forum (and its sub-forums). Marketplace: The Marketplace is a separate area of the site for users to buy and sell items. Rather than self-auctioning an item through a thread in the Exchange forum, users can either put their item up for immediate sale with a "Buy Now" price, or leave their item for auction with a starting "Bid" price. Users can have up to 10 items for sale at once until getting the Tycoon achievement. After that, users can sell 20 items at once, and each item can be listed for a maximum of 14 days. The cost of this convenience is a 5% tax on all gold earned from sales. The site's virtual economy experienced hyperinflation after the introduction of more gold into circulation, partly due to the introduction of purchasable 'gold generators' which generated daily gold automatically. These were introduced by the site's then-owners in an attempt to boost the site's short-term revenue. To maintain that revenue, new and bigger gold-generators were frequently introduced and an arms-race ensued between site users. This would eventually lead to the collapse of the economy coupled with large declines in the userbase, and the ultimate sale of the site. Later owners substituted a replacement currency, Platinum, currently pegged at 1 Platinum to 10 million of the old Gold currency, and have not returned to currency generators as a way to raise revenue. However, former COO Jason Loia has stated he didn't consider inflation as a significant issue. Notable items Monthly Collectibles Monthly Collectibles (previously known as Donation Items, also referred on site as MCs) are special items that can be bought with real money meant to support Gaia's maintenance and costs. Established in June 2003 after users of Gaia Online petitioned for a "donation system" in an attempt to increase site revenue, for every US$2.50 a user gives to the site, he or she receives an item known as a "Sealed Envelope" in his or her inventory. Sealed Envelopes go on sale the first day of every month and are released on the 15th of each month. During August and September 2008, the envelopes were unsealed on the eighth, but on October 2, 2008, it was decided that the release date should be returned to the fifteenth. The Sealed Envelope disappears from the user's inventory and is replaced by a "Thank You Letter" for the current paid month (for example, a "Thank