Is Reselling Really Worth It?

I have been playing this game for at least 6-7 years, but I only started reselling 5 years ago, and started the REAL reselling last 2 years ago. Now, I have been through ups and downs. I got scammed, ripped off and lost a lot of profit (probably 100k+ if totaled). Yet despite of that, I am still here and I am still reselling to this day. It made me wonder why I didn't stop, and why I kept reselling.

From my personal experience, it takes a lot of hours to get a good deal. And I know I spent too much time in Trading Post when I spent it with my friends or do something productive (like my school assignments and projects). I asked myself, was the time I spent worth it? Then I realized that I'm not alone, that other people like me, resellers, have also suffered through almost the same experiences as me.

I couldn't stand up for all resellers in this game so I went to Trading Post and conducted a mini interview with 18 resellers. I asked them if the time they spent on reselling was worth it. Among the 18, 5 people said yes. They said it was worth the hours of shouting and yelling in trading post because they earn a lot of profit. Another said that the hours spent in trading post also gives experience and makes you knowledgeable about the prices of the items in market.

6 of the 18 said it wasn't worth it. Most of them mentioned of the game having less players = less people going to sell (most people are buying), which is currently really affecting the game’s market. Trading Post is usually dead, especially around 1am-12pm SWT. It is hard to resell because your patience gets crushed when you see most people who are in Trading Post around that time are just there to kill time. They also mentioned of lowballing and deal stealing as one of the causes, which is a very big problem in reselling.

The rest of the 7 were not sure. One player told me it could also become a way of making friends. Another reminded me that reselling is a gamble. In every deal you make you could either earn or lose.

But despite being scammed and ripped off a lot of times, people still resell; why? Most people said there is nothing much interesting left to do in Smallworlds but resell, spend your time in Trading Post and make virtual currency money. And I also believe the same, as I feel like Smallworlds has no longer have that appeal it used to have back then. But I also think that one of the appeal of reselling is the thrill of not knowing what will happen. It's a gamble and which no one can predict (unless you cheat). You can't always lose, but you can't always earn. It has suspense in it, like when you are in a rollercoaster ride, when you try to be ready for the curves and drops.

And for my question, my answer is yes. Yes, my time was well spent. Yes, I earned a lot of virtual currency profits. And yes, I have my own regrets, but what I also earned was knowledge. I learned how to be patient, how to get up and strive forward again, how to aim for a goal and complete it, and how hard work can pay off everything you've been through. I basically learned life advice and virtue through reselling. I imagine if reselling in this game is hard, how hard it must be to make a living in the real world?

Of course, we must not forget that this is only a game and whatever we earn in this game is nothing in the real world. However, what I really learned through this little interview is that there is a possibility we can apply our experiences in this game into the real world in the future.

- s a v a n n a h xx