SilentTM's Ultimate Merchanting Guide: How To Be A

Trillionare
EDITED: 10/13/2014 - Added another chapter "The Why Of Prices"
Table Of Contents:
Introduction
Definitions
What You'll Need
Levels Of Investment
Chapter 1: What kind of investor are you?
Chapter 2: The types of investing and their individual qualities
Chapter 3: How do I figure out prices?
Chapter 4: The Why Of Prices
Chapter 5: What personal traits can I apply to investing that will boost my
gains?
Chapter 6: Past Methods of Merchanting, long gone with hopes to return.
Chapter 7: Moral Debate: Buying off hackers/dupers? Are we ALL guilty?
Conclusion

Introduction:
Hello everyone. I really don't know what inspired me to make this guide, but
if it helps, then good. I've only ever written a guide in my guilds BBS but this
I will write for anyone and everyone who wants to know my secrets. I won't
tell you all of my secrets, what's the fun in that? I will not be telling you what
exact item to buy. I will not be telling you what price to buy it for. It's your job
to discover that for yourself. I also want to note that I have only recently
returned to MapleStory after a one-year vacation, so that also contributes to
why I won't go too indepth about the different prices for different items. It's
up to you to figure them out yourself. I will however break down the methods
used to discover prices so don't worry. What I will also do is lay out the
ground work for all of the different variations of merchanting. There are so
many different methods you can apply to your merchanting, it's up to you to
decide which method your most excelled at, and which you'd like to use. I
will divide them by different chapters, and the amount of net value you're
working with, different levels so to speak. Aside from the different levels of
value you're working with, I will be discussing the enhancements/traits that
we merchants use PERSONALLY to enhance our ability to make good
investment decisions and build strong investment connections, such as our
ability to market, our ability to speak, our ability to be honest, our ability to
predict market movements, our ability to discover underlying value to every
single item/service possible. I want you to keep in mind that when I wrote

this guide, I have JUST returned from a one-year Hiatus from MapleStory. I
haven't had a chance to update myself with what's new in the MapleStory
Economy, so some of my examples may be out dated and MAY OR MAY NOT
still apply now, but the CONCEPTS remain the same. So, are you ready?
[i]give a man a fish and you feed him for a day; teach a man to fish and you
feed him for a lifetime[/i]
Definitions:
Price Potential: At the current economy level, the highest potential price
that a specific item can be sold for. In other words, the highest any idiot
would pay.
Asset Value: The total amount of mesos that you are worth, including all
items in your possession.
Investing: The process of placing your currency into an item or service in
the hopes of a future profit return.
Capital: Amount of pure mesos readily available to you for use of investing,
not including currency in the form of items, etc.
Income/Profit: Sale price - price paid. Or the return amount received from
purchase of an investment and the sale of that investment.
What you'll need:
-A permit or a mushie depending on your level of merchanting (Up to you to
figure how to get one)
-Some time
-A brain
-A calculator maybe?
Levels Of Investment: (Please don't take this in offence. I'm only using the
term "level" to elaborate on the different investing tiers you can work with.
I'm not bashing the poor in any way.) (also, don't take my meso amount
figures into full consideration, you are free to test the waters with all
amounts and all levels. I'm just laying out the basic ideal amount that you
will need to perform each level of merchanting.)
Level 1 (The Newborn): 1 Million - 100 Million Asset Value.
At this stage you're barely surveying the world around you, not really
knowing where to begin. You're a baby not even able to walk. You don't know
exactly what to use your feet for but you experiment and slowly learn as you

grow.
Level 2 (The Toddler): 100 Million - 1 Billion Asset Value.
At this stage you've started crawling and barely walking but you haven't yet
adjusted to the idea of sprinting. The idea of running a race is farfatched to
you and quite simply scary. You don't know if you'll fall, or if you will surpass
the person next to you. But it doesn't matter. Cause you will prevail. Heh heh
heh.
Level 3 (The Kiddo): 1 Billion - 10 Billion Asset Value.
After some time with trial and error, you've finally reached the point of
stability. You've finally began to pace, but is it too much to sprint? You're
starting to be familiar with your feet, you know what it's capable of, you
know what it wants to do, where you want to go. You're just not exactly sure
how to get there. But at the same time you're confident in your abilities. You
stare down the world with ambitious eyes and begin to move quick, but not
quick enough.
Level 4 (The Young Man): 10 Billion - 50 Billion Asset Value.
After time and time again, pacing and pacing, you've finally started sprinting.
You're laughing at your success, giddy with hysteria. You're sprinting a 100
meter dash for the first time, you're almost to the finish line... and then you
fall. You thought you could do it, you thought you were the man. But you're
still a boy. You've still got lots to learn. So you get up and you run that dash
again. You run it, and run it, and you pass it. This is the final step before the
climax. The marathon.
Level 5 (The Man): 50 Billion - 1 Trillion Asset Value.
Now... Now is your moment to shine. You've gone through countless trials
and errors, your face is hardened and roughened with struggle. You've seen
the lowest of the lows and the highest of the highs. You've ran countless
miles, you've fallen one too many. But you didn't give up. You're at the peak
of your success, but there's still one further step you must take. The final
marathon, the ultimate test of endurance, patience, and persistence. Youre
at the starting line... there are many contestants around you... all competing
for the same prize. You're sweating but the race has not begun. You look at
the sky, the birds seem to move in beautiful unison, the sky is unbelievably
blue. This is the day that you've been conditioning yourself for all this time.
The starter calls you all to attention, his gun in hand. He announces the
rules, but you pay no mind. You already know them. You've applied these
rules your entire career, you have them implanted in your head. The starter
raises his gun, sweat trinkling down his forehead, his eyes boring into you.

