Yet auctioneering is deceptively addictive. It becomes a game of cat and mouse, to beat the lead seller of the items you’re proposing to auction off. On my server, a relatively low population, quiet affair, there is one particular person who evidently has a monopoly on all things herb.
He’s called Mr. Bankbot (I assume someone’s alternative character) who snaffles up any herbs being sold, re-lists them, and adds a significant price tag in the process. He’s creating a vacuum for his own personal greed and one which I’ve begun to abuse to great effect.
My need to raise money quickly became apparent when I realised that to purchase the fastest flying mount licence, I would need 4,500 gold. A staggering amount really and one which reminds you of the time sink World of Warcraft requires. However, after bumping into a random adventurer on my travels he made me acutely aware that I really should begin to utilise the trade skills I’m an expert in. In my case, Herbalism and Alchemy (that’s the potion part).
It’s not particularly exciting to herb-hunt. A simple matter of spotting the little yellow dot on the map when in a herbs vicinity, to then utilise the action button on the herb and watch it appear into your backpack. So far, so simple. Yet the ease of amassing large quantities whilst questing and trotting round is ludicrous. Within a single hour my backpack was so full I had to actually return to the capital to bank my goods and so begun my first sales.
Within 3 days, after only a few hours of play, I’d actually made 2,000 gold. Mr. Bankbot has kindly been purchasing every single stack of herbs I list without fail. For the most part, he lists herbs at 65 gold per stack and so, to ensure the fish takes the bait, I list mine for 50. Hey presto, a sale every time.
Now however, I’ve become obsessed with actually abusing his own position. I’ve started to find obscure herbs that aren’t listed at all on the auction house and pop those on as well, just to see how far his reach stretches. Sure enough, I awoke the following morning to find my last 11 listings (some minor) have all sold to Mr. Bankbot. I’ll take that 385 gold with pleasure to add to my already bulging purse.
Finally after 2 weeks, only an hour or two day, I am now the proud owner of every flight licence the game has to offer, giving me the opportunity to earn even more money now I can fly about at 330% speed and all for the grand total of 5,000 gold. Not bad considering I started with 24 and still have every zone of Northrend and Cataclysm to complete.
Now I just need a guild…
Email the author of this post at lewisb@tap-repeatedly.com
I’ve played WOW off and on since alpha. I actually didn’t like the changes to the zones that Cataclysm brought. Of course I’m only a part-time player these days (if that), but change does not necessarily mean improvement.
Anyhow, congrats on learning the auction house!
Good one Lewis! My mum and her best friend were so timid the first time I showed them the AH. They had buyer’s remorse over their first purchases, and didn’t want to be unfair by listing things at too high a price.
Now they spend around 50% of their WoW time in the AH, wheeling and dealing, making thousands of gold each week. They really only take collection professions now, to maximise their bottom line.
Mind you, the AH has changed so much… you used to be able to get a stack of the basic herbs etc for a handful of silver, or a gold at most – but not anymore! It’s good that they are including the various ingredients to such an extent that people are making truckloads of gold from selling them at the AH, but it’ll lead to escalation of prices and money sinks elsewhere in WoW, that’s for sure.
Congratulations on using the auction house, it’s fun.
You said flying at 330% speed? I assume you have the 310% mount and some kind of effect that increases mounted speed by 20%, so I have some news for you:
You’re actually flying at 392%. That’s (100% + 310%) * 1.2. The more you know…
Brilliant stuff, Lewis. Herbs are where it’s at if you’re out to make money on the auction house. The only possibly more lucrative profession is mining.
It is amazing, like Jarrod said, that years ago you could probably get a stack of Peacebloom or some other low herb for anywhere between 20s and 1g. Now you’ll see just absolutely bonkers prices: 25g, 35g, and apparently even 50g, thanks to our own Lewis here. 🙂
‘Grats Lewis. Gold is easy and quick to make if you apply a little thought to it. There are some tools that will help and even automate the process. Auctioneer is the 800 pound gorilla. Wowecon is great (if it’s been updated for Cat, not checked). Panda helps automate large crafting jobs.
The one thing I can’t recommend enough is to do all AH work on an alt created for the task. If anyone gets pissy about your market machinations–and it happens–you’ll be insulated. It’s also convenient: parked at the AH, extra bank, use its mail as near infinite additional temporary storage. Altoholic will let you see what it has while on the real character.
If you get really hooked, start reading the patch notes. A small change can be the alert to monopolize x,y,z before their value rockets up. Thousands made in seconds.
Thanks all, and thank you for the flying mount maths. That’s even better!
The prices in Daggerspine for anything are staggering. 200 gold for a 16 slot bag? *bawk*. Still it’s great for us herbalists.
I’m into Cat now and hit level 82 while still in the starting zone, having earned an extra 1,000g just questing (I’ve left Northrend for the time being).
@ Finkbug, i definatly do that in future. My alt in Orgrimmar can certainly be a mule!
@ Xtal, the highest price I’ve made for a single stack (20) was Felweed. 110g buyout!
Feel free to join me on Daggerspine anyone, ive just started a new character!
The prices will fade or plateau eventually. There’s a window after an expansion when many people chuck Scrooge McDuck piles of gold at the AH to level professions without doing their own gathering. I’ve done it myself.
Low pop servers are something I’d not do again unless following someone to one…and the guy who just sent me an EU battlechest code rolled on one. Grr. The markets are strange (for good and ill) and finding a good guild, much less a competent raiding guild, is quite the task. If one even exists to find.
[edit]
No idea why I keep double posting. Maybe the mouse button is failing. If so, I blame that for shooting team mates in L4D2 and standing in fire/bile/bladestorms/nexus rifts/whelp eggs/kitchen sinks in WoW.
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