Overpriced pets?

[Kohaku]

Looking at the comments about the Raven dog here -

As a returning player who was used to using the rares list (I've been gone for a few years), I was also stunned to see the placement of the Raven dog on horror's list. But when thinking about store pets, especially older ones, it's actually not too surprising. Raven and Patchwork were released in 2010, 15 years ago now. For all 15 of those years the 2008 pets have been re-released on the 18th, and the store pets have not. Even in small numbers of re-releases, that adds up over time. I'm also assuming the overall player base was smaller in 2010 than it is now, and that a good portion of the Ravens sit on unused accounts.
Raven was quite popular from right when it was released (I'm ancient, I was there), and although it wasn't considered equal worth to list pets the way it is now, it was still pretty widely sought after. I agree with Doser's point about people wanting to hold onto it.

If you look at other petsites/virtual games with time limited real-world currency items, this is unfortunately a pretty common trend. On Gaia, another old site, it's basically not possible to get old premium items. CS is (I think) a smaller community, but imo it's just kind of what happens with popular retired items.

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This only goes for the store pets, though, not the issues mentioned with guides etc.

[Thegoofyfox]

Looking at the comments about the Raven dog here -

As a returning player who was used to using the rares list (I've been gone for a few years), I was also stunned to see the placement of the Raven dog on horror's list. But when thinking about store pets, especially older ones, it's actually not too surprising. Raven and Patchwork were released in 2010, 15 years ago now. For all 15 of those years the 2008 pets have been re-released on the 18th, and the store pets have not. Even in small numbers of re-releases, that adds up over time. I'm also assuming the overall player base was smaller in 2010 than it is now, and that a good portion of the Ravens sit on unused accounts.
Raven was quite popular from right when it was released (I'm ancient, I was there), and although it wasn't considered equal worth to list pets the way it is now, it was still pretty widely sought after. I agree with Doser's point about people wanting to hold onto it.

If you look at other petsites/virtual games with time limited real-world currency items, this is unfortunately a pretty common trend. On Gaia, another old site, it's basically not possible to get old premium items. CS is (I think) a smaller community, but imo it's just kind of what happens with popular retired items.

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This only goes for the store pets, though, not the issues mentioned with guides etc.

I would understand the circulation thing with Ravendog, but it probably IS the most seen 2010/09 Storepet I see for trade(Besides Seal PPS & Sleipner), I rarely see the Cerbs, or Punkdogs, and even Patchwork(And only recently I've started to see Skelebun, but even than that's 3 to 4 people)
Actually, I don't think I've ever even see Eat Me or Drink Me in trade groups except for like once back around when i first started playing. I see the Cerbs dressed up alot, but I actually haven't seen Punkdogs in months besides like 1 popping up every here n there. I see Ravendog alot though, just about 1 in 10 ppl I go to trade has one. I think because it's so easy to find + people want it, the people trading it, want to wait for an overpay, and than that's everyone trading it, and suddenly the most common 2010 Storepet is able to go 1:1 for a Cerb or Eat/Drink Me or Skelebun, which is a lil obsurd considering I rarely ever see those. (To add, I've only ever seen Skelebun once in pound, Punkdogs maybe 3 times, all a different one, and never seen Cerbs in pouns, never seen Eat/Drink Me in pound, but Raven has been in pound atleast 3 times since I've started playing)
(Quite literally, when I see someone with Cerbs or Eat/Drink Me, I say in my head "Oh wow, it's been a hot minute since I've seen one!" because it's probably been months since I last saw one being traded.)

I forgot to even mention Andriods, bcuz I never see em for trade, I've seen them in Pound only

[lil rascal]

^ you see the Ravens a lot because they go for so much compared to their rarity that people are more willing to trade them. You don’t see as many punks, androids etc as they are so undervalued considering their rarity and store pet status (they haven’t had a value increase in 5 years despite being OMGSR for some time now) that people are more likely to lock them up than trade them, unless it’s for other old store pets.

The only way the overvaluation of pets is going to stop is if people start refusing to pay the inflated prices and stop spreading that inflated value as being the pets “worth”. Despite what many think buyers have a lot of power when they work together. If everyone said “I don’t value X that high sorry” and walked away to instead put a seeking post on the swap thread offering a more reasonable swap rather than paying the inflated price they just might see a positive result.

[himarry 124]

^ you see the Ravens a lot because they go for so much compared to their rarity that people are more willing to trade them. You don’t see as many punks, androids etc as they are so undervalued considering their rarity and store pet status (they haven’t had a value increase in 5 years despite being OMGSR for some time now) that people are more likely to lock them up than trade them, unless it’s for other old store pets.

The only way the overvaluation of pets is going to stop is if people start refusing to pay the inflated prices and stop spreading that inflated value as being the pets “worth”. Despite what many think buyers have a lot of power when they work together. If everyone said “I don’t value X that high sorry” and walked away to instead put a seeking post on the swap thread offering a more reasonable swap rather than paying the inflated price they just might see a positive result.

i 100% agree the only problem is people are willing to overpay often in low demand, and those trades are used to justify holding out for high demand. i have spent 15 nons before on a orange cerb but half of it was in orange trees when people realised other people were not willing to pay that much it went right back to 12-13 like what its been hovering at for the last year.

[SorakaHeals]

I've been grossed out seeing EU pets from 2020+ for 8C$
It's absolute cookydooks..