3... 2... 1... Begin. You run, and you don't stop.
(Don't ask I got carried away)

Chapter One: What kind of investor are you?

One of the basic ideas that you must discover about merchanting is what
kind of investor do you want to be? What kind of merchant do you want to
be? As I've mentioned before there are different variations to merchanting
that you may apply. You aren't restricted to one. Depending on your asset
value, you can choose one, or you can choose all. Here are some of the
different types of merchanting that we have in our market today. (Before we
begin I'd like to note that I will be breaking down the layers between
variations of merchanting by the levels of asset value in the next chapter.
This is only a summary)
Flip-Merchanting (level 1-2+): The process of buying an item for generally
lower than it's market value, and flipping it for a higher price for a quick to
semi quick return. Entrance or run-through FM 1-22. (though nowadays we
have that one website MFM)
Long-Term Investment (Level 3+): A long term investment is the process
of buying an item in hopes or prediction of an increase in value over a long
period of time.
Monopolization (Level 4+) : Monopolization is in a way a form of both flipmerchanting, and long-term investing. It is the process of solely owning the
market of a specific item, in hopes of raising the value yourself.
Multi-Dimensional Merchanting (Advanced, Level 5+ At least): Many
people are restricted to the idea that merchanting only takes place in-game,
in one direction. But in reality, the opposite is true. In order to truly master
the art of merchanting you need to utilize the fluctuation of ratios not only ingame but out of game as well, and take advantage of reallocation of assets.
Mesos are not a value in and of itself, it's value is forever tied to the value of
our real life currency. Will discuss a BIT more later.
Extra:
Craft-Merchanting (Level 1+): The process of buying recipes and
ingredients, crafting the desired item and reselling for a profit.
So these are some of the main types of merchanting you can apply and
combine with your own methods of trading in the market. Now, let's break it
down even further.

Chapter 2: The Types of Merchanting & Their Individual

Qualities
These are five different types of merchanting used to build wealth in game.
Each have their own individual qualities, pros and cons. Please keep in mind
that there are much more ways that you can build wealth, but I'm only
discussing some of the types of INVESTING. I will not be talking about
farming/scrolling/anviling/bossing/anything of that sort. But, it's up to you to
pick your poison. Let's begin.
FLIP-MERCHANTING:
The process of buying an item generally for cheaper than it's market value,
and flipping it for a higher price for a quick to semi quick return. Entrance or
run-through FM 1-22 (though nowadays we have MFM)
The good ol' classic flip-merchanting. The one that everybody is familiar with.
The good ol' buy low sell high. Spam the market and knock off 20M from
those work gloves! Flip merchanting is a very effective method of
merchanting, and has been used for ages. It's one of the most if not the most
basic form of trading that there is. What exactly is flipping, you ask? First of
all, there are multiple ways that you can go about flipping an item/finding an
item to flip. Here are three ways that I know of.
-You can begin in the FM entrance, spamming B> _ for XXX.
-You can run through FM 1-22 and discover underpriced items.
-Nowadays we have MFM, which I myself am not too familiar with but would
agree that it is a very useful tool, IF you know what exactly you're looking for.
Let's start by dividing flip-merchanting by the amount of net that you're
worth. Obviously you're limited to plenty if the amount of capital you may
invest is under 100M. But no worries. Merchanting takes place in all tiers,
and you don't need god like amounts to earn a return. PLEASE remember
that once you advance to a higher level, you are not restricted to that level.
You may obviously continue to merch w/ the methods used in prior levels.
Quick-Note: A common misconception is that in order to make a profit you
must buy low and sell high. This is true to a certain extent but not fully. Of
course you can buy really low, sell medium. You can buy medium, sell high.
Or you can even go out on a limb and buy high, sell real high (but uh, why) It
all depends on your LEVEL of patience, your level of marketing, your desired
profit-margin. It's all on you. Your preference. How long you're willing to wait.
Your behavior towards risk. Etc.

Level 1) The NewBorn

1 Million - 100 Million Asset Value
At these levels there's not really much that you can do to kick-start your ingame flipping. So you'll have to start small obviously. An ideal item that you
could merchant would be scrolls.
Now... you can stand in the entrance and spam "B> __ Scroll for XXX" all day
if you'd like but this obviously is a time killer, and not as effective. By the end
of the day you might only come out w/ 20 or so scrolls depending on the
scroll that you're focusing on. Again, you don't have to focus on only one
scroll, but some scrolls are more in demand than others. Scrolls for attack for
instance, are demanded in general. So you may want to keep more of your
scroll assets in those. Again, it's entirely up to your preference.
Another item that you can look for are lower tier % equipment. Most people
are under the assumption that "oo people only want godly 200% stuf ok u
noob nobody wants ur junk % l0l", but at these levels you really have no
choice. And there IS a market for lower % equipment. Just because they take
a bit more time to sell, does not mean that there is no market for it. So, in
these cases, you must use your own judgement and context price connecting
skills (will talk more about this later) to figure out what this item MAY sell for,
and the probability that it will sell in a specific time frame.
Alright, now to another method that I find much more effective. The lovely 122 run.
Once you know the value of an item, and the current market price of that
specific item, for example, a scroll, it would be much easier to scan the FM 122 for bundles of scrolls that are cheap in price. There are plenty of shops
that knock off the price of their scrolls by a good amount, and if you happen
to find a decent spot in the FM you may resell for a nice profit. Even buying
10+ at a time. The profit may not be much but with time, patience, and
persistence, you will slowly build your wealth. Billionaires aren't made
overnight.
Scrolls are not the only item restricted to this level one phase, you can also
merchant % equipment at lower tiers (epic) and chairs that are seemingly
higher in value than the price listed. Of course many chairs nowadays are
under 100M, so you may be lucky to find one that's 20-30M underpriced for
example. % Equipment may be limited at this level, but you can still find
some. These take a bit longer than others but when the profit comes it's
definitely worth it. Please keep in mind that Equipment, Scrolls, and Chairs
are not the only items that are merchable. Keep your options open, there is a
value and a market for almost every item in the game, other wise it wouldn't

