@Me1620, if the DD discount on a set is 55%, and the discount on an item in that set is only 39%, I just want to skip that item and stick with things from the set that are marked down at least 55%. Right?
I received a message via the Simdex website a few days ago to let me know the "Screen 1 Door" (from Le Cinema Plumbob) is missing in the Simdex PDF. Don't know how I missed that one!
I won't be releasing a new version of the PDF for a while (until I get quite a few fixes together), but I'll add it to my developer version right away so that it is included in any future updates. For those of you who use the Simdex, if the missing item bothers you I'd suggest adding a comment to the page to remind yourself.
I wasn't able to email the secret sender, but I wanted to thank them for the feedback! It can be hard to get it all right, so I really appreciate their (and everyone else's) input.
Especially to our new members, good luck DD stalking!
a.k.a. Erin
Check out The Simdex—my PDF guide to all of the Sims 3 Store content (last updated September 2015)
@kellycot1 I knew your Simdex existed, but I hadn't looked at it yet. WOW! Not that it's practical for me, but I just want to print it up and have a physical catalog of everything. Just quickly browsing through I'm noticing pieces I didn't know existed, and other pieces that I haven't used yet because the tiny icon in the Buy/Build catalog in game don't do them justice. This is going to inspire some interesting builds. Thank you.
Two days?! I currently have approximately four dozen alarms set as far out as March! Which was why when the DD shift occurred I freaked out. It meant a lot of adjustments in my calendar.
Right now, @JoeJude16, I only look maybe a week into the Current Rotation. And I've only set up alarms for myself a maximum of four days in advance.
@Me1620, if the DD discount on a set is 55%, and the discount on an item in that set is only 39%, I just want to skip that item and stick with things from the set that are marked down at least 55%. Right?
@JoeJude16 - I had thought that was the rule of thumb and this tip is on the spreadsheets. I thought though I would work through an example to see the math. I apologize as my calculations show I have been wrong to not buy a single item if the discount is less than the discount for the set. I just worked through some examples using Deal 680 for the Alvar Eero Compilation Trash Compactor and Deal 99 for Mid Century Modern Kitchen Marvels as the item is 39% off and the set is 55% off.
Scenario 1 - Buy an item for 25 sp , deal 680 for 55 sp and then wait for deal 99
Scenario 2 - Buy an item for 25 sp, and then wait for deal 99
Scenario 3 - Buy deal 680 for 55 sp and then wait for deal 99
Disclaimer: The above amounts are estimates as I am never quite certain how and when rounding is done for CYS calculations
So for this case, buying the item for a lower discount than the DD is worthwhile.
Further to the examples above, deal 870 is a 25 sp item from Mid Century for 10 sp.
I will remove this tip from the spreadsheets.
ETA - I went back through some of the old DD threads and found this. I will be adding this to the first page. According to Shogo_Yahagi's tip #3, you should buy any item over 10%.
Shogo_Yahagi's No-Math Guide to CYS
If a set allows CYS credit:
1) If you don't own anything from the set, always buy the cheapest item in the set before buying the set, even if you have to pay full price.
2) Never buy an item with less than a 10% discount, unless it is the first item you buy.
3) Always buy an item with more than a 10% discount, even if the set is going to go on sale later for a better discount.
As long as you know those three rules, you can always save SP, even if you have no idea about the math under the hood that makes them work.
@JoeJude16 – thanks so much for the kind words! I agree that it's not practical to print everything up—that was how this project started, but that was back when I owned very, very few sets! I quickly realised I needed something versatile that I could search through during build sessions and that I could use when reinstalling content (or installing only certain themed sets for certain worlds). Eventually, it turned into this!
I always found the thumbnails to be frustrating when building, so this helps to address that problem and let me "see" my content without searching endlessly through the Build/Buy catalogue. I find it especially useful for tracking down items in Miscellaneous Decor. I'm very slowly working on comment-like annotations for each item that tells you where exactly it can be found in the Build/Buy/CAS catalogues, but that will be completed in the distant future when life is less busy for me.
I still hope to one day expand it even further so that it somehow includes in-game images as well (so you can really see how it looks in-game), but I'm not sure what that kind of catalogue would look like (never mind how to do it)! Always interested in suggestions though.
Anyway, thank you for checking it out!
a.k.a. Erin
Check out The Simdex—my PDF guide to all of the Sims 3 Store content (last updated September 2015)
Hi @kellycot1 ! I wanted to thank you for putting together the simdex, so far it has been really helpful for me. I especially like the individual items (as in not part of set) list as otherwise those items would be hard to track.