[LionKingdom]

^ you see the Ravens a lot because they go for so much compared to their rarity that people are more willing to trade them. You don’t see as many punks, androids etc as they are so undervalued considering their rarity and store pet status (they haven’t had a value increase in 5 years despite being OMGSR for some time now) that people are more likely to lock them up than trade them, unless it’s for other old store pets.

The only way the overvaluation of pets is going to stop is if people start refusing to pay the inflated prices and stop spreading that inflated value as being the pets “worth”. Despite what many think buyers have a lot of power when they work together. If everyone said “I don’t value X that high sorry” and walked away to instead put a seeking post on the swap thread offering a more reasonable swap rather than paying the inflated price they just might see a positive result.

i 100% agree the only problem is people are willing to overpay often in low demand, and those trades are used to justify holding out for high demand. i have spent 15 nons before on a orange cerb but half of it was in orange trees when people realised other people were not willing to pay that much it went right back to 12-13 like what its been hovering at for the last year.

This ^

Mind you that these people who value inflate know exactly what they're doing, and ARE doing it on purpose
That's why I avoid trading with them, I don't agree with their actions, and I even have some blocked

I just wish people would walk away instead of giving in and overpaying, it's just pixel pets
Saying no to overpays would have such a better impact if people just had the patience to do so

[Ebony Stardust]

This is why I refuse to use any sort of value system other than CS-assigned rarity :/

[Mija24]

Well i think the main part of that is when a pet makes it onto the rares list (some store pets are on the rares list, while others arent)

The rares list is not only marked by the pets rarity but also its value. Its important to note that rarity dosent change that often for animals, even if they are deleted. The problem, rarity aside, is that pets go up in value when people stop trading them

Yes, they can be less rare, but there can also be significantly less in circulation, and circulation is what actually makes the value. For example Raven: No one trades Raven, no one. So finding someone willing to trade it, or willing to trade it down even, is extremely rare, making that pets value even more rare then its marked value.

One of the pets im trying to find is joker, who is 2non RR and 2.5 non TD. When looking, i will find a ton of grinners (which im also seeking) but hardly any Jokers. Even though Grinner is OMGSR, its easier to find because there is more in circulation, and less people holding onto them: hince the 2-3ma vs the 2non gap.

Hopefully this helps you understand value a little bit more

I completely agree with this. I think sadly big point in this, like in exampled Raven dog or other popular pets, BA, Joker, PPS dragon cat is that almost everyone want them. I mean for example Grinner. Not many people want them in their collections. So there is many for trade and it is easy to trade them like ur fruits etc. But almost everyone want Raven dog and because everyone want the pet in their collection the value skyrockets.

[darkspawn]

I understand that many users are upset about inflation/value pushing but there is no way to stop it from happening. The sudden increase in inflation/value pushing can be directly attributed to demand. If the community did not desire these pets so much, then users with these pets wouldn't have anyone to trade their overpriced pets to. Unfortunately, the only thing you and I can do is to not feed the demand and rather wait patiently for a good deal! There just isn't enough of these pets for EVERY single player to have them, and users will use that to their own advantage because quite frankly it is hard to gain any sort of fodder! Value pushing is an easy way to gain trade fodder quickly.

And I think that is one of the core issues really. It is hard to gain trade fodder of any value, forcing players to be fairly conservative with what they will trade for. There isn't really much anyone can do about it. If you think that the pet is overpriced, don't bother trading for it! If enough people think the same way as you then the price will probably go down. Please don't get discouraged guys!

[angst]

I always love reading people's thoughts with discussions like this, thanks y'all for keeping this place lively and engaged.

Soooooo I've been back in the site since December 2022 (the only reason I became active again was because I received the UR Holo/Rainbow Dog for Dec 18th and was like... oh, maybe there's hope I could start trading again? And here we are haha.

Since then though I've developed a tried and true strategy for me personally lmao when it comes to high value trades:

I ask my good friends and my partner in my IRL life what they think of the trade. LOL.

I have rejected pets because I'm like, nah, my friend didn't like it. I know this sounds really silly - but it actually helps me see through my rarity and demand glasses so much! My friends in the real world have helped me to refine my own tastes and really focus on what *I* like and want my collection to be. Not what the CS economy dictates. Do they make fun of me for being an adult who obsessively plays a pet collecting browser game from the early 2000s? Absolutely. It's hilarious. Now actually some of my friends are like "how many nons is that?" when I talk to them, LOL - they've caught on by hearing me say it a million times.

Anyway, I don't know; it's just taught me how silly demand is. Like, I gotta be real: I just had a raven, and I thought oh wow, I finally got this dream pet! I'm so hip and cool. And then I showed it to some friends who'd never seen it and they were all, "but didn't you used to have a cerberus [they love the Cerberus and the UR fox. They call my marionette "Jesus wolf."]? Or [insert random rare or sometimes even uncommon pet]? Isn't that cooler than this?" it made me take a step back and view the raven in a different light. I realized I'd chased her for reasons that weren't really my own - I love her and would love to have her one day! but there are other pets I wanted more.

It's also so humbling to watch my partner look over a trade with some of the rarest or most popular pets on the site and see them fall in love with a random common pet in the trade or something. Those moments have helped me trade so much. I don't trade for profit - if I have a double of a popular pet, I will trade and likely lower than its hyped up value; I simply don't need it. I remove popular pets from my WL once I've received them. I have no urge to collect pets only because they're popular or valuable anymore - I want a collection I'm personally proud of instead.

Sorry that was a / long rant / and we definitely need more systemic change lmao! We gotta fix this! But in the meantime this is what I do with the system we've got and it helps me.