be in the game. Merch whatever you find worthwhile. Hell, it can even be etc
items. Be creative.
Level 2) The Toddler
100 Million - 1 Billion Asset Value
After some time merchanting with level 1 items, you're now reaching a
higher asset valuation. You're less restricted than you were before, but still
not quite there yet. You're still a toddler. You have some ways to go. At these
levels you may move out of the lower tier items and start focusing on higher
tier % equipment (but not that high) and also higher demanded USE items
such as more high grade scrolls and nebulites, et cetera. The same method
applies here, you can stick to what you know or you can expand your horizon
a bit. Start moving onto unfamiliar territory, and take risks. Don't be afraid to
fail. You will only grow wiser through your failures. At level 2 merchanting,
you start to become more familiar with prices and the concept of
merchanting. How it works, and what works for you. You start becoming more
comfortable with risking your oh so valued mesos to make more oh so valued
mesos.
At these levels you can STILL stand at the entrance and spam things such as
"B> % Equipment B> Scrolls B> Chairs B> Nebs" etc, but as I've said before
I personally have always found the FM-1-22 scanning/run through as the
most effective method of finding items underpriced and reselling them for a
higher one. I've made billions buying and reselling in this way.
% Equipment has always been ideal but they typically take a bit longer than
use items to sell. Chairs are also still ideal but they too have the same selling
time frame. But your patience and persistence can outgrow the tallest of
trees. Level 2 merchanting is basically the same as Level 1, but your options
obviously are more diverse. You can stick to the basic level 1 items, or you
can start moving onto level 2 items.
Unique equipment with % on them is a good choice at this value level. Often
times people aren't sure of the potential price of their item so they misjudge
it by a few mill to a few hundred mil. Sometimes even more. This is the time
to snatch that oppurtunity. Snatch up a bunch of % Equipment, snatch up
demanded weapons for your tier level. Not everyone is rich and can afford
godly attack weapons, so they strive towards the mediocre ones. OWN that
mediocre market. I remember starting up years ago and having my own
mediocre market of % equipment, and weapons. I was basically buying and
reselling semi-scrolled attack/m.attack weapons and judging them to hold
more potential. I'm talking about crappy +6 scrolled "junk", +5 junk all slots
maxed. But I owned this niche. I knew it. I was comfortable with it. It worked.
If it worked for me it can work for you. I've made billions off this market as

well. I've satisfied the lower class. But then again my judgement helped me
make good decisions.
Chairs (yet again), are also a good item to merchant at this level. Again the
same concept as level one, but your choices and options are wider. Become
familiar with more valuable and expensive chair prices, take advantage of
EVENTS. Lots of events drop the price of certain items due to an increase in
supply in a short period of time. We all know about "supply & demand".
Utilize this. Events don't come every day. Buy them while they're cheap. This
doesn't only apply to chairs, but everything else that comes out during
events as well. Gachapon, etc. I personally would prefer to lean towards
equipment, weapons, and scrolls but good oppurtunities do arrise for chairs
and collectible items during certain events. So use your own judgement to
compare and contrast which is more worthwhile, which will sell quicker,
which will sell for a higher return, etc.
Level 3) The Kiddo
1 Billion - 10 Billion Asset Value
So... you've finally reached that point. You're finally a billionaire. You've
reached your first milepoint, but there's still more to achieve. You're not
exactly flawless, nobody is, but you've got the basic ground rules set for
yourself. You have your own methods to live by, your own techniques
applied. Now, you're familiar with flipping items that have been set at a
pretty cheap price, you're familiar with equipment, weapons, chairs, other
miscellaneous items that are demanded. What other options can you expand
to, once you reach these levels? I think we've reached the point where you
have enough net worth to begin merchanting real godlies. Of course you
won't be able to merch many at a time, but you can possibly come out w/
upwards of 500M+ profit per item in these stages. At this point the rate of
return is much quicker than it was at level 1, since you're dealing with more
mesos to begin with. To make money sometimes you need money.
At these stages, it's pretty obvious that you can stick w/ what you know. The
simple level 1-2 tiered equipment and use items are still good to merchant
with. Those deals will always be available to you. But once you save enough
mesos, you should definitely start researching godly weapons and
equipment. Try to find tradable godlies with high %, or highly scrolled
attack/m.atk weapons underpriced. At this level, UNLESS you find a godly
that's extremely underpriced, I wouldn't recommend merchanting PSOK'ed
items, due to the current high NX ratio. In the end it's entirely up to you and
how much profit you're comfortable with making. It's kind of dumb asking
"should I buy it for X amount? To make X amount?" if you already know the
potential sale price (I will be using this term often in this guide, due to the
constant change in item price), because you can really only answer that

