Win, Fair & Lose Explained

Your point of view

Results are always from your side of the trade. Receiving a higher estimated total produces a Win; giving more than you receive produces a Lose. Swapping the offers changes that perspective. Demand is covered in Adopt Me demand explained, which pairs well with any Adopt Me trading values check.

The thresholds

Fair means their total is within 5% of yours, including exactly 5%. A difference greater than 5% but less than 25% is a Win or Lose. At 25% or more it becomes a Big Win or Big Lose. These thresholds are settings, not game rules. Legendary pets carry the largest Adopt Me trading values; see the legendary values list for the full set.

A worked example

If your total is 100 and theirs is 110, the difference is +10 and the percentage is +10%: a Win. If theirs is 96, the difference is −4%: Fair. If theirs is 70, the difference is −30%: Big Lose. Adopt Me trading values change over time; this guide explains why, and the value updates page records each change.

What the percentage is measured against

The percentage is always calculated from your total. If you give 100 and receive 110, the difference is +10 and the percentage is +10 percent. If you give 110 and receive 100, the difference is −10 but the percentage is −9.1 percent, because it is measured against the 110 you gave. That is why swapping the two sides of a trade can move a result from Win to Fair or from Fair to Lose.

It also means that very small trades behave differently from large ones. A difference of two points is a big percentage when the totals are near ten, and almost nothing when the totals are near a thousand. Read the percentage and the raw difference together. Before accepting, read the safe trading tips; Adopt Me trading values only help when the trade window is honest.

Why 5 and 25 percent

The thresholds are settings chosen for this site, not rules from the game. Five percent is narrow enough that two offers inside it are genuinely close on this scale, and wide enough to absorb small rounding differences between versions. Twenty-five percent marks a gap large enough that most players would call it lopsided.

If the dataset is ever replaced by reviewed values, those thresholds may be revisited. The methodology page records the current settings so you can always check what the badge means on the day you use it. Potions matter too: Fly and Ride values shows how they affect Adopt Me trading values.

Reading a Win honestly

A Win badge tells you that, in this dataset, you would receive more estimated value than you give. Three things can make a paper Win a poor trade in practice. The first is demand: a pile of items nobody is looking for is hard to move later. The second is preference: value is not the same as wanting the pet. The third is trust: a Win in the calculator says nothing about whether the other player will actually complete the trade as agreed.

The same logic applies to a Lose. Giving slightly more than you receive can be perfectly sensible when you get exactly the pet you have been looking for, or when you turn several awkward items into one easy one. For a step-by-step routine, follow how to evaluate an Adopt Me trade alongside the Adopt Me trading values below.

Big Win and Big Lose

At a difference of twenty-five percent or more the badge becomes Big Win or Big Lose. Treat a Big result as a prompt to double-check the versions rather than as a reason to celebrate or panic. In most Big results that we see in testing, one side has a pet entered as the wrong variant, most often a Neon added as a Normal.

If the versions are right and the result is still Big, ask why the other player is offering it. Generous offers do happen, but they are also the classic setup for a last-second swap in the trade window. Each pet page, such as Frost Dragon or Shadow Dragon, lists all twelve Adopt Me trading values for that pet.

Worked examples

• You give a total of 200; you receive 205. Difference +5, percentage +2.5 percent: Fair.
• You give 200; you receive 230. Difference +30, percentage +15 percent: Win.
• You give 200; you receive 150. Difference −50, percentage −25 percent: Big Lose (the threshold includes exactly 25 percent).
• You give 80; you receive 84. Difference +4, percentage +5 percent: Fair, because the Fair range includes exactly five percent.
• You give 0 (nothing added yet); the button stays disabled until both sides have at least one item, so there is no result to misread.

Using the result well

1. Confirm every version and quantity matches the trade window.
2. Read the badge, then the difference and percentage.
3. Check whether demand and trend are reviewed for the main pets involved.
4. Ask whether you want the items, not just whether the number is bigger.
5. Swap the offers once to see the trade from the other side before deciding.

Fair is a range, not a point

New traders sometimes expect "Fair" to mean the two totals are identical. They rarely are. Versions carry small fixed differences, adds come in odd amounts, and two players seldom bring exactly matching inventories. The five percent band exists so that trades which are close in practice are called close, instead of being pushed into Win or Lose by a couple of points.

The flip side is that a trade at the edge of the band is still a close trade. A result of +4.9 percent and a result of +5.1 percent describe nearly the same offer, even though one reads Fair and the other reads Win. When a result sits near a threshold, treat the badge as a rounding of the percentage, and read the percentage itself. Reviewed movements in Adopt Me trading values will appear on the Rising and Falling page once the dataset has evidence to show.

When the badge and your instinct disagree

Sometimes the calculator says Fair and the trade feels wrong, or it says Lose and the trade feels right. Both are worth pausing on. If the badge says Fair but you feel uneasy, check the versions and the demand of the main pets; unease usually points at demand or at a version you have not confirmed. If the badge says Lose but you are happy, you are probably valuing a specific pet more than the dataset does, which is a perfectly good reason to trade.

The badge is one input. Your knowledge of what you want, what you can trade later and who you are dealing with are the others. A good trade satisfies most of them, not just the first.

Frequently asked

Does Fair mean the trade is equal?

It means the two totals are within five percent of each other on this scale. Two Fair trades can still feel very different once demand and preference are considered.

Why did my result change after I swapped the sides?

Because the percentage is measured against the side you give. Swapping the offers changes the base of that calculation.