Chasing the Gold Cap: What's Your Ideal Reserve?

Chasing the Gold Cap was a series that documented my slow, steady quest to reach the maximum amount of gold allowed on a character. I finished the task in June '13. It took me nearly a year to spend it. Occasionally, I'll use the topic generally for all-things-auctioneering. 

As the expansion wanes, I can't avoid the beckon of what was a regular safe-haven during the end of Cataclysm and throughout much of Mists of Pandaria: the Dalaran auction house. At this point, my main character is as progressed as he can be, and I don't have the stomach to build up another alt just now. When I log on, likely the first thing I'll do is my profession shuffle, working raw mats into something more valuable with the hopes of turning a decent profit. Unfortunately, the market is saturated right now. There's an excess of material and a smaller pool of buyers. While there's still money to be made, prices on most trade goods remain low, and high volume is the best way to guarantee a decent reward.

While I've opted not to hit the auction house hard---no dreams of another gold cap chase just yet---this means that my gold reserves creep upwards ever so slowly. Perhaps an hour's time on the auction house will yield 10,000g gold in a week, but I tend to spend a good percentage of what I yield each week. This got me thinking: how low am I willing to go? What's the lowest amount of gold I can have on hand without beginning to feel uncomfortable?

The answer came easy: I like having the ability to buy the gold sink mounts that come with each expansion, and those tend to hover right around the 100k gold mark. So long as long as I'm above that mark, I'm feeling OK. Fall below it---like when I transferred from my gold-capped server to my current one---I start to get antsy.

What's your ideal gold reserve?

How to start making gold in WoW

Will skill and dedication, you too can own all of the gold-sink mounts.

Recently, I was outed as a gold-maker to someone I'm connected to on Twitter, and I'll admit I felt rather sheepish. My blog lately has been full of wild predictions about the game, complaining about player behavior, and bragging about how I'm going to spend my gold---not acquire more. See, the Tweeter in question wanted to know how they should go about turning profits with several maxed professions and 10,000g on hand.

So I thought back to how and when I started, and the race to the gold cap---which really wasn't a race at all---it took me a year, though I wasn't very good about not spending what I was making. See, I'm not like those real gold-makers, then ones I read and have listed below. I got in, got my score, and I'm out. Retiring on my fortune. I don't have several million gold to my name, but I have one million, and that's well enough for me. 

With what I've learned going through the process mostly unaided, and then after connecting with more knowledgeable gold-makers on the web, especially on Twitter, I have some practical suggestions to help new gold-makers get on their way. I think there are really two ways to make gold in WoW: the slow & steady, and the smart & fast, though the best of gold-makers do both, in my humble opinion. The amount of time you put in will correlate positively with the amount of gold for both methods.

Slow & Steady

This method is primarily what I used---I used the professions I had at my disposal to create valuable goods to sell to other players: gems, glyphs, enchants, armor, etc. Of course, you're never going to be the only person on your server doing this, so you'll need to monitor the auction house to make sure your auctions are in a position to sell---namely, you're not being undercut to all hell. I use an addon to assist in this process (included in the list below), and really, I would recommend you don't bother starting your gold-making journey without it. 

At times I would check the auction house a dozen times or more throughout the day to ensure my stuff was readily purchasable. I'd immediately re-post what had been bought out. It took patience and vigilance. On good days I'd pull in 10-15,000g. On average days, it was more like 5,000g. Please note, though, that I never farmed for mats. Sometimes it meant waiting for raw goods prices to drop on the auction house, but you should always be able to realize a profit, even with buying materials.

Smart & Fast

Admittedly, I'm not very good at this. But then transmogrification happened and I was able to enjoy a teeny tiny slice of that pie. To date, I've made hundreds of thousands of gold from green BoE items. That player lamenting in trade chat about high priced "leveling" greens? I am a reagent in a cauldron wherein boils that player's anger and frustration. 

Smart and fast isn't just putting out what you can---it's knowing what sells, why it sells. It's anticipating player demand based on the calendar, on patch cycles. It's knowing when it's wise to reset, or buy out an entire market, in order to make a potentially large profit. Sure, there's risk involved here, but the more knowledgeable you are about your server's economy, the more risk is mitigated. 

Like I said before, the best players are experts in both of these methods, and use them both. I preferred slow & steady simply because I knew it would get me there, and I wasn't in that much of a hurry. But if you'd like to turn a hefty profit quickly, some research is in order. Don't get me wrong---my method worked and took me to gold cap. But I also feel like I worked to get to that cap. Take that for what it is.

Now, the list.

The List

1. Connect with other gold-makers on Twitter, Reddit and the web

I'm more of a Twitter guy, and have been reading gold-making blogs since late last year. People also find Reddit useful. Make sure you check out Cold's Gold Factory, Power Word: Gold, Elvine and Auction House Addict---and take note of their blog rolls (no worries if you don't have Twitter---their websites are linked in their bios). These are some folks I found early on, and I identified many of my own mistakes just by reading about what they did and what worked for them. Either way, I was amazed at the sheer number of gold-makers I've come across who are writing/podcasting about their exploits.