yourself judging by your own preference. Nobody can answer that for you.
You need to decide how much profit you're comfortable with, and how long
you're willing to wait for your item to sell. Also, don't be afraid to over price
your equipment reasonably if you YOURSELF feel that someone may come
along and find it as a good deal. You have to use your own judgement. I've
been told many times that my items were over priced but if I had a penny for
how many times someone told me that, yet the item sold, I'd be a billionaire
irl. Lol. And plus, you can always take offers, or lower the price. It's up to you,
and your profit/waiting preferences.
Godly equips are a main focus, but you can also move onto other higher
grade items as well. High % Nebulites, More valuable scrolls, more valuable
chairs... the same rules apply. Figure out the current average market price,
buy lower & sell higher. Permanent NX items are demanded but the supply is
often times flooded during their release. But keep in mind that the prices for
these are typically low as this occurs, and once the item is worn it can't be
traded again. That being said, once the event is over, production ceases to
exist, and the supply will only lower and lower (assuming no exploits occur &
nexon doesn't recycle). You should know what this means. So, take
advantage of this. Will discuss more about it in the Long-Term Investing
chapter. Keep this up and before you know it, you'll reach that 10 billion
mark, finally.
Level 4) The Young Man
10 Billion - 50 Billion Asset Value
So now, you've hit the 10 billion mark. Yet another milestone. You've grown
to be a quite dashing young man. (Lol why do I do this) Anyways. It's time to
start expanding even FURTHER. Further? "How the hell do I do that?" You
may be asking. Now it's the time to start moving into the early stages of
long-term investing. Not full-on long term investing, but it's only in the same
category because of the quantity that you'll be holding in terms of your flipitems. It naturally carries you on into the long-term in a way. Please
remember, there are similar traits that you'll find between flipping and longterm investing. But it's just much easier seperating them in different
categories. So, where to begin.
You'll be focusing more or less on the same categories, the in demand
godlies, % equipment, valuable chairs (or even junk chairs, if you happen to
find them for a cheap price), valuable nebulites... You will be doing exactly
the same things. Running through the FM, constantly on the prowl for
underpriced items. Except you're doing this on a larger scale now. You're
holding a larger quantity of items, but the profit margin is vast. You're
counting your assets and you notice the constant rise. One second you were
at 10 billion in total asset value, now you're at 20, then 25, then before you

know it, you'll reach the point of 50 billion mesos in asset value. In this
perspective, you're holding your assets for a much longer time, therefore it's
somewhat considered a long term investment as well, but technically you're
still flipping that item in hopes for a quick return.
At these level 4 stages, focusing on large quantities of pricier scrolls has
always yielded strong returns for me. With higher capital, you're able to
increase your profit-margin. There are times when you'll be able to find
scrolls at unusually low prices, and the profit potential on these investments
are endless. The same goes for godly equipment, permanent NX, and chairs.
You will always find oppurtunities for flips if you regularly scan FM 1-22. It
just takes a bit of work. At this point I wouldn't recommend wasting your time
spamming at the entrance. You should have graduated from that school long
ago. Keep in mind the hype factor of a certain class. When certain classes
are held with high anticipations, typically that classes % equipment will raise
in price due to the large amount of players moving towards that class. So
anticipate this, and take advantage of this. Continue so and soon you'll be a
man. Soon you'll wipe your arse w/ bills.
Level 5) The Man
50 Billion - 1 Trillion (Connected w/ Long-Term Investing)
So, we've broke it down a bit between the first four levels of merchanting.
There's one more level, how much further can we go? What exactly can we
do beyond the level 4 stage? Beyond the 50 billion point, is there anything
that we can do differently? Technically, no. Merchanting/trading consists of
the same routines over and over again, but the method by which we
merchant changes with the level that we reach. So let's talk about level 5.
The final level of merchanting.
You've finally hit a major milestone. 50 Billion mesos in asset value. You
never thought you'd reach this point. But you did, and you should be proud.
But, your career has just barely started. You want to reach that 1 Trillion
point. How do you do it? How is it possible? With Flip-merchanting alone, it
would take forever, and not to mention that the granny shop only allows you
to hold 24 items at a time. But that's why we've breached the ice of longterm investment. And with the assistance of long-term investment, you
should be able to reach 1 Trillion, with patience and ambition.
You are now in possession of tons of scrolls, all bought cheap from suppliers
in the FM 1-22. Tons of godlies that you've discovered underpriced, high %
equipment, high grade nebulites, high attack weapons sold to you for a
decent price, you've got gear being offered on worth 5+ billion each piece,
which you happened to buy for 4 billion tops. But how much longer do you
need to do this to reach 1 Trillion? How much patience can one have?

I've breached the 1 Trillion point many of times, but my situation is different
from yours. I was not only flip-merchanting. I was doing it all. I was
constantly fluctuating my assets between different currencies. This is a
method known as Multi-Dimensional merchanting. Taking advantage of the
fluctuation between the value of Mesos and other external currencies (you
know what they are). But we will semi-break this down in the future chapter,
for more advanced merchants.
For flip merchants alone, to breach this point, you must long term invest in a
certain way. It will take ages for you to find that many deals to constantly flip
your way to 1 Trillion. It will take hundreds, even thousands of underpriced
godlies, underpriced scrolls, underpriced chairs, underpriced nebulites, and
underpriced % equipment just to reach that point. So start focusing on the
long term, utilizing low economic levels (times when the price of certain
items drop due to a certain events that flood the market with that item,
therefore lowering the price, or even times when the amount of players is
decreasing due to school, etc.)... So. Shall we begin?
LONG-TERM INVESTING: Level 4+
A long term investment is the process of buying an item in hopes or
prediction of an increase in value over a long period of time
You're probably asking why anyone would want to long-term invest? Don't
you want to make the quick return? Why wait? Well, let's put it this way. Say
for example an event has just passed, and in this event a certain scroll was
flooded into the market, due to the amount of players participating in this
event. This can be any event, whether a hand out, or gachapon, or etc. Let's
say that before this event, at normal market levels, the price of this scroll
was 50M. NOW, after being flooded with such a supply, and an unchanged
demand, the price of this scroll very quickly drops to 25, then 20, then 15M.
There are literally THOUSANDS if not TENS of thousands of these scrolls in
the market now. You, yourself, are sitting on 50 billion mesos in capital. You
have your pick of godlies, yes you can pick that. If you find a decent
underpriced godly, why not? But these scrolls, we'll call them X Scrolls' price
can only go up (Assuming Nexon does not make major changes to the
circumstances of these scrolls that will deem them obselete, and assuming
some exploit doesn't further drop the prices of X scrolls) once the market
reaches normal levels again (in other words, once the event is over). So if
you're sitting on a large pool of mesos, why not invest 50 billion, in hopes for
100 billion in the near distant future? I know it may sound "too easy" or "too
good to be true" but with hard work, dedication, and motivation, you can do
this. Take advantage of events such as this. They create price oppurtunities
in so many different categories, not just scrolls alone.

