Guides

[center] [size=2]PLEASE NOTE: these are simply my opinions. I have tried to be as objective as possible with these assessments of what I know of the FR market.[/size] In this guide I will be covering topics related to buying, selling and investing. Whilst I’ve already made a [url=http://flightrising.com/main.php?p=mb&board=gde&id=1165723&page=1]guide[/url] on how I earn treasure on Flight Rising, this guide will be explaining more in depth how to understand the buying/selling market and play it to your advantage. This guide is intended to act as an introduction for newbies, so feel free to ask questions if anything is unclear. [left][size=1]#tags for Google how to make treasure, treasure guide, flight rising etiquette, dragon selling tips, gen 1 pricing [/size][/left] [center][b]I post guides and general Flight Rising advice on my [url=http://nerdfr.tumblr.com/]FR blog[/b][/url]![/center] [url=http://flightrising.com/main.php?p=mb&board=gde&id=1165723&page=1]Money Guide[/url] | [url=http://flightrising.com/main.php?p=mb&board=gde&id=1209394&page=1]Flight Guide[/url] [center][img]http://pic.prepics-cdn.com/abaaaaa/21979362.gif[/img][/center] [left] These sections can all be read and understood individually. I recommend using [b]control+f[/b] to find the information you're looking for. [size=6][color=pink]Navigation:[/color] [LIST] [*][b]Dragon Sales[/b] - Predicting buying trends - Why wont people buy my dragons? - What makes a dragon valuable? - Dragon price fluctuations - Hatcheries - Generation 1 dragons - What are the popular colours? [*][b]Auction House[/b] - Fluctuations in price - Flipping - Selling etiquette [*][b]Marketplace[/b] - Sniping - Festival items [/LIST] [/center]