For input I would like to ad that there is something going on with the chechboxes in the tiki set. If you check full tiki, in my version some other tiki-box gets unchecked. Or maybe I just work with an old version of the simdex, but just so you know!
Oy! The forums finally stopped loading to a scammy-looking search engine for me, but now my SimPoints bank appears to be broken. No matter how many "paying" ads I watch, my SP balance never grows. And I've tried going incognito and clearing my cache. Anyone else having this problem?
@Hoplass – thanks for saying such nice things about the Simdex! It's really rewarding to hear that people find it helpful. I'm glad I shared it eventually and didn't keep it as one of my secret tools (for Sim-world domination, of course).
As for the Tiki set, I hadn't previously noticed the problem, but I've been able to replicate it and fix the issue in my version. It looks like I included the wrong checkbox in the Table of Contents. Whoops! Thanks so much for pointing that out. It's impossible to get it all right in such a big document, but I want it to be the very best it can be! Again, I won't be releasing a new version for a while, but whenever I do, the Full Tiki checkbox should be fixed—thanks to you!
a.k.a. Erin
Check out The Simdex—my PDF guide to all of the Sims 3 Store content (last updated September 2015)
Oy! The forums finally stopped loading to a scammy-looking search engine for me, but now my SimPoints bank appears to be broken. No matter how many "paying" ads I watch, my SP balance never grows. And I've tried going incognito and clearing my cache. Anyone else having this problem?
I am having the same problem. I switched web browsers and still was not getting any credit for ads. While the points are usually credited immediately, I do remember the odd time having to wait hours before the points were added. Also, for the last few days, I am not able to complete a gifting transaction. My Purchase History page is taking a longer time than normal to load.
I am having the same problem. I switched web browsers and still was not getting any credit for ads. While the points are usually credited immediately, I do remember the odd time having to wait hours before the points were added.
@Me1620, thank you for letting me know! Now let me ask, are you still playing the ads anyway in hopes that the SP will be added later?
So I've spent hours learning how to calculate the Complete Your Set discount, and how to combine that with the Daily Deal. Now I'm fairly confident that I've got that down as I've double-checked my answers with one of the calculators that is provided on the front page of this thread. However, I'm totally lost when it comes to applying this to a Compilation. And I have no idea what I should be purchasing to get the best possible price or how to tell if the Store is going to give me a Green Download button when the entire compilation itself is not a Daily Deal.
I'm working out the logistics for the Best of 2012 Compilation, and these are the numbers:
DD #287 India Inspirations Clothing and Hairstyles
260 with CYS, originally 1200
DD #489 Itadakimasu! Japanese Inspired Dining
13 with CYS, originally 1265
DD #805 Lord Vladamir's Magic Cauldron
162, originally 461
DD #900 India Inspirations Collection
FREE with CYS after DD #287, originally 1783
DD #952 Stones Throw Greenhouse
760, originally 1710
DD #748 More Magic!
433 with CYS after DD #805, originally 1782
The bolded sets are the four that are in the compilation; #287 is a subset of the India Inspirations Collection, while #805 is an item from More Magic! However, if I understand the advice at the beginning of this thread correctly, the value of these sets isn't necessarily relevant. Instead, what really matters, is the total value of the items in each set--of which it's impossible to know the Stones Throw Greenhouse. So the front page suggests that I should buy the venues first. However, that means missing out on three deals through this current cycle of the DD rotation. I'd only be able to pick up Itadakimasu! Japanese Inspired Dining and Stones Throw Greenhouse, while missing out on India Inspirations Clothing and Hairstyles for 260, its companion India Inspirations Collection for FREE, and Lord Vladamir's Magic Cauldron (which brings the price of More Magic! way down) for the mere chance that maybe the Store will give me a Green Download button. And I really don't know if those two venues are the right items to purchase in order to get the biggest discount.
If this sounds messy and conflicted--that's because that's how it is in my mind...
Nope, hasn't worked since the reset a couple weeks ago. I spoke to one of the customer service reps who logged into my account and checked it from their end and it didn't work either. They said it was being worked on, but I have my doubts given how long it's been.
Oy! The forums finally stopped loading to a scammy-looking search engine for me, but now my SimPoints bank appears to be broken. No matter how many "paying" ads I watch, my SP balance never grows. And I've tried going incognito and clearing my cache. Anyone else having this problem?
Yeah, I've watched about 5 videos and got no SP this morning. I'll periodically check my balance throughout the day.