PERM NX, is one example that I've always enjoyed bringing up when
discussing long-term investing. Typically, nexon will constantly find ways to
have us players and customers purchase NX in one way or another. One of
these is releasing new Permanent NX items that are tradeable in game.
These items are valuable, when released, yes, and the same rules apply. A
huge quantity are released into the market during these events, causing the
price to drop to start at unusual levels for these NX items. I'd like to believe
that during the next round of Perm NX items, that Nexon will most likely
change them. Doesn't this provide you with an oppurtunity? A niche or a void
to fill? You're damn right it does.
Buy it, hold it. It's really that simple. Now, I wouldn't go out on a limb and say
you should buy all things released during events, but go for the ones that are
generally demanded. Once the supply diminishes, the price will raise, and
that's your time to shine.
I want to bring up the example of Ink & Wash Rings. Need I say more?
Or even Cat Hoods way way back when. There was a time when they were
200M, and before the exploits they went up to levels over 1 billion +. That's
5x the the price paid. The wait is worth it. Long term investment, is worth it.
Don't limit yourself to only my examples. Find what's valuable to the public,
determine what factors will increase the price people are willing to pay,
determine what price YOU are willing to pay, determine what PROFIT you are
able to accept. You are the merchant. You are striving towards 1 Trillion. Don't
let anyone stop you. You are now the man.
MONOPOLIZATION: Level 4+
Monopolization is in a way a form of both flip-merchanting, and long-term
investing. It is the process of solely owning the market of a specific item, in
hopes of raising the value.
By definition, Monopolization is a form of both flipping and long-term
investing. As I've said before, merchanting and investing are similar in so
many ways, but for purposes of organization it's easier to separate them by
different categories. Monopolization is one category that I've constantly used
in my merchanting career. And it has brought me plenty of success, but the
amount of capital needed to perform Monopolization is almost
incomprehensible. You need so much readily available capital that at times it
may get frustrating.
To monopolize, you need to solely own the market for the specific item that
you are targeting. To have a partner in monopolization in essence, CAN work,
but is also frustrating if you partners can not work it out. You must divide the
rate of sales and be comfortable with it, otherwise it won't work. You will

constantly battle out the prices and the whole point of monopolization dies.
In order to monopolize, you would need a vast amount of mesos ready to
blow, depending on the item. How do you pick what items to monopolize?
Well, an ideal item to monopolize are temporarily available items, items that
are flooded (just like long-term investing) into the market during temporary
events, causing low prices. But not only do you have to buy them at low
prices, you also have to clear out ALL/MOST shops of these items up until the
end of the event, and even AFTER the event is over. That way you truly are
the sole owner of that market. Once this happens, and you succeed, with no
interruption (ie. Nexon releasing another event the next fricken week, for
example) then you can set your price higher and higher and higher. One
example many of my kin are aware of is my own monopolization of Golden
Hammer 50%'s in 2012. The price was so low I found it utterly ridiculous that
no one attempted the same thing I did. I bought my hammers for at least
15M upwards to 70M. I solely owned the hammers for a good while, and
released them for 100-140M (yes I even sold some for 140M). How did I
determine these prices? Context Price Connecting. I will discuss this more in
the "Chapter 4: How do I figure out prices?".
That's just one example you can use. Monopolization can apply to almost any
item that is available in the market, but some of the lower tier items are
harder to monopolize due to the constant availability of them from drops
(and let's not mention hackers). It can work, but don't expect a 200% return
on the item right away. You would need the general economy to move
upwards in that situation in order to profit on lower tiered monopolization.
Just keep that in mind.
What else besides use items can you monopolize? Obviously the items that
we spoke of in the Long-Term Investing section. I won't go too in detail, but
I'm sure you'll figure it out on your own. By definition monopolization can
work with anything, some just harder than others. You will need tons of
available mesos for this. Please do not attempt it half heartedly. It is
extremely pointless buying 1/3rd of the market out at market price. You'd
either lose taxes or wait an extremely long time selling them for a profit.
Now... the final form of merchanting that I've found the most effective in my
view. One that I am using right now. One that has netted me TRILLIONS.
MULTI-DIMENSIONAL MERCHANTING: ADVANCED+
Now you're probably sitting there, staring at this post like who is this crazy
son of a B? This ain't no sci-fi movie w/ worm holes and shi. But I assure you,
I am not a kook. Many people are under the misconception that Merchanting
takes place in one direction only. That is, inside looking outwards. But they
are wrong. This form of merchanting is not available for the lower level tiers,
due to the nature of it. If you do not have TONS and tons of either mesos or

