Why do people sell things for TBT?

[Foreverfox]

I don't think anyone is forcing you to trade using TBT :0 Honestly if it's not your thing you can simply ignore it or try trading on other sites that suite your trading preferences better.

Collectibles might not be a thing for you but many people like customizing their sidebars and there's absolutely nothing wrong with that! Saying "this is useless" to someone who genuinely enjoys something is kinda hurtful.

@skarmoury your lineup is amazing!

 

[Halloqueen]

As others have said, it all comes down to personal preference. You have no interest in collectibles and that's fine, but it seems like you're also missing the forest for the trees. They're useful for more than collectible purchases. You've mentioned art commissions, but there's also Animal Crossing items and villagers, and in the past I've seen Pokémon shops and threads about Flight Rising in the TBT Marketplace. You can spend TBT on being able to use a gif as an animated avatar if you so desired, or changing the user title color as you have, or to change your username entirely if you felt you wanted to.

The collectibles currently in the shop are mostly sold out because TBT is its own economy and the scarcity of certain items keeps the economy moving smoothly. As Mick said, they are occasionally restocked as well.

I can understand frustration with the situation, as I am more often than not fairly TBT poor myself, but if you want to you can use this forum's unique currency situation to your advantage. TBT has events throughout the year, the most recent one being The Bell Tree Fair 2020 and the next one coming in October for Halloween. If you participate in the events and contests, you can earn an event-specific currency (the Fair had Tickets, Bunny Day/Easter usually has Eggs) that can be put toward collectibles which you can acquire and then sell to people that do care about the collectibles. You'll want to keep an eye on what people find desirable, but if you purchase a highly desirable collectible with that event currency (as in, free, aside from whatever effort and energy you put into the events) and sell it, you can earn thousands of TBT in a very short amount of time. Then you have a ton of expendable currency that you can put toward as much art, items, or whatever else it is that you would want as you can afford. It also frees you up to be able to spend the IGB and NMT you prefer on other sites with more interest in them, like Nookazon. It's really a win-win.

TBT can be a benefit to you rather than a burden if you allow it to be, it will just take some effort to get the ball rolling. I've only ever seen TBT as beneficial and, in time, you may see it that way as well. Or not, can't please all of the people all of the time. I think it's worth a shot to try though.

 

[mocha.]

If you feel they're 'useless' then I'm happy to accept a donation from you lol!

If you don't feel they're beneficial to your forum activity then you can just ignore/hoard them and pretend they're not there, but for many people they're an easily accessible form of currency for most forum users, and can be traded for items/villagers/art etc. It's a fun incentive to get people interacting in the forums. The 'pictures' are artwork, and artwork has value. I feel art in general is a huge part of this site, it's the main reason why I use it so frequently. Collectibles look cute and add a certain 'aesthetic' to your posts, which is why people trade and collect TBT so they're able to form certain line-ups.

I guess what I'm saying is you can have your own opinion about things, but don't write them off as useless just because from your ~ subjective ~ viewpoint you don't see them as beneficial. I think if this year has taught us anything it's to enjoy the little things! ♡

 

[Alienfish]

As mocha. said, you're very welcome to donate here as well since I'm saving up for an useless picture

We've got free speech but no need to be that negative; what's nothing for you might be a lot for others and involving positive experiences. I've been on and off this site and participated in many fairs and events and bought/sold collectibles and while it has been frustrating I've made mostly what I want and got great connections. Just ignore that part if it's not for you. There are definitely forum parts I don't dabble into (like Mafia etc.) because it's not for me (and due to reasons I can't play it) but I don't go talk trash about that, it definitely seems fun and maybe I will understand it one day.

 

[samsquared]

your perspective is interesting because collecting in animal crossing is also pointless.. we just collect furniture to display in our house & show off to our friends & in some games, our villagers, and the HHA. There's no real reason to design up your house or in NH to decorate your island. we just do it cuz it's fun!
i respect your feelings about it being pointless- as everyone else has said it's entirely optional!
and altho mocha and sheilaa beat me to it............ a small loan of a hundred tbt could do a lot for me partner ✌ if u dont like it & u don't wanna use it, consider contributing to the cause the cause.... being me getting another star fragment

 

[mayortiffany]

OP, I see where you're coming from. TBT doesn't hold a lot of value for me either.

I have a few collectibles, but I'm not particularly keen on collectible trading. I buy what I like but ignore what I don't - though I am trying to learn more about how the collectible market works because the economics of it is interesting to me. I don't purchase a lot of art, and I no longer am doing a lot of trading as my interest in the game has waned in recent months. You can look at my TBT total as proof of how little I spend!