A question about watching ads... where are they? I checked almost everything and can't see any blue buttons;((
@teaa5 - Have you read this post on page 1 about the ad points. The blue box will pop up in the left navigation frame on any of the web pages in the Store section of the Sims 3 website. It appears in the space between the link to My Page Goodies and the Make Me an Offer link. The number of ads that will appear depends on your location and the number of sponsors in your area. After clicking on a page, leave the page open for about 20 seconds (you can move to another tab).
Browse for the ads on all pages under the Store section. That includes the main store page, wishlist pages, gifting pages, purchase history, Best Sellers, Complete Your Set, Make Me an Offer, Sale page, Daily Deal, the Shopping Cart, the content pages, and My Page Goodies.
Try different browsers and make sure you have any ad blockers turned off.
When I don't see ads when I am logged in I have found this tip by frozenorangejuic to work.
Another tip for getting more ads is to use your browser in "incognito" mode (for chrome, not sure what it's called for other browsers). Or to clear your... cookies? (I think that's right) often. I'm not sure why it works but I've often found that in my regular browser I get no ads but then I open an incognito tab and there they are.
Open the private browser window but don't login until the ad appears. Click on the ad and sometimes the ad button will stay.
Just wanted to say thank you for this thread;)))) Thank you for the tip about 2000 free points;))) Now I only need 426 and I can finally have Aurora Skies;)) I still need to read the thread thoroughly but big hugs and thank you for creating it;))
Did you know that worlds sometimes come up on the MMAO machine for a bit of a discount? I see you have the points for the standard world. But did you know if you want the Gold version of a world, it is sometime cheaper to buy the standard world and the venue separately. That is the case for Aurora Skies. You save 342 sp buying the standard world and venue separately.
Thank you for all the info:))))))))))))))))))) With ads i have a problem.I found the button and ad blocker is off but still it shows error or no ads all the time;( just black screen or no new ads to watch info:( I mean when I click on the button...
I am having the same problem. I switched web browsers and still was not getting any credit for ads. While the points are usually credited immediately, I do remember the odd time having to wait hours before the points were added.
@Me1620, thank you for letting me know! Now let me ask, are you still playing the ads anyway in hopes that the SP will be added later?
I've just tried to farm some points too and the total is not going up. Have your points added on in the mean time yet?
Oy! The forums finally stopped loading to a scammy-looking search engine for me, but now my SimPoints bank appears to be broken. No matter how many "paying" ads I watch, my SP balance never grows. And I've tried going incognito and clearing my cache. Anyone else having this problem?
Yup, suspected this yesterday and just tested it. This is getting me very worried. Unless of course the consequence is them making everything free. At least I have the stuff I REALLY wanted. Several things left that I would absolutely use, but nothing that would make me too disappointed. Well, mid-century stuff. But I'd pay for that if I had to.
I'm having the same problem with simpoints for ads. I noticed it yesterday, but the site says it can take up to 24 hours for the points to show up. Well, it's been more than 24 hours, and the points haven't shown up.
Just wanted to say thank you @kellycot1 for the simdex. I have found it to be among the invaluable tools that are helping me to own the store. ^_^ And I got Waning Moon for 25 sp so Yays!!
As of 12-18-16 I joined the Own The Store Club! Now I get to pay it forward! Thanks to everyone who helped me get here. You guys are amazing. ^_^ Love to you all!!
Looking to make the most of your Simpoints and maybe make some great friends along the way?
Check out the DD Rotation Thread for tips, tricks, tools and the whole DD rotation schedule.
Need a little help owning the store or want to help others? Head over to The Gifting Directory!
Comments
I own the store as of 1+7/17/17
My Studio
My build thread in the Creative Corner
I received a message via the Simdex website a few days ago to let me know the "Screen 1 Door" (from Le Cinema Plumbob) is missing in the Simdex PDF. Don't know how I missed that one!
I won't be releasing a new version of the PDF for a while (until I get quite a few fixes together), but I'll add it to my developer version right away so that it is included in any future updates. For those of you who use the Simdex, if the missing item bothers you I'd suggest adding a comment to the page to remind yourself.
I wasn't able to email the secret sender, but I wanted to thank them for the feedback! It can be hard to get it all right, so I really appreciate their (and everyone else's) input.
Especially to our new members, good luck DD stalking!
Check out The Simdex—my PDF guide to all of the Sims 3 Store content (last updated September 2015)
I own the store as of 1+7/17/17
My Studio
My build thread in the Creative Corner
Right now, @JoeJude16, I only look maybe a week into the Current Rotation. And I've only set up alarms for myself a maximum of four days in advance.
