If you are reading this blog, chances are that you have Friends for Sale installed already, but for those who are still on the fence, here are some reasons why I think you should give it a try:
1.) Virtual currency is fun - Remember how excited you were to get a dark yellow $500 bill in Monopoly? As Greg pointed out in a previous post, there are many ways to make money.
2.) You can give your pets nicknames - Ever want to call someone a funny name? FFS gives you that option. Sometimes being able to give someone a nickname is the main reason I buy someone.
3.) Buying and selling pets is competitive - Sometimes you get a pet that is close to your heart, and a few minutes later, they're gone! Pet wars occur all the time on FFS, and sometimes it can get pretty interesting. If you get into the right vibe, you can make a ton of cash.
4.) It's addicting - This may or may not be a good thing, but if you like getting addicted to social applications, this one is perfect.
5.) Hey, you could actually meet somebody - at a recent web conference, FFS co-founder Siqi Chen said that creating new connections with people on Facebook is one of their goals. If you make friends with someone on FFS then it's not difficult to add them a real friend on Facebook.
So there you go. There are plenty more reasons to add Friends For Sale, but I can't list them all here.
Have fun and install the app!
5 Reasons to add FFS
Basics of Loss
Yesterday, I talked about profits. Today, it is about loss. There are just two ways to lose money in FFS:
*putting a pet up for sale
*setting a pet free
When you put a pet up for sale, they go into a special tab under the "Pets" menu called "On Sale". The pet's value is also whacked down by a third. Repeat: a third. You don't get that back. It's gone. Even worse, people might not even buy your pet at the reduced price. Sure, lots of people monitor the "On Sale" tab looking for great deals on pets, but it is still no guarantee they will be interested in your pet, at that price.
People might recommend putting a pet on sale to "get it moving". Don't fall for that. It's an idiot move. I'll write more about the On Sale tab at some point, and will also talk about selecting pets and why "get it moving" is such a mistaken idea.
And setting a pet free? Their value is knocked down by a third, but they become an orphan. No longer your pet. And you get zero for the pet. All that value... gone. Vaporized.
Okay. That's it. Two ways to lose money. Simple enough... just don't do these things.
Now go have a great weekend!
Pacing
I've got a hojillion and a half of thoughts and posts around FFS. I'll share those, no worry, but... I am going to try and limit myself to one post a day.
See you soon!
Basics of Profit
In Friends For Sale ("FFS"), there are three ways to make money:
* your $2000 allowance every four hours
* when somebody buys one of your pets
* when somebody buys you
The first is the easiest and most direct way to make money. All you have to do is load a page from the FFS app every four hours. The money is not automatic -- you have to log in to get it. If you wait eight hours, then you get just one allowance, not two. The easiest thing to do is bookmark your FFS dashboard or your FFS profile, and hit it when you think about it. Even better, put a bookmark in your phone's web browser so you can get your allowance even when you're not in front of the computer.
A pet's value goes up by 12% every time they are purchased. When you buy a pet, you have to pay this increased value plus a 2.25% sales tax. The previous owner is paid the pet's original value plus 6%. When you account for the sales tax you paid and the bump in value you're paid, it comes out to just under a 4% gain on the money invested into a pet.
When somebody buys you as a pet, then you will earn about 5.25% of the purchase price as profit. It goes right into your pocket. There aren't any tricks that I know about to get yourself bought. Ask your friends to buy you. Get yourself a kickass profile picture to make others want to own you (I'll discuss "good pics" at some point).
In short, making money is about your allowance and owning pets that will be bought away from you.
Playing Styles
In Friends For Sale, there are several ways that you can play the game:
* for profit and pet ownership
* for buying your friends or significant others
* for meeting people for friendship/dating
Each playing style has different goals, and (therefore) different strategies for playing.
I play for profit with end goal, frankly, to build up a group of beautiful women as pets. The strategy thus revolves around how to maximize the money you have, how to use it to generate profit, how to find the right pets to buy, and when to buy them. Over the course of my posts, I'll be detailing various tips and techniques if you want to follow the same playing style.
If you are here to buy (and keep) your friends, then things may be a bit more difficult for you. In particular, people here for profit will take advantage of you. I will explain in detail in another post.
If you are here to meet people, then FFS can be an interesting conversation starter. "How are you, my new pet?" It is certainly more interesting than a random poke on Facebook. I have met a couple people on FFS this way, more as a matter of course rather than as a goal.
Introduction
Welcome to the Sell Your Friends blog!
In this blog, Andrew and I will share our experience with an awesome Facebook application called Friends For Sale. We spend way too much time with this app, trading "pets". There is actually quite a bit of strategy that you can use with this game. Ways to build your cash up in order to buy the pets that you're interested in. We'll try to share those here, along with various anecdotes to explain our point, along with the funny events that have occurred while playing.
Please note that comments are welcome, but moderated. I've seen the discussion forum for the application, and it is filled with spam about "buy my pets!". That isn't welcome here. Discuss our ideas with us! Share your own experiences! But don't spam, please.
Talk to you soon!
