SECTION 2-1: TRANSACTIONS WITH NPCS
Overview
First of all, don't be fooled: you don't trade with NPCs as such. You buy from/sell to a shop. The shopkeeper is in the shop, but, as far as trading goes, is just for the look of it.
A shop is a building with a section behind bars. The only way to get from one side of the bars to the other is through a portal. Behind those bars the floor is strewn, literally strewn, with items for sale. Each item has a little emblem (![[Unpaid]](./unpaid.png)
) which shows that you have not yet paid for it.
Whether you're buying or selling, first step through the portal so that you're behind the bars too.
Sometimes players find themselves trapped in the shop, unable to step through the portal. If this happens, don't panic! You won't run out of air. You are probably experiencing a temporary setback.
Details
Buying
Examine an item for sale to find out its price.
Do you want that one? Are you sure? Okay, get it.
Now step through the portal to buy it and leave the shop.
Selling
Examine an item in your inventory to see what the shop will pay you for it. Basically, you will get 20%, give or take depending on your charisma, of the examine value of any item.
If the price suits, drop the item to sell it.
![[NOTE]](../smackys_guides/note.png)
A sold item does not pass into the shop's stock for resale. It is gone forever.
Now step through the portal to leave the shop.
Shopping shenanigans
- Shop blockade
![[Shop blockade]](./shopblockade.png)
Are there players standing on all the tiles adjacent to the portal on the other side of the bars?
If there are, you can't get out because you need a free tile to which to teleport. Try asking them nicely to step aside and they probably will.
But beware, sometimes players do this deliberately because they think it's funny. And lets face it, it is. The final word is, you can't leave the shop until they move.
You can of course be blocked from entering the shop in much the same way. The precise logistics of this are left as an exercise for the reader.
- Shoplifting
Do you have an unpaid item in your inventory but don't have enough cash to pay for it? Stay calm and follow these three easy steps:
- STEP ONE: Check you inventory
See an unpaid item? If yes, drop it. If no:
- STEP TWO: Look in any bags or other containers you're carrying
See an unpaid item? If yes, drop it. If no:
- STEP THREE: Shout for help
Actually, the problem should have been resolved by either step one or step two, but if not there are always other players skilled in the art of shopper extraction.