For some, it's stuff like art shops, and they accumulated a little bit by little bit and today it's a lot.
For others, there's a bit of luck involved in that they were "first in time" for some events. Like if you hoarded when the in-game to BTB ratio was like 100,000 in-game bells to 100 BTB, then you got ahead. If you sold villagers when a Marshal sold for 2000 BTB, then again, you did well.
There was a time when if you bought one rare in-game item, it would cost you like 500 BTB. Not 5 BTB. So if you had a shop back in the day, you profited there too.
And of course, when people were trading game codes for BTB, those who could spare IRL cash also got a head start.
And let's be real! If you scored huge during a restock, you can always profit well from that was well.
So, yeah, it's a combination of all those, I think.
- - - Post Merge - - -
By the way, congrats on accumulating 10,000 BTB! I know you've been looking for the yellow house for a long time.