Phase 3: Profit !

I was reading a few WoW gold blogs and I came across a post about undercutting, by Vennren over at Common Copper, that I agree with 100%. It goes back to the question of how much to undercut the competition by. Vennren basically comes out on the side of, “I’ll undercut by a little more and sell everything, all the time.” I agree completely. I think that good profit and higher volume is a more consistent strategy than slight undercutting and serious AH posting/re-posting. Cold, of Cold’s Gold Factory, hops into the comments for a bit as well; I can’t tell if he agrees or disagrees with Vennren, but his comments are good ones.

I imagine that Vennren and I are in the minority. I can practically hear my Call to Auction co-host, Euripides, protesting right now. For him more volume = too much time spent “semi-afk crafting” (as he calls it), and the time cost isn’t worth it for him. For me, that wall of stuff that is gone and then replaced by gold is more satisfying and, ultimately, more consistent.

What do you think? Reply here, or over at the Common Copper. Thanks in advance, dear reader, for the feedback. You know Zekta and I read all of it.

GL! /bow

I recently wrote a post about buying stuff from vendors and reselling it. I mentioned this particular vendor, but he really deserves his own post.

See this guy, above? That’s Bro’kin, and he sells alchemy stuff. Why he’s tucked away amongst the ogres of Alterac Mountains is a WoW mystery. However, he’s there in the ruins of the once-great Alliance city of Alterac, and he’s friendly to any toon that’s friendly with Booty Bay.

Why does this matter? Simple, my dear reader: he sells the recipe for Frost Oil. That’s it. Frost Oil remains valuable (about 10g/piece the last time I checked), as does the recipe. The demand is limited, but it’s there. So here’s what you do: go to him on your Herbalist; buy the recipe for Frost Oil; then, while you’re there (or while you’re waiting for the recipe to respawn), roam around on your Herbalist and pick some Wintersbite. It’s the main component for Frost Oil, and it only grows there… in the Alterac Mountains! Pick it, then turn it into Frost Oil… or just sell it. It’s really up to you. When you’re short on funds, head back there- it’s a level 30-ish zone, so you should be able to navigate it with little problem. Enjoy!

GL! /bow

Markco recently put up a post that deals with this topic, but it’s a good one that new players often don’t realize. It’s very simple: the vendors in town sell stuff (usually limited spawn items) that you can resell on the AH for a lot more than you paid for it.

Capital cities are usually the best place to do this (because that’s where the AH is), but it can work in almost any town. The idea? If you see a rare-spawn item, buy it and resell it on the AH. What kind of items are we talking about? Generally, just raw materials and schematics/recipes.

See this guy above? This is the most famous vendor for this trick, Mr. Kendor Kabonka. He is the vendor in the Inn in old section of Stormwind that sells about half a dozen recipes that you can’t find anywhere else. Buy them there for a few silver, sell them on the Neutral AH to the Horde (or, if you have two accounts, move them over to the Horde AH) for 10-20g each, lather, rinse, repeat, and laugh all the way to the bank.

However, it doesn’t even need to be that complicated. Maybe you’re starting out fresh, without a Deathknight, and the run to the neutral AH is a true hassle. Remember, there’s tons of stuff to buy and resell from vendors: Enchanting vendors sell strange dust and essences. Some of the Alchemy vendors sell herbs. Engineering vendors sell engineering parts (which are riskier because demand is spotty). As you get into the Outland, you’ll find vendors that sell Primals as well. And, as you are out and about, questing and leveling, various vendors stashed across the world are the source for rare recipes: the Engineering vendor in Winterspring, the Alchemist vendor in the middle of the Ogres in the Alterac Mountains, the vendor that hangs out with the pirates east of Booty Bay… the list goes on and on.

So don’t just use the vendors in town as a place to clean out your bags. Look and see what they’re selling. If it’s a recipe or a commodity, chances are it will sell for a lot more on the AH than it will cost you to buy… so buy it!

GL! /bow