It's still broken for me. And I miss it!
If you aren't already stalking the Daily Deals, you should be! Visit these threads to get Store items and Sets with the greatest possible discounts:
DAILY DEAL (DD) ROTATION AND SALES HELP
CASCADES & DAILY DEALS- GETTING THE BEST BANG FOR YOUR SP
FREE ITEMS FROM "THE SIMS 3 STORE"
@Dame_Judi_Dench, that's what brought me here! Glad you stumbled across this thread on your journey as well!
If you aren't already stalking the Daily Deals, you should be! Visit these threads to get Store items and Sets with the greatest possible discounts:
DAILY DEAL (DD) ROTATION AND SALES HELP
CASCADES & DAILY DEALS- GETTING THE BEST BANG FOR YOUR SP
FREE ITEMS FROM "THE SIMS 3 STORE"
@JoeJude16 - I had thought that was the rule of thumb and this tip is on the spreadsheets. I thought though I would work through an example to see the math. I apologize as my calculations show I have been wrong to not buy a single item if the discount is less than the discount for the set. I just worked through some examples using Deal 680 for the Alvar Eero Compilation Trash Compactor and Deal 99 for Mid Century Modern Kitchen Marvels as the item is 39% off and the set is 55% off.
Scenario 1 - Buy an item for 25 sp , deal 680 for 55 sp and then wait for deal 99
Scenario 2 - Buy an item for 25 sp, and then wait for deal 99
Scenario 3 - Buy deal 680 for 55 sp and then wait for deal 99
Scenario 1- You spend 25 + 55 + 166 = 246 sp
Scenario 2 - You spend 25 + 251 = 276 sp
Scenario 3 - You spend 55 + 200 = 255 sp
Disclaimer: The above amounts are estimates as I am never quite certain how and when rounding is done for CYS calculations
So for this case, buying the item for a lower discount than the DD is worthwhile.
Further to the examples above, deal 870 is a 25 sp item from Mid Century for 10 sp.
I will remove this tip from the spreadsheets.
ETA - I went back through some of the old DD threads and found this. I will be adding this to the first page. According to Shogo_Yahagi's tip #3, you should buy any item over 10%.
Shogo_Yahagi's No-Math Guide to CYS
If a set allows CYS credit:
1) If you don't own anything from the set, always buy the cheapest item in the set before buying the set, even if you have to pay full price.
2) Never buy an item with less than a 10% discount, unless it is the first item you buy.
3) Always buy an item with more than a 10% discount, even if the set is going to go on sale later for a better discount.
As long as you know those three rules, you can always save SP, even if you have no idea about the math under the hood that makes them work.
To help you organize your stalking of the Daily Deal, please join us on the Daily Deal Rotation and Sales Help thread and please view the DD Spreadsheet
I always found the thumbnails to be frustrating when building, so this helps to address that problem and let me "see" my content without searching endlessly through the Build/Buy catalogue. I find it especially useful for tracking down items in Miscellaneous Decor. I'm very slowly working on comment-like annotations for each item that tells you where exactly it can be found in the Build/Buy/CAS catalogues, but that will be completed in the distant future when life is less busy for me.
I still hope to one day expand it even further so that it somehow includes in-game images as well (so you can really see how it looks in-game), but I'm not sure what that kind of catalogue would look like (never mind how to do it)! Always interested in suggestions though.
Anyway, thank you for checking it out!
Check out The Simdex—my PDF guide to all of the Sims 3 Store content (last updated September 2015)
@JoeJude16 - Instead of printing the Simdex, I have loaded it on my laptop and have the game running on my desktop. It is an excellent resource.
To help you organize your stalking of the Daily Deal, please join us on the Daily Deal Rotation and Sales Help thread and please view the DD Spreadsheet
For input I would like to ad that there is something going on with the chechboxes in the tiki set. If you check full tiki, in my version some other tiki-box gets unchecked. Or maybe I just work with an old version of the simdex, but just so you know!
My top 5
If you aren't already stalking the Daily Deals, you should be! Visit these threads to get Store items and Sets with the greatest possible discounts:
DAILY DEAL (DD) ROTATION AND SALES HELP
CASCADES & DAILY DEALS- GETTING THE BEST BANG FOR YOUR SP
FREE ITEMS FROM "THE SIMS 3 STORE"
@Hoplass – thanks for saying such nice things about the Simdex! It's really rewarding to hear that people find it helpful. I'm glad I shared it eventually and didn't keep it as one of my secret tools (for Sim-world domination, of course).
