Fool's Gold

Day 1,710, 11:55 • Published in United Kingdom United Kingdom • by Jamie2721

I want to make very clear this article is not calling people who pay real money for eRepublik gold fools nor is it criticizing the eRepublic company nor it's customer service.

However, it is foolish to spend gold while being oblivious to the reality of this game. This is purely an informative article and i will try not to reflect any personal opinion on the merits of buying gold





This is an article for anyone who buys gold (with real money), or is considering buying gold in this game.


"Looking at my own situation, i reckon, if i spent 99 Euros, i could become one of the elite, with my own shiny Q7. This would give me a big income to sustain myself and i would no longer need to ever spend more money and i will keep my 'elite' status."

This is the foolish view of eRepublik. eRepublic as a company, doesn't often find big spenders on online games willing to spend €99. Therefore their business strategy is (and always has been) getting these people to come back time and time again.





There will ALWAYS be another special offer.

Now this gets me to my point.

'If you are spending money to become in the 'elite' finding €99 is irrelevant. That will only keep you up for a period of months. You will need to be prepared to spend significant amounts of money every time eRepublik offers something new (which constantly happens)'



This is precisely the trap that people fall into. They've spent €99 thinking they have made it. Now they realize another €99 is needed. And what if they don't spend another €99? They will feel that their original investment has been 'wasted'.

So they spend it. Then the next offer comes along. They need to spend another €99 to keep up with the top. what if they decide to stop this time? They feel like they've just wasted €198 and that €99 doesn't seem such a large investment anymore in order to protect their earlier investment.

You can see how this continues.




In economics there is a term called 'Sunk Costs'.

A definition (from the internet) is 'A cost that has already been incurred and thus cannot be recovered. A sunk cost differs from other, future costs that a business may face, such as inventory costs or R&D expenses, because it has already happened. Sunks costs are independent of any event that may occur in the future.'


This basically means forget about your previous investments. Don't think about the past money you have invested. Think about the current money you have, and think 'Is it worth it?'. The answer may be YES. You may be prepared to continually spend 99 Euros. This will depend on your own personal financial situation. If YES, then you should happily continue to enjoy this gaming experience.


This article trys to talk to everyone, but in particular maybe a 17 year old who's just been let loose with their first credit card who's willing to spend their birthday money on reaching the top. This is the fools gold. I suggest if this is you, spend a smaller amount of money, it gives you a big boost and enjoy being part of the 'upper middle class' of the game.

'eRepublik offers you a choice. Never let yourself get into the situation where you feel like you need to spend money on this, it is always your own free choice. Before every payment, think about it for 5 minutes beforehand. This is true about anything you are choosing to buy'


Thanks if you read,
Jamie 2721



P.S. I just want to say thank you to anyone who voted me into congress (for the first time!). It was the best thing that happened to me in what was a very long day for me.