other forms of "currency", then you can skip this section. But this MultiDimensional merchanting consists of reallocation between different THREE
different forms of currencies. Taking advantage of the fluctuating value
between them. At certain times, Mesos are valued lower. At other times NX is
valued lower. There's a third ratio that you must put into place but I will not
be talking about it due to the nature of it. It's your job to discover when to
place your assets into which and what and when. That is all I will say about
this section. But if you can master the art of reallocating your assets, I can
guarantee trillions. All I can say is, just because you have 1 billion mesos
now, it does not mean that you are worth more than someone else with 500
million mesos might have been last month.
Extra:
Now we've gone through the major forms of investing used in game. I want
to mention here a simpler form of merchanting known as crafting. If there are
any more simple forms that you basilers would like to contribute to this
guide, please feel free.
Craft-Merchanting:
Craft merchanting is one that I've used in my early stages of merchanting,
back when I was still a toddler. This is the process of buying recipes and
ingredients of an item, crafting it, and reselling it for a profit. The profits
available to you in this industry is decent, but not quite as fast. But for the
lower levels (level 1-2, and maybe even 3) it would be ideal. Take it up if you
have the time and patience.

CHAPTER 3: How Do I Figure Out Prices Anyway?

So I've talked about some of the most known methods of merchanting
available. But I haven't yet talked about prices or specific items, or how you
can determine these prices for yourself. As I've stated before I will not be
telling you prices of items and what price you should buy them for, but I will
be telling you how to go about finding that out. Well, it really is simple. The
way that I learned my prices was just... doing it. After time and time again of
trial and error, of basically scanning the FM 22 - 1 constantly and repeatedly,
the prices become familiar to you. The prices are injected into your blood like
a shot of caffeine in the morning. To know the market you have to be the
market. Seriously. You can't just sit around the FM and ASK everyone what
price a certain item is, for EVERY single item. You must do the work. It's not a
crime to ask for P/C's here and there, for items uniquely priced such as
godlies, etc. but even godlies can be determined by certain methods you can
use. One other method I've mentioned earlier was the Context Price
Connection; I honestly didn't know what else to call it so that's just what I'll

use.
Context Price Connection is judging the price of your item by the price of
something else. Take for example a golden hammer 50%. Now, at this very
moment golden hammers are worth like 10-20M in game due to the huge
availability of them in the market. But under normal circumstances, how can
you use Context Price Connecting to find the value of a Golden Hammer?
What system in MapleStory is strictly set at certain values? Items in the Cash
Shop, obviously. Luckily for you, Hammers are available as well in the Cash
Shop and are priced 4.9K NX. This at the current ratio would place them at
about 300 Million mesos worth in the cash shop. Now under normal
circumstances (our current economy is not normal circumstance IMO, I don't
know why Nexon is allowing Hammers to be so easily obtainable (even if
50%), if they expect anyone to buy their NX Hammers. Even I don't have a
crystal ball, but then again Nexon is 900$ a share and a 400-billion dollar
market valued company so I don't believe that this affects them really) this
gives you an underlying value to a Golden Hammer, and it gives you an idea
to what the price potential of this Golden Hammer may be. (That's how I
determined the 100-140M price potential when I monopolized them awhile
back).
Keep in mind that Context Price Connection does not only apply to things in
the Cash Shop only, but it may apply to judging godlies with other godlies as
well. You just have to use your own judgement to figure it out.
Another method of determining prices is using our new MFM ! Although I
agree that MFM is a very useful tool, there's no denying that, I simply am old
school and still believe that running through the FM is effective. MFM works
for those of you who already KNOW what you want to look for, but I feel it's
lazy and ineffective to flip through the pages as opposed to manually running
through the FM. You can also use MFM to compare prices in one world to
prices in another world. The economies in both worlds are similar in the
sense that they both have a set amount of players, and most of them want
the same things. The only main differences are... exploits in some worlds
may not be as severe as exploits in others, and population. Some exploiters
just choose more populated worlds to exploit in. But comparing prices
between the worlds helps give you an IDEA as to the potential price of an
item, so use it if you know what you're looking for.
These are some methods that you can use to determine prices. PC's are cool,
but you can't rely on them forever. It's simply lazy and you are not a baby.
Run through the FM, get a feel of it. Soon you will have it in your head like
clockwork.

CHAPTER 4: The WHY Of Prices.

So, in the previous chapter we discussed methods of FINDING the price of an

item. We talked briefly about Context Price Connection, and how to vaguely
determine the value of an item. In this chapter, I want to talk about why
prices are this way. You may be asking something like, "Hey, what's the
difference?". Chapter 3 talks about WHAT, while this Chapter will talk about
WHY. This chapter will not only help you figure out why an item is valuable,
or why the price is that way, but it'll also help you determine prices of the
future. What changing factors will affect the price of an item/service that you
are hoping to invest with... and so on.
So, to start off this discussion I will start by saying that this perspective
begins as of September 2014. My examples used in this chapter will
reference the future as of this date. And because of a discussion in the
comments I had with another basil member, I felt it was important to discuss
and include this chapter into my guide.
The simplest explanation I can give to the WHY of prices, as cliche as it
sounds, is Supply & Demand. But that's only the main form of "why" to
prices. Let's call supply & demand the "Alpha" of the WHY. Is there a Beta
form to the WHY of prices?
Yes. There is. But we'll talk about that later.
Alpha)
The main factor that we must put into play is the demand of a certain item;
how much it's yearned for, how valuable it is...
Another Alpha factor is the supply; how easily it's obtained, how many are in
the market.
Supply & demand is the root of all value and it sums it all up with two simple
words. That's why it's used so often. But how much can you actually interpret
from those two words? How easy is it to say these words yet still feel lost in
the realm of economics? To help visualize it, we'll use an example of supply &
demand. Keep in mind that we're only going to be talking about Alpha forms
of the why of Prices. Please bare with me, I will clarify it later.
Demand: Let's take for example a Unique Potential Scroll. Before we begin,
we need to know exactly what the goal of MapleStory is, the goal of it's
players. What we'd also need to know is what exactly does a Unique
Potential Scroll do? I'm sure we all know, but let's just clarify it anyways. A
Unique Potential Scroll is a scroll which, when used on an item, gives it a
Unique-tiered potential. Nowadays there are 4 tiers to compare and contrast
with eachother, Unique being the highest tier after Legendary. So obviously,
Unique is in pretty high demand because the goals of a player (to be strong)
and the Value of the item are tied into one.