2. Get TradeSkillMaster and get a basic tutorial

Perhaps there are serious gold-makers out there who don't use this addon, but I don't know them. It's a game-changer. It would be like if you've been taking the flight path from Thunder Bluff to Orgrimmar and back for months, then you realize you're a mage and could've been teleporting yourself this entire time! I don't know what else to say about it. Not using this addon leaves any gold-maker at a severe disadvantage. That said, it can be little daunting to use---don't hesitate to reach out to a fellow gold-maker or search for a guide on YouTube. Your time spent will be well worth it.

3. Don't spend, and if you must, spend wisely

I did not do well with this part---I spent several-hundred-thousand on things I wanted but totally didn't need during my quest to the gold cap. Granted, your goal may be different than mine---maybe you don't even have one. Still, you're going to need to spend gold sometimes. Not on a Grand Expedition Yak, but possibly gems, enchants, flasks, and other goods for your raiding toon. When you do this, utilize friends and guildies to reduce cost. If you must use the auction house, never buy finished products---the cost of the raw materials and a nice tip for the crafter will almost always be the cheaper route.

4. Familiarize yourself with the Undermine Journal and WoWuction

These are two great resources when it comes to analyzing the economy. I used the Undermine Journal to look up my competition in order to identify their heaviest posting times, among other things. I set up alerts with WoWuction that sent me emails informing me when certain items were too cheap to not snatch up and re-list. I've flipped (purchased low, sold high) hundreds of lower-level green items thanks to WoWuction alerts.

5. Identify your potential markets---have a plan

You may have all professions at your disposal, or you may have just one or two. Regardless, it's important to identify the things you can produce that will fetch you the greatest profit. Gems and enchants will be consistent sellers, though much heavier when a new raid tier gets released---you can guess why. Of course, you'll likely find heavy competition in these markets. Maybe your leveling toon is coming across a boatload of BoEs, or you're getting them on your main from all that Deathcharger farming. Either way, don't go in blind---have an idea of where your profit might come from, run with it, and if you're struggling, reach out to the community---I think we're all more than happy to help.

Chasing the Gold Cap: Not a greedy bastard

I logged into my banker earlier today to collect the cash from a handful of sold auctions and repost those that had expired. You may be tempted to remind me I said I was done with the auctioneering routine after having hit the gold cap. I lied. Apparently, these old habits just don't die.

As I mentioned in a previous post, I've mainly been dealing in the transmog market while still selling other odds and ends I come across---moving from a low-pop realm to high-pop realm means the markets require a significantly larger time investment to control, and I'm simply not interested in doing that. I'm averaging around 1000g per day on mostly low-level greens; admittedly, a small take, but more than enough to cover the needs of my cadre of toons.

So I always enjoy opening my mail and seeing something like this:

Though the diction and grammar leaves something to be desired (yes, I'm that kind of a dick), I was happy to see it wasn't a player cussing me out. Cause that happens on occasion. I quickly checked the auction house: gloves were still listed at my designated fallback price of 1499g. Though they were the only pair for sale, of course I'd be happy to sell them to this player for their desired price. They took the time to contact me, they were polite, and perhaps didn't have the means to pay top dollar.

Just a few hours later, I checked my mail again to find a pair of Abjurer's Gloves had sold for 1400g, in addition to a C.O.D. and a thank-you from the player above. Seriously, buyers. Not all of us auctioneers are greedy, heartless bastards. Yes, we have more gold than we'll probably ever spend and for whatever reason are constantly trying to fill our grubby little hands with more, but we'd just as soon share it and support those who also love this game.

I know it can seem frustrating to leveling players in general when they hit the AH for an upgrade only to discover the level 23 cloth headpiece they'd like costs 10x the amount of gold they've amassed. But what about you moggers out there...have you ever contacted a seller to see if you could get a better deal?

Sellers, do you often cut players breaks like this, or are you a cut-throat, no-holds-barred tycoon just trying to make his/her million?

Chasing the Gold Cap Casually: Hold onto those greens

Unrelated header image FTW.

So I haven't completed abandoned auctioneering after hitting the gold cap after all. Now I just do it more casually and pass on my tips. 

Haven't totally gotten out of the auctioneering game---but I'm no longer making enemies. I am pleased to say that casual posting every couple of days or so has provided me with a steady income---even a profit in spite of all the silly things I throw gold at. But I'm not seeing income through the channels that were familiar to me on my old server when pushing for the gold cap---mainly gems, glyphs, and enchants. I simply don't have the time or will to spend much of an effort controlling a market. However, being on a more active server has provided some pleasant results in the transmog market.

You see, I run The Eye, Molten Core and Stratholme each week for reasons you can probably guess---oftentimes on multiple toons. This nets me with a ridiculous amount of BoE green weaponry and armor. I've been saving and posting everything (except, of course necks, rings and trinkets, and could probably do the same with cloaks and wrists as they aren't big sellers, either). Even the 80-90 greens I've come across while farting around in Pandaria. Blues, too, will serve as good sellers on occasion.

