1k to 2k on each one. I couldn't stick all 49 in there or people won't buy them, but if I stick in 4-5 or so at a time, I can add more in every hour or so. I have a hand full of favorite items that sell that fast and I just keep adding more of them in several times a day. I don't worry about making more than 1k on each of them because I know they will be gone in within the hour and I can add more in. I figure this brings in more traffic, too. On that note, most of my customers only buy one item. Sure, some will buy 2 or a few will buy 30, but mostly people are only buying one item, so all the theories about people coming in but buying more do not really work in my shop. I maybe get 3-5 volume buyers per day. Hope this helps! :) PS. Please don't quote this whole message if you reply - it just gets too long! :P ~ Love books? Please visit my bookshop. :) http://www.neopets.com/browseshop.phtml?owner=lolooma