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I’m sick of seeing all the
posts complaining about the price of mounts or of problems getting money
in this game. I put together this guide to give you some steps to follow
that will guarantee you won’t have money problems. I welcome constructive
criticism and any additions you may have.
Hodap’s Guide To Making Money In WoW
Always Take All The Loot
So many times I’ve been in groups with people who will
loot any cash that a mob drops while leaving the rest of the “junk”. What
they fail to realise is that all those rabbit’s paws and bear
gallbladders add up, and often result in significant amounts of money. As
an example, I was with a party who did Ragefire Chasm starting instance,
and I was the only one to loot everything from mobs. At the end I had nearly
two gold in “vendor trash” collected. That’s a lot of money for a level
13! As you move up in levels the value of the drops increases as well.
You’ll have to invest some money in larger bags, and
you’ll have to figure out what trash is worth more (your packs will fill
up fast and knowing what to throw out is important), but you should see
the money start to accumulate just from this alone.
When selling vendor trash, it is important to be able to
recognise the trash from the useful stuff. Many people aren’t aware that
when you mouse-over some vendor trash (that is, something that has no use
in the game) it will display in grey text. When you mouse-over an item
used in recipes, it will show in white text. Many “white text” items can
be sold in the auction house (AH) for more money than they would fetch at
a vendor. Reference sites such as thottbot.com when you come across a
white item to find out what it is used for – if it’s really rare or used
in a lot of recipes there’s a good chance it will fetch some money at
auction.
Always Pick At Least One Gathering Profession
Herbalism, skinning, and mining are huge money
makers when compared to the other professions, especially earlier in
the game.
· Skinning is great because over half the mobs in the game can
be skinned, and you can skin mobs other people have killed, so leather
will accumulate very quickly. The downside is that your packs will fill
up rapidly, and you’ll face greater competition when selling your leather
as skinning is a popular profession choice.
· Mining is a huge revenue generator, as demand for copper
through to thorium does not seem to dwindle. Be prepared to go well out
of your way to find mines though, and be prepared to battle all the mobs
around a mine only to watch someone run in and start mining the node you
were after. The real bonus is that mining also gives you stone and once
in a while a gem. These are both highly sought after in the auction
house! To give you an idea of the money mining can make: when I was level
22 I had over 100 gold just from mining copper. If you find a good mining
spot, you can easily make several gold per hour with little effort.
· I can’t comment on Herbalism as a stand-alone money maker as I
never had much success selling raw herbs in the AH. The best thing to do
is check your server’s AH to see if herbs are being sold and for how
much. There could be a good money making opportunity in there for you!
Create A Mule To Use For Auctions
A common rebuttal I hear when I tell people to post more
stuff in the AH is “but, I can’t always make it there easily.” The
solution is simple and easy: create a second character that will serve no
other purpose but to be your AH mule. You may die a few times, but it is
a simple matter to run any level 1 character to Ironforge or Orgrimmar
and park them by the AH. Then, using the mail system, simply mail that
character all the stuff you want to place up for auction.
Auction As Much As You Can
Many people admit that they simply sell green items that
they can’t use to vendors rather than list them at the AH. There are many
sought-after green items in the game, and with most you’ll at least be
able to make double what you would through a vendor. Often, you’ll be
able to sell something for 5+ gold where a vendor is only offering 75s.
There’s many things to take into consideration when
selling in the AH. A good place to start with this is Haze’s guide
located here: http://forums.worldofwarcraft.com/thread.aspx?fn=wow-professions&t=2901
There are some points that are worth stressing however:
· Always
use a buyout price! Players looking for trade
goods or equipment need those items now. Nobody wants
to wait 24 hours for a stack of light leather or a sword that will be 5
levels below them when the auction ends. If you can, use other people’s
pricing as a guide. If you are unsure of a buyout, try double or triple
your initial bid.
· Research
the items you are selling! There are some items in the
game that are needed for certain recipes but are not easy to acquire.
That piece of Spider Silk or Perfect Deviate Scale may be worth more than
you think!
· Sell in
quantities that make sense. This ties in with the last
point, but as part of your research make sure you note what quantities
the items are needed in by particular recipes. It makes little sense to
sell Spider Silk in stacks of 3 when most recipes that use it need 2.
Spend Lots Of Time At The AH
It is possible to make hundreds of gold just by keeping
a close eye on the AH. Often, players will not do their research before
listing an item and post a highly-desirable item with a buyout that is
far below the norm for your server. I made 11g in 10 minutes by buying
the Core of Earth someone had listed with a 1g buyout and
reselling it for 12g.
Other times players may just list an item for cheaper.
Take advantage of this! As an example, copper bars on my server seem to
have settled around 75s for a stack of 20. Still, many people sell them
with a buyout of 60s or lower. That is easy easy money if you are willing
to put in the time to buy them out and re-list for 75s.
Don’t Waste Money On Crafting
Crafting is fun, and you can make some useful stuff, but
normally you will make far more selling just the raw materials. Obviously
this has some exceptions. For example, I made a nice profit by buying up
all the aquamarine and crafting accurate scopes. That being said, I know
plenty of players who have wasted piles of gold levelling up their
crafting in the hopes that they can make money eventually. If you don’t
have money problems then you can worry about skilling up your crafting,
otherwise that 12 heavy leather you just drained into gaining one skill
point is a waste of 60s you could have made in the AH.
If you are crafting for the sole purpose of equipping
your character, realise that the AH is full of stuff made by crafters
making the exact same stuff as you. Why waste 60s in profit using up that
heavy leather when you can buy the item you were making for less than
that?
And if you happen to pick enchanting before you hit
level 40, for heaven’s sake dump it! Enchanting is such a money sink
until you hit artisan (at which point you might start making
some money) that you are really hurting yourself financially. Remember,
you can always pick up a profession later on.
Hope this was helpful!
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