[center][img]http://pic.prepics-cdn.com/abaaaaa/21979362.gif[/img][/center] [center][size=6][color=pink]Dragon Sales[/color][/center] [center][img]http://pic.prepics-cdn.com/abaaaaa/21979362.gif[/img][/center] [center][size=4][b]Predicting buying trends[/b][/size][/center] On the release of a new gene or breed, demand of these types of dragons will naturally be very high. I don’t have statistics (if any members have been collecting data on the trends on prices after a new release, please let me know) but as a general idea gem genes will stay the most valuable for the longest period of time due to 1) less dominant against other genes whilst breeding 2) these genes are very expensive and less people will invest in them vs treasure genes. It is possible to earn a great deal of your investment back on geneing your dragons if you boon a nest on the first day of release. Another fantastic way to understand and predict dragon buying trends is by lurking the Dragons Wanted forum. Once upon a time dragon ID numbers weren’t displayed clearly on pages as they were now, and the only way to see one was by checking the end of the page url. After the update, demand for low ID and interesting ID numbers slowly grew. If you were willing to hunt through the AH, there were plenty of low ID dragons for sale. I was a little impatient and didn’t really see much appeal in paying for a number, so I missed out by choosing not to catch that trend early! Dragons with 5 and 6 digit IDs are worth quite a lot now. The cold hard fact of FR is that dragons will always decrease in value over time (except for low IDs), so to be able to really profit off dragon selling you need to catch a trend early. This is exactly the reason I seek out rare coloured pastels, because I know pastels are popular, and if no one else is breeding a particular combination I can charge whatever I like (within reason). If 2 people are breeding a certain combo, that’s good! Especially if the other person is selling it CHEAPER than you, because people will find it a lot easier to validate a big dragon purchase if they’re completing a breeding pair (and going to be able to profit from it). It starts to become more difficult when a 3rd person enters the market, because then it starts becoming competitive and drives the prices down (CURSE YOU 3RD SELLER). The best advice I can give on this topic is if a pair isn’t making you treasure, sell it and try something else. Trial and error, try to find a niche. It’s only when you start getting attached to dragons that breeding for profit starts to become difficult. [center][img]http://pic.prepics-cdn.com/abaaaaa/21979362.gif[/img][/center] [center][size=4][b]Why wont people buy my dragons?[/b][/size][/center] It’s unpopular, it’s ungened, it’s overbred. Basics don’t generally sell for much more than fodder prices, even if they’re gen 2. Certain colours on Flight rising are much less popular than others (see “popular colours”), whilst this doesn’t mean they wont sell by any means, it may mean the price you’re charging is too much for what people are willing to pay. Check the auction house for the combo you’re selling, is there many dragons that are the same? How about similar? Is your price drastically higher than theirs? [center][img]http://pic.prepics-cdn.com/abaaaaa/21979362.gif[/img][/center] [center][size=4][b]What makes a dragon valuable?[/b][/size][/center] [LIST] [*]It’s unrelated to other dragons for sale. [*]The colour combination is rare and difficult to breed [*]It’s cheaper to buy a dragon from you than it is to breed change + gene themselves [/LIST] These are the 3 most important factors that will determine how much you can sell a dragon for. There are, other factors that would create some advantage over other sellers. You can create value for your dragons to be able to sell your hatchlings at a higher price. Most people will pay more for a dragon that has matching eyes, imagine if there were two Sky/Banana/Banana Coatls in the Auction House, one with Nature eyes and the other with Light. The Light dragon costs 15k more, which one would you buy? Most people looking for permanent dragons WOULD pay a little extra. Parent names can even determine which dragon a buyer will choose in a saturated market. If two dragons both cost 50k but the parents of one are “Dirt” and “bert”, I’m probably going to pick the other dragon that has parents with nicer names that are both capitalised. [center][img]http://pic.prepics-cdn.com/abaaaaa/21979362.gif[/img][/center] [center][size=4][b]Dragon price fluctuations[/b][/size][/center] Prices of dragons will routinely go up or down because of the following events: [LIST] [*]After registration windows [color=red][b]-[/b][/color]5 days after the registration window is the hatchapalooza, fodder prices will always decline [color=lime]+[/color]The price of adults, particularly RTB adults will increase for approximately 1 week after the registration window [*]End of week dominance battles [color=lime]+[/color]Unless the dominance battle is particularly casual, hatchling and adult prices will steadily increase up until rollover. [*]New genes [color=red]-[/color]Whilst upon release dragons with new genes will worth a pretty penny, they will rapidly decrease in price each day past their release. [*]Exalt bonuses [color=lime]+[/color]Exalt fodder that matches exalt bonuses for the day will almost be instantly bought after rollover. [/LIST] [center][img]http://pic.prepics-cdn.com/abaaaaa/21979362.gif[/img][/center] [center][size=4][b]Hatcheries[/b][/size][/center] Do hatcheries really make a difference? It’s hard to tell without any website analytic programs, but it's a lot of work to maintain one. My advice is if you don't mind doing a lot of bumping, go for it! [url=http://flightrising.com/main.php?p=mb&board=gde&id=968221&page=1]Here's a great guide[/url] that speaks more on how to create your own hatchery. I have my own pastel hatchery [url=http://flightrising.com/main.php?p=mb&board=baz&id=1098288]over here[/url] which does pretty well. Honestly I wouldn't recommend starting one with someone else unless you're very comfortable with them. I'd say the reason some people may join forces with a friend is because: 1) More eye colour options 2) Hatcheries are a LOT of work to maintain, and 2 people lessens the workload. The thing is, you can rent nests off of other players pretty easily so you don't really need a "partner" for that. Also, only one person is going to be able to edit the hatcheries posts, whilst the other isn't. Not to mention you will have to half all profits despite how much effort is put in by each person. It isn't worth causing tension between the two friends in my opinion, unless you're both just doing it for fun and don't really care about profit. If you're uncertain on how you price your dragons, you should use the AH function to search for similar dragons. Take note of their prices, and how they differ from breed-to-breed and gender. Imperial males tend to sell better than females for example, so selling it for a slightly higher price is a good idea. Also take note of whether your dragon is related to the current dragons listed, if it's not you can easily hike your price up as people seek out breeding pairs of their own. Advertising your hatchlings on Tumblr is actually a fantastic way to generate more traffic to your hatchery. The "flight rising" tag is pretty active with FR bloggers, and if you gain followers on your blog you have even more potential for dragon sales! Please be courteous to the FR tag users and tag sales posts as "fr sales", so it can easily be blacklisted by users who don't wish to see them. [center][img]http://pic.prepics-cdn.com/abaaaaa/21979362.gif[/img][/center] [center][size=4][b]Generation 1 dragons[/b][/size][/center] Gen 1s prices can start anywhere from 10k and go upwards into the millions. What will make a dragon valuable is the demand for types of dragons of those colours, for example pastel dragons are pretty widely desired so dragon who fit the pastel colours (see "popular colours") is likely to have a lot of potential buyers. Triple coloured dragons, such as a White/White/White are EXTREMELY valuable and doubles are somewhat valuable depending on the colours. If you're ever unsure of the value of a gen 1, putting it to auction is a good idea. There are a few ways to sell a gen 1: [LIST] [*]Auction - this is the most popular method of gen 1 selling [*]Autobuy - placing a set price how much you want to sell the dragon for. This is usually preferred by people who don't want the hassle of continuously bumping their auction thread. [/LIST] Flipping gen 1s is a nice way to make some extra treasure if you put the time into it. Searching in the 1-30k range you may find good gen 1s that other people just couldn't be bothered auctioning themselves. Gen 1 flipping is tedious because of the searching, and then the bumping, but if you find the right buyer can be extremely profitable. You can search in gems in the Auction House, but the treasure side of the AH tends to be a lot more active/preferred. You can check the gen 1 sales thread too, the dragons can be a little more expensive here but if you spot one quick enough you may still find a good flip. My biggest flip I earnt 470k on, but I was very lucky to find such a pretty gen 1 so cheaply. [center][img]http://pic.prepics-cdn.com/abaaaaa/21979362.gif[/img][/center] [center][size=4][b]What are the popular colours?[/b][/size][/center] There are generally a few different “categories” of dragons The two most popular at this time are: [LIST] [*]Pastels [*]Eyeburners [/LIST] [center][url=http://flightrising.com/main.php?p=mb&board=baz&id=1151422][img]http://i530.photobucket.com/albums/dd341/Wintaer/Flight%20Rising/Pastel%20Perfections/badgepastelperfections1_zps3db4d0d5.png[/img][/url][url=http://tinyurl.com/k95mc35][img]http://i497.photobucket.com/albums/rr333/therougecat/EBLbutton_zps83d16a6a.png[/img][/url][/center] In general, dragons of these categories tend to sell for the most but this is not always the case. There are also many other categories of dragons that will make it desirable. For example, [url=http://flightrising.com/main.php?board=baz&id=1053180&p=mb]snow bellies[/url] are particularly popular in certain circles, as are [url=http://flightrising.com/main.php?p=mb&board=baz&id=1153857]XXY[/url]s and [url=http://flightrising.com/main.php?p=mb&board=baz&id=1036472]XYX[/url]s As a visual guide, here's the popularity of colours in the pastels and brights category as a rough idea from my perspective. Naturally, preferences will differ from user-to-user. 1 star indicates undesirable, 2 stars is moderately desirable and 3 stars is desirable. [center][img]http://i59.tinypic.com/dlmj34.png[/img] [u]Pastels[/u] [img]http://i57.tinypic.com/s5vfya.png[/img] [u]Brights[/u] Though [b]some users do like the following colours[/b], in general these colours are very undesirable no matter which category of dragons they belong to. [img]http://i62.tinypic.com/sfgjrq.png[/img] [u]Unpopular[/u][/center]