Supply: Another Alpha form of the WHY of prices is Supply. This one's just as
important. Here's why. Under normal economic circumstances, an item high
in value typically isn't easily obtainable. The price of a valued item is
determined by the attainability of that item on top of how much it is
demanded by the general public. Which leads to a simple formula.
Supply & Demand = Value.
So if the demand was high but there was a very limited supply in the world,
the prices would be bidded to rates higher than usual.
If the demand was high but there was a moderate supply in the world, the
prices would float at decent rates.
& If the demand was high but there was a huge supply flooded in the world,
the prices would drop to unusual levels.
It really is an equilibrium in that sense, which leads us to the conclusion that
the Market is always, always, always correct and it is always changing
because it reflects the public, the supply, and the demand. People say the
market doesn't make sense, I'm guilty of using this quote, but in reality the
market makes perfect sense in the SENSE that it reacts exactly as we the
people of the economy react towards the market. Our actions and the
markets actions are forever tied together.
Now let's talk about another form of the WHY of prices. The Beta.
Beta) The Beta Form of prices is a factor that must be included in your
investment decisions. It's an external force, it's related to the value of
mesos. Now you're probably sitting there, wondering why the heck do mesos
have anything to do with the value of an ITEM that you're purchasing
whether for consumption or investing other than it being used to purchase
the item in the first place? Well, it has a LOT to do with the item that you're
purchasing. Here's why:
Mesos have an external value to them, or shall I say, an "underlying" value.
Unfortunately there are ahem... money relations to mesos, and these factors
may affect prices of your item, maybe not now... but in the future perhaps. I
don't want to discuss too much about this Beta form due to the nature of it,
but I will say this. Sometimes mesos are extremely flooded in relation to the
amount of players leading to a very high supply. This in turn affects the value
of the meso and the attainability of it. And an example of how this relates to
your item would be, IF we lived in a world where money fell from trees, and
IF money fell from trees at a suddenly higher rate on Christmas than on any
other day of the year... items that you want to buy during Christmas would
naturally go up in price due to the nature of bidding and the nature of it's
attainability. In other words, supply & demand.

So, next time you have a targeted investment, please use these factors to
keep in mind why the prices are so, what makes you think the value will
increase, and so on.

CHAPTER 5: What Personal Traits Can I Apply To Investing

That Will Boost My Gains?
Many people want to be rich. It's obviously not for everyone. What you need
to get there is true hard work and dedication to do so. You must have
ambition, you can't sit there and expect others to do your work for you.
Helping others is fine, there's nothing wrong with that. But to strive to make
it to where you want, you need your own set of moral codes to live by. What
works for you, what will GUIDE you towards that mile stone you want to
reach. Your honesty, your patience, your ambitious personality, your
charisma, your instincts, your intuition, your six sense, so to speak. You need
to trust your judgements and come to your own conclusions when deciding
what investment will work out for you. Don't listen 100% to what others have
to say because chances are that person is trying to walk over you. Take it
into consideration and then move on. Also, make friends, make lots of
friends. Don't be a turtle hiding beneath it's shell. Sure, you can make it
without the assistance of others, but having friends and connections
definitely gives you a boost to where you want to go. There is no denying
that. When people say they are self-made, I'd have to disagree. Everyone is
in some way guided by the help of others, and without these ripples in the
pond, there is no you. So remember, don't ever give up, trust your own
judgements, come to your own conclusions, and make friends. The more
friends you have, the better. Who the hell needs enemies? Why must you act
superior to others and give yourself a reputation to be hated? Stay humble
no matter where you are in the tiers. It'll make MS a better place, and not
only MS, but the real world as well. PLUR. Peace, Love, Unity, Respect. Thx.

CHAPTER 5: PAST METHODS OF MERCHANTING, Long Gone

With Hopes Of Return
For purposes of reminiscing and fun, I will discuss some of the long gone
methods of merchanting that were used by some of the old school... this
one's to you.
MTS Merchanting:
Ah, the likes of MTSnowy. From one merchant to another, I give you props for
your dominance in the MTS market. MTS merchanting was the process of
buying an item in the MTS for cheap and reselling it for an NX profit (dur).

