When we began Webkinz with my niece and nephew, the intent was to use it as incentive to get chores done, help them remember to do their personal things in the mornings, and to clean their rooms. We decided we'd give extra time and bonus codes for great attitudes and behavior. This worked marvelously.
What works even better, it turns out, is being able to give the kids items that Webkinz World deems a Rare Item. Normally, these are sold by Arte in the Curio Shop or you get them by chance in the Webkinz cards. You may also be able to trade, if you can get into the trading rooms. Of the three accounts I'm involved with (niece and nephew's accounts), we've not been able to get into the trading room a single time in over two months. So, even if that's a traditional route for getting Rare Items, you're going to need a LOT of luck to get in! There are three other options available for Rare Items. One is to keep adopting Webkinz until you get the Rare Item you wanted.
Another is to head out to Ganz' new site at Webkinz e-Store and spend some more of your hard earned cash. The worth of the trade-off is purely up to you.
The third way, I've recently found and had wonderful results with is WebkinzRarez. Not only did they respond swiftly to my purchase, but they gave me a gift item for an order over $15. My gift item was a wardrobe, which is no small trinket, in the land of Webkinz World. They also told me that if I share their site with others, I should ask them to state, in the comments section, that I sent them to their site. If their new customers do that, WebkinzRarez offered to send me an additional thank you gift.
Over all, the transaction went smoothly and I felt comfortable doing business with them, as they use Paypal for all credit/debit card transactions. Knowing that Paypal has a method of getting your money back if things go awry, I was more than happy to give WebkinzRarez a shot.
And I'm as thrilled with them as my niece and nephews are at receiving the prizes!