[center][img]http://pic.prepics-cdn.com/abaaaaa/21979362.gif[/img][/center] [center][size=6][color=pink]Auction House[/color][/center] [center][img]http://pic.prepics-cdn.com/abaaaaa/21979362.gif[/img][/center] [center][size=4][b]Fluctuations in price[/b][/size][/center] Prices of items will routinely go up or down because of the following events: [color=lime]+[/color]Egg prices will generally rise on event dates such as Halloween, Christmas and New Years. [color=red][b]-[/b][/color]New festival accents will generally be able to bought for less than MP value (without a discount) in the Auction House during the festival week. [color=lime]+[/color]Limited items will increase in price after a new registration window [color=red][b]-[/b][/color]Food stacks will sell for less on the week of a festival and the week after. [center][img]http://pic.prepics-cdn.com/abaaaaa/21979362.gif[/img][/center] [center][size=4][b]Flipping[/b][/size][/center] Flipping is generally a great way to make some easy money, though it can often require patience. There are 3 methods of flipping that I'm aware of: [b]1. Scroll flipping[/b] A pretty well known way of making treasure is to buy gem scrolls from the Marketplace, and resell them for treasure in the Auction House (or vice versa). People will buy from the AH for an inflated price because it saves them the trouble of converting the gems themselves, and grants them instant satisfaction over possibly waiting for the next restock in the MP. [b]2. Following item trends[/b] By simply following (and possibly recording) the price fluctuations on particular limited items, you can predict when the best times to buy and sell would be. Knowing when the prices of Golden Bantam Fangars are in a slump, for example, means you can take advantage of the cheap prices to resell in a few weeks when they go back up to their normal prices. [b]3. Artificial inflation[/b] Whilst this technique has been banned on other petsites like Neopets, there are no rules that prevent FR users from doing so. HOWEVER, there are [i]risks[/i] in this method because it relies on an active market in order to hold prices up for long after to profit from this. To artificially inflate an item, you need to start off with a decent sum of treasure. I don't advise trying this on items that are easy to obtain and/or have little demand, because you need to buy up all items under a certain price range and maintain the price. List your item at the price you've now inflated the item to, and buy any items listed by undercutters. If you've done this right and hold this price for long enough, hey easy money $$ [center][img]http://pic.prepics-cdn.com/abaaaaa/21979362.gif[/img][/center] [center][size=4][b]Selling etiquette[/b][/size][/center] Etiquette is important, because some users will not buy from sellers who they view as being rude or annoying because they have a personal grudge. You should be mindful of these things if you plan on selling large quantities of items all over the Auction House. [LIST] [*][b]Undercutting etiquette[/b] As a general rule, for items worth 20k or less, undercutting by 1 to 100 treasure is pretty reasonable. For items 20k or more, undercutting by 1-2k is fine. There's generally no real expectations for items valued 100k+ because resellers are happy to buy items far under all other prices (sellers will often list far below other listed values for a quick sale). [*][b]Buying exalt fodder[/b] That is, dragons 10k or under. Some users like to thank people who have bought dragons from them, which is absolutely ok! However, when dragons are priced 10k or under, it's very likely they've been bought to exalt, and sending thank you messages can create awkwardness. [*][b]Dragon ownership[/b] There are users who do not wish to have their dragons exalted, and that's fine. HOWEVER, once ownership is transferred to one user to the next, the new owner may do whatever they wish with the dragon. This includes naming their dragon without a capital letter, exalting it, or giving it away to another user. [/LIST]