One of the things about TBT that in my opinion, lessens its value, is that it can only be spent here. If for some unforeseen circumstance, the forum were to shut down tomorrow, we'd no longer have access to the currency. We can't use it to trade on other sites. One of its most attractive uses, collectibles, is exclusive to this site and to this site only.

In addition, the market depends on people valuing TBT. If for some reason interest in collectibles dried up or the base of people looking to purchase collectibles/art declined, I suspect that the value of TBT would as well. Part of the reason why people trade for it is because they wish to use it, and because they see it as a currency that holds value. It could very well be that NMTs become the new 'hot' currency as they were at the beginning of the game as time goes on, or that another currency increases in value, or that the mechanics for earning TBT change such that it becomes inflated/deflated.

But! The relative uselessness of TBT can be a huge boon if you're more interested in NMT or bells! A lot of shops will take TBT as payment or convert your TBT into NMT or bells. Not sure if they're still around at the same prices, but I remember seeing shops that would print you 100 NMT for your 100 TBT.

In this way, TBT is actually very useful because there are ways for you to get rid of this currency and convert it into something you'd value more. If you compare prices from TBT and from other sites, you'll find that in some respects, TBT offers some of the cheapest trading prices around. There are very favourable deals to be had if you convert your TBT and use the profits to trade for things you would prefer.

 

[Dim]

Not like we're selling our car for tbt lol

 

[Chris]

Not like we're selling our car for tbt lol

If anyone would like to sell their car in exchange for forum bells please DM me.

 

[Mick]

If anyone would like to sell their car in exchange for forum bells please DM me.

I see what you're doing. You can't use your tbt printer for that! I know it goes brrr but you're going to ruin the economy.

How many star fragments, celeste plushies and pokeballs for my shiny blue car? Only about 90k miles on it

 

[Antonio]

If anyone would like to sell their car in exchange for forum bells please DM me.

How's 80k?

 

[Millysaurusrexjr]

At least NMT are useful and so are in game bells. ;;

Using tbt to buy nmt and IGB seems pointless to me because using tbt is currency to buy little pictures is useless?

So we have established that NMT and IGB are useful. And we have established that you can use TBT to buy IGB and NMT. Therefore, TBT is useful. There's no need to mention collectibles, as the TBT currency is meant for more than just the collectibles, and you don't have to buy collectibles

 

[Lynnatchii]

Using tbt to buy nmt and IGB seems pointless to me because using tbt is currency to buy little pictures is useless?

It’s even more annoying cos tbt is hard to get naturally (posting seems the only viable way).

NMT and IGB can be earned easily and more fun.
And also, they’re useful.

Again, the only positive I’ve seen is buying real art.

I hate being forced to use a forum currency that means nothing to trade in this game that has its own currencies.

You said that nmt and igb are easy to get right? Therefore we can easily hoard them. It's not useful if we already have the stuff we need. It's a shame millions of bells being neglected at the ABD. And if we have so many nmt, our storage can be full because of it. Nah I'm not forcing you, don't worry. It's kinda hurtful saying that to the person who likes collectibles. Also, nmt and igb bells are virtual currency too, and it kinda useless too.

 

[LambdaDelta]

igb and nmt are also easily hackable, unlike tbt

so tbt holds more value as a "safer" currency

Post automatically merged: Sep 30, 2020

also, the entire core concept of animal crossing that the series has embraced is built around utterly pointless design decisions, so complaining about collectibles being pointless pictures is pretty :/

 

[xTurnip]

It's an easy currency to get used by many people. Also some people really enjoy purchasing art off of here from the many talented people that frequent the website.

 

[Alienfish]

If anyone would like to sell their car in exchange for forum bells please DM me.

I don't think you should go against the forum rules as a mod lol

 

[FireNinja1]

A currency cannot be called useless if there are people who will accept it, by definition.

Using tbt to buy nmt and IGB seems pointless to me because using tbt is currency to buy little pictures is useless?

Using NMT and IGB seems to pointless to me, because in-game items, including pictures and posters of villagers and NPCs, are useless.

 

[Corrie]

You said that nmt and igb are easy to get right? Therefore we can easily hoard them. It's not useful if we already have the stuff we need. It's a shame millions of bells being neglected at the ABD. And if we have so many nmt, our storage can be full because of it. Nah I'm not forcing you, don't worry. It's kinda hurtful saying that to the person who likes collectibles. Also, nmt and igb bells are virtual currency too, and it kinda useless too.

I remember everyone wanting igb/nmt when the game first came out. Now that it's been out for awhile, most of us have lots of those so the want is low. TBT always reigns supreme!