Unfortunately for me, I got around to MTS merchanting a few months before
they closed it down, but in those few months I netted a good amount of NX
for myself. The amount of flip/investing oppurtunities available to you in this
world of it's own was enormous. At the time that clean rat mouths were
worth 20K+ NX you would find people placing them at 4-5K at times. And not
only that, you were not RESTRICTED to only one world, you had the WHOLE
GLOBAL MS market available to you. That's a market worth tens millions of
NX calling your name. I truly miss MTS, and I hope some day they'll return
with a system similar to it.
World Transfer Merchanting (Import/Export):
One of my personal favorites. World Transfer Merchanting was the process of
transferring funds to another world, a cheaper world, investing your funds in
that world, and importing it back to your main world. To do this you had to
find a world market that was obviously at a cheaper level than yours. At a
cost of 25K NX per world xfer, you had to invest quite a large amount to see
a return, but if you had lots of capital to do this, the return potential was
ENORMOUS. Though it was quite popular back in the day, lots of other people
were doing it, so the competition was hostile. But in the end, you would still
see a profit if you invested correctly.
These are two of the main past methods of merchanting that I've used in the
past, and are no longer available to us. As you can see there are so many
different and unique ways that you can make a profit. You just have to apply
yourself to it, and discover what works for you. Keep this in mind the next
time you want to invest into something, that there are always going to be
open doors, no matter where you are.

Chapter 6: Moral Debate: Buying Off Hackers/Dupers? Are

We ALL guilty?
Heh, what a controversial topic. But I couldn't help myself. I see people
arguing about this all the time whenever something funky happens in the
market. "Oh ur guilty 4 buyin u shud be bant ok" "Oh ur guilty 4 merchin u
knew it waz haxed l0l nub" Please, please, just no. I know exactly where you
are coming from, but in my honest opinion no one is simply that SQUARE to
not touch an item that was illegitimately produced/obtained, because in
SOME WAYS direct and indirect, we are ALL guilty. You see that 60% atk scroll
right there? Yeah, that cheap one that you found through MFM, the one you
used on your weapon the other day? Yeah, that was illegitimately obtained.
You see that weapon that you bought from that guy the other day? Yeah, that
one you're wearing right now. The one you paid for in mesos, that you
obtained by bossing, legit 100%. Well, that weapon was obtained from
someone who used duped scrolls to reach that god like state. You see that

DABR you're wearing? Yeah, well the recipe to that DABR was duped and you
are now wearing it. Ha ha ha ha ha loser u should be banned ok. L0l0l0l. My
point is, I do NOT support hackers and dupers in any way, but I see them as
inevitable members of the economy, and as long as $ is involved, there is
nothing that we or Nexon or the world can do about it. There will always be
loop holes, and it would be utterly useless to work your way around them. My
other point is, don't stress yourself trying to distinguish too much between
black and white, because quite frankly, the world is a moral grey area, and
that applies to MapleStory as well. We are all in some way guilty of
"promoting" so to speak, hacking by buying and using things obtained
through hacking, or someone who bought from someone who obtained
something from hacking. I am not supporting hackers, I'm simply stating that
there's nothing we can do about them. I am not denying that I've purchased
items that MAY have been exploited, but I DO MY BEST TO MAINTAIN MY
REPUTATION AS A PLAYER WHO PROMOTES HONESTY, LEGITIMACY, AND
MOST IMPORTANTLY RESPECT. That's just my two cents on this topic, but then
again, to each his own....

CONCLUSION
So there you have it. My merchant guide, to all of you Maplers out there. I
truly hope that I've been of some assistance to those of you who want to get
started in Merchanting. Forgive me for not going too in depth with prices,
and what to buy, and when to buy things exactly, but I only wanted to lay out
the ground work for each section. And I hope this ground work enables you
to develop for yourself your own technique and your own comforts of
investing. Don't give up. Merchanting should be seen as a hobby of yours,
something you live for (in game that is, please don't let ms be ur life ok l0l),
so yeah. I want to mention that if anyone has any other tips please feel free
to discuss them in the comments below. Well, there you have it. My merching
guide. Now, I'd like to give credit to some of the notable merchants that I
have personally witnessed in my world and worked with and discussed things
with, people that deserve recognition not only for their merchanting abilities
but also most importantly their wisdom. People that I've encountered across
the years. Please, if I forgot you don't take it offensively. I went on a yearlong vacation this past year and have only recently returned. Here are the
reasons why.
CherryTigers: Because I've been friends with this guy for a long time and I've
watched him progress over the years from a simple level 1 merchant towards
the final level. And I'm truly honored to have had the chance to work with

him not only as a friend but as a merchant partner as well.

InstinctKar: Because he truly is one of my closest friends in MapleStory and
I've known him ever since I was xSilentxCm. And because his motivation and
determination is unquestionable. Cheers laddy.
FM Guild (Some):Because they've been around for along time and they've
got a solid group of merchants in their guild.
Veaf: Cause her knowledge in economics is undeniable and I take her wisdom
with open ears without a shadow of a doubt.
KissMyFinger: Cause even though he's a jack-A he's a damn good merchant
and I'm happy I got to work with him a few times.
TooRich: Cause he's just too F-ing rich.
Gurples: Cause she's got the umph in her and she knows what she's gotta do
to make it.
Mike: Cause you were one of my earliest partners that I discussed ideas with
when I was barely starting off and a good friend as well.
Bear (Wherever you are, roll one for me): Cause you're just too damn funny
to not be on this list. You're also a merchant at heart. Even though you don't
make s***
o and shout )utz 2 ze jamlamnez ! alucya @jenno for bein 2 nub ok ===
Unfortunately my list is much bigger than this, but most of them quit and
have been forgotten. And I'm sure there are plenty more merchants in my
world that I'm sure are great but I unfortunately have not had the chance to
work or speak with. Props goes to you and you all know who you are. These
are only the MERCHANTS that I know (and I've been gone for awhile), so
friends, don't get mad if you're name isn't here okay? Okay.
Enjoy.
~SilentTM~