[center][img]http://pic.prepics-cdn.com/abaaaaa/21979362.gif[/img][/center] [center][size=6][color=pink]Marketplace[/color][/center] [center][img]http://pic.prepics-cdn.com/abaaaaa/21979362.gif[/img][/center] [center][size=4][b]Sniping[/b][/size][/center] Sniping whilst holding dominance discounts can be VERY profitable as you can list items below what would be profitable for other flight users. The advantage that you get in the MP means it'd be pretty silly not to take advantage of this money making technique! The best things to snipe whilst holding discount are treasure scrolls and popular apparel such as flowers and silks. [center]The Marketplace has a chance to restock [b]EVERY 5 MINUTES[/b] So that means on 0:05, 0:10, 0:15, etc.[/center] A great way to see how your computer clock matches up with FR's is to compare it to [url=http://flightrising.com/main.php?p=tradepost&lot=swap]Swipp's[/url] count-down clock. [center] [img]http://i.gyazo.com/e6428543220666be30d4eaa77ddeb662.gif[/img][/center] [center][img]http://pic.prepics-cdn.com/abaaaaa/21979362.gif[/img][/center] [center][size=4][b]Festival items[/b][/size][/center] Apart from the emblems which cycle back every year, festival items will retire once the festival is order (except for Bear familiars which will cycle back in for the December event), making them GREAT investment items! I recommend grinding as much as you can in order to get at least 1 full set of the festival items for resell later. Festival skins and accents also make wonderful investment items, especially accents which tend to be much more popular and sell much faster. I would advise buying accents and skins that YOU particularly like from the festival, as the prettier looking ones always increase in value much quicker after the festival. BE MINDFUL THAT DOMINANCE DISCOUNTS ALSO APPLY TO FESTIVAL SKINS AND ACCENTS IN THE MP! Try finding a friend to buy one for you, or see if there's anyone in the Item Sales forum willing to help you out for a small tip.

Reserved

I may add some other things in the future, but for now I'm done! :D

This is such a great guide! Thanks for taking the time to make this! :D

Platinum, an ugly color? Who are these weirdos. >__>

Overall this is a really good guide!! A lot of stuff I already knew, but I've been here forever. :P It will be very useful for newer users!

@HoneyBubblegum I'm so happy to hear you like it!

@Rowan It KILLED me to put coral on that list, I love that colour.

[quote name="Rowan" date="2014-12-16 18:36:33"]Platinum, an ugly color? Who are these weirdos. >__>[/quote] @Rowan lol, right? Especially platinum crystal...gorgeous.