20 Days of Goldmaking: the Q&A

Nev's 20 Days of Gold Making challenge continues. I'm trying something a bit different in this piece. Unsure of which topic to focus on next and nearly about to publish the wrap-up/shout-out piece, I thought, hey, why not do the 20 Days topics as twenty questions? Fire off short, sharp answers? So that's what happened here. Answers with links lead to the full posts covering the related question.

1. When did you start gold making & what triggered it?

Near the end of the Burning Crusade. Triggered by ignorance. A couple of arcanite bar transmute procs and it was all over. I wrote about it as part of this challenge.

2. If you set yourself a goal, what was your goal & at what point did you set it?

20,000g early on, then slow increments of ten thousand until hitting 50,000g. At that point, I knew the cap was possible.

3. What were the first techniques/tricks/tips you used when starting out?
Save everything to sell everything. A slow, steady method.

4. Do you use a banker alt/guild? When did you start doing that & why?

Yes. As soon as I started auctioning regularly near the end of BC. Done mostly out of convenience.

5. Do you keep the same banker alt or do you change them up occasionally? Why?

The same. Making money is in my banker's emotional makeup.

6. Which market has made you the most gold over the years?

Glyphs and Darkmoon cards for slow, steady accumulation. Jewelcrafting for quick cash.

7. If you were starting over again (maybe on a new server perhaps), how would you start building some capital & what goal would you set yourself?

I touched on this one, too, though while covering a slightly different topic Nev suggested. If there was one above all (and I didn't include this in the OP): find a friendly guild you can contribute to positively.
 

8. Thinking back to day 2, did you ever reach your goal or are you still working towards it? If you reached it - have you set yourself a new one?

Funny you should ask! This very exercise has spawned Chasing the Gold Cap, a regular topic I plan to feature until I've hit said gold cap. Read the inaugural post (same post linked in #2) and the first update where somehow I found myself with 35,000g less than I had when I started. 

9.What's your favorite niche market & why?

I really don't play niche markets often, but I did hoard loads of embersilk bags prior to the transition into MoP. They provided a steady income during the first couple months of this expansion.

10. Do you farm materials? Why? Why not? & which ones, where?

I won't say never, but it's pretty close to never.

11. Most of us use TSM, Auctioneer and/or Auctionator in combo with Postal - are there any other lesser known gold making addons you use?
I like iSold because it emits a sound whenever an item sells (provider I'm on the toon who posted).

12. What was your biggest 'oops' moment?
Selling a transmoggable hot item for considerably less than it was worth.

13. What was your biggest 'Yay!' moment?
Hmmm...I did recently sell a Darkmoon card for over 9000g. All potential for jokes aside, it was more of a 'WTF' moment than anything. I've since added the buyer to my friend's list to offer him a partial refund, but haven't seen him online.

14. How much of your playtime is devoted to gold making? Do you raid/pvp/pet battle too or is the AH your main playtime?

Varies, as I raid, pet battle, transmog and work on alts. On days I play, usually no less than thirty minutes but no more than an hour. Again, varies.

15. Professions - do you have all of them, some or none? Which is your favorite for goldmaking?

I have them all, though Engineering is not maxed. Jewelcrafting and Inscription are my moneymakers, though both have really tanked on my server as of late.

16.Flipping! Do you flip stuff regularly or sometimes? Big ticket items or smaller high volume stuff?

I don't always flip items, but when I do....no, really, I don't often flip items. Too uneasy about losing cash. Perhaps once I accrue more.

17. Pets - Did you used to do the Vendor pet sales? How have pet battles changed things for you?

I did them a few times and got sick of it. Pets have never been a source of income for me.

18.What is the most important bit of advice you could give to a new gold maker? (not a game newbie though, just a newbie gold maker) 

Wrote on this one, linked in #2..

19. Have you bought yourself anything really expensive as a reward for earning all that gold? Or do you have a self-present in mind for when you reach your goal?

Traveler's Tundra Mammoth was purchased early on in WotLK and the Grand Expedition Yak was purchased early on in MoP. I also dropped 50,000g on a Brawler's Guild Invite the night of launch because I was adamant on being one of the first in there. (Note: for the record, I strongly believe I was the first on the server to acquire an invite, but since there's no reward and I can't prove a thing, just forget I mentioned it.)

20. Lets spread some blog love - which are your 'must read' or 'go to' gold blogs or even other places you go for information & reading matter?
To be published later this week!

Thanks for reading!