How do people get such good pets

I started playing adopt me in 2019 and played practically every day until 2021 when I got scammed & hacked 3 times which resulted in me losing hope and not playing for ~3 years.

Now, adopt me has values which I find much more difficult than they used to be (2 Commons = 1 uncommon). I want to grow my inventory and increase my value, but I don't understand how. Every trade I have gotten has been extreme under-pay so I've declined.

I genuinely love adopt me and I don't want to stop playing again, but the values are hard to get behind because EVERYBODY wants an op trade.