As for the Tiki set, I hadn't previously noticed the problem, but I've been able to replicate it and fix the issue in my version. It looks like I included the wrong checkbox in the Table of Contents. Whoops! Thanks so much for pointing that out. It's impossible to get it all right in such a big document, but I want it to be the very best it can be! Again, I won't be releasing a new version for a while, but whenever I do, the Full Tiki checkbox should be fixed—thanks to you!
Check out The Simdex—my PDF guide to all of the Sims 3 Store content (last updated September 2015)
I am having the same problem. I switched web browsers and still was not getting any credit for ads. While the points are usually credited immediately, I do remember the odd time having to wait hours before the points were added. Also, for the last few days, I am not able to complete a gifting transaction. My Purchase History page is taking a longer time than normal to load.
To help you organize your stalking of the Daily Deal, please join us on the Daily Deal Rotation and Sales Help thread and please view the DD Spreadsheet
@Me1620, thank you for letting me know! Now let me ask, are you still playing the ads anyway in hopes that the SP will be added later?
If you aren't already stalking the Daily Deals, you should be! Visit these threads to get Store items and Sets with the greatest possible discounts:
DAILY DEAL (DD) ROTATION AND SALES HELP
CASCADES & DAILY DEALS- GETTING THE BEST BANG FOR YOUR SP
FREE ITEMS FROM "THE SIMS 3 STORE"
I'm working out the logistics for the Best of 2012 Compilation, and these are the numbers:
DD #287 India Inspirations Clothing and Hairstyles
260 with CYS, originally 1200
DD #489 Itadakimasu! Japanese Inspired Dining
13 with CYS, originally 1265
DD #805 Lord Vladamir's Magic Cauldron
162, originally 461
DD #900 India Inspirations Collection
FREE with CYS after DD #287, originally 1783
DD #952 Stones Throw Greenhouse
760, originally 1710
DD #748 More Magic!
433 with CYS after DD #805, originally 1782
The bolded sets are the four that are in the compilation; #287 is a subset of the India Inspirations Collection, while #805 is an item from More Magic! However, if I understand the advice at the beginning of this thread correctly, the value of these sets isn't necessarily relevant. Instead, what really matters, is the total value of the items in each set--of which it's impossible to know the Stones Throw Greenhouse. So the front page suggests that I should buy the venues first. However, that means missing out on three deals through this current cycle of the DD rotation. I'd only be able to pick up Itadakimasu! Japanese Inspired Dining and Stones Throw Greenhouse, while missing out on India Inspirations Clothing and Hairstyles for 260, its companion India Inspirations Collection for FREE, and Lord Vladamir's Magic Cauldron (which brings the price of More Magic! way down) for the mere chance that maybe the Store will give me a Green Download button. And I really don't know if those two venues are the right items to purchase in order to get the biggest discount.
If this sounds messy and conflicted--that's because that's how it is in my mind...
Help!
If you aren't already stalking the Daily Deals, you should be! Visit these threads to get Store items and Sets with the greatest possible discounts:
DAILY DEAL (DD) ROTATION AND SALES HELP
CASCADES & DAILY DEALS- GETTING THE BEST BANG FOR YOUR SP
FREE ITEMS FROM "THE SIMS 3 STORE"
Thank you for all the info:))))))))))))))))))) With ads i have a problem.I found the button and ad blocker is off but still it shows error or no ads all the time;( just black screen or no new ads to watch info:( I mean when I click on the button...
Origin ID : kateteaa Twitter: MunchPumpkins
Sims 3 wishlist: http://store.thesims3.com/myWishlist.html?persona=teaa5
Sims 4 origin wishlist: https://www.origin.com/gbr/en-us/view-wishlist/7a1SQrtJtdHoNce4KS_ZTg--
And I got waning moon on DD, another set to mark in my simdex, haha!
My top 5
I've just tried to farm some points too and the total is not going up. Have your points added on in the mean time yet?
I was thinking of using my tablet alongside my desktop. Great minds think alike. *grin*
I own the store as of 1+7/17/17
My Studio
My build thread in the Creative Corner
Yup, suspected this yesterday and just tested it. This is getting me very worried. Unless of course the consequence is them making everything free.
I own the store as of 1+7/17/17
My Studio
My build thread in the Creative Corner
Looking to make the most of your Simpoints and maybe make some great friends along the way?
Check out the DD Rotation Thread for tips, tricks, tools and the whole DD rotation schedule.
Need a little help owning the store or want to help others? Head over to The Gifting Directory!
My top 5
No dice. One of the first things I tried. Nor does changing devices or browsers have any effect.