I had my TSM auctioning group set up with a fallback price of 775g---meaning that if there's no item like it on the AH, that's the default posting price. Now that I've noticed I'm selling roughly three pieces every two days at fallback---that's not counting the items that only go for several hundred---I've raised the fallback price to 1475g. Eager to see what happens, though I don't anticipate sales to slow down, even with doubling the fallback.

So if your server isn't completely dead and you'd like a steady income from casual posting, hold onto those greens! If you think your server's economy is too sluggish, this advice should be relevant come 5.4 with with introduction of virtual realms, which by all accounts will include auction-house sharing. A penny (or item) saved is a penny earned, and this holds true in Warcraft---so long as you can afford the bag space.

WoW Weekly: Now what?

WoW Weekly is a biweekly-ish, self-absorbed look into the things I've been doing -- or not doing -- in the game. From auctioneering and pet battling to mount farming and raiding.  

I hit two major milestones over the course of the past week. For better or worse, there is no feat of strength for turning 30 years old. Don't get me wrong---I'm happy to be here. It's hard to believe this game's been around since my early twenties, and I've been a subscriber for most of that time. The second milestone? I made the gold cap on my banker. And subsequently abandoned him to his server to forever camp the Black Money Auction House---but we won't talk about that.

Truth is, I didn't really have a plan for what I'd do after hitting the gold cap. After the server transfer, followed by my dismissal from the new guild, progression raiding on the Main has ceased completely. Not currently seeking it out, nor am I planning to in the near future. My play hasn't been this casual since early Wrath. I've not had this lack of direction since the Burning Crusade.

Quite frankly, I'm a bit overwhelmed with the smaller, faster patch cycle we've been given in MoP. Just as I've gotten a grasp on the bulk of 5.3 content--the Barrens campaign, new scenarios, continuing the Legendary line, new battle pet quests, new battle pets, PvP pet battle quests, etc--I'm getting ridiculous amounts of information on what's all going down in patch 5.4. I feel like I've seen everything but the very end of the movie. Like I know what's going to happen, just a little fuzzy on all of the how's. And it leaves me feeling a bit deflated. A bit burned out. A bit meh.

Of course, aside from story spoilers, we've heard a good deal about planned features and functionality, like Flex Raiding and Virtual Realms. I'm excited about the potential in each of these features, but will leave it to another post. For now, what I've been concentrating on since the last WoW Weekly (which was actually over three weeks ago---I've been slacking):

• Progress towards Raiding with Leashes II is going well. I nabbed all four pets from Karazhan on my second run. Also, Lady Vash'j is NOT an easy fight. I have to work really hard on the Main in order to solo her---haven't yet found a way to do it with my priest. Luckily enough, she dropped her pet on week two, so I no longer have to bother with her. Still after Tideskipper from Serpentshrine Cavern and both the Pocket Reaver and Lesser Voidcaller from Tempest Keep.
 
• Since its release, I've been avoiding the Throne of Thunder LFR. I can't completely put a finger on it. I don't know why a fourth LFR wing seems so much more cumbersome than Dragon Soul's three wings---but it does. Consequently, I've just acquired my last Secrets of the Empire to move on to the next phase of the chain. It's nice of Blizzard to dish out legendary gear to just about anyone who wants some, but it definitely doesn't feel epic like it did in previous expansions---where the team worked together towards a goal that would greatly benefit one player, and thus the raid. Know what I'm saying? Rare things cease to be rare if everyone has one.

• The mount gods have not smiled upon me since the Reigns of the Onyxian Drake dropped over a month ago. I'm still after Ashes, still after the Blue Drake, and I've decided to throw in an occasional Stratholme farming session. In fact, during my last run I looted Lord Aurius and saw a flash of purple---but not the one I wanted to see. Almost gave me a heart attack.

• Now that we're incentivized via a new weekly quest, I've started PvP pet battling again, something I haven't done since the first week of the expansion. I tell you, it's a lot of fun and there's quite a bit more strategy involved when you're fighting with level 25s vs. the level 10s I was using in October of last year. For tips and tricks I've been relying heavily on Liopleurodon's blog.

No longer beholden to a raid schedule, I'm free to do whatever I want. While I haven't completely abandoned the gold-making game---I have to at least check the temperature of the water on the new server---it's taking a back seat to knocking out random achievements with the main and leveling a monk. Aimlessly having fun on my own terms.

I suppose that's all that matters.

Chasing the Gold Cap Revisited: I'm there

There are no dings. No error messages or game crashes. No achievements, bells, whistles, or fireworks. Anyone who's gold-capped a toon knows how it all goes down, without pomp and fanfare. Suddenly, the game won't let you retrieve any more gold from your mailbox. You click, but nothing happens---so I had to do some maneuvering to get the screenshot above showing my banker, Martinfury, holding exactly 999,999g99s99c. That, my friends, seems to be the per-character gold cap.

Truth is, I've had well over a million gold for quite some time now. So while I could've fudged and said that I'd hit my goal almost on time---the end of April---I felt it necessary to stick to my original plan: gold capped on my banker, not an accumulation of all the gold on my account regardless of faction or server. Had I counted the summation of my wealth, I'd have been capped more than a month ago. Sometimes I think I can be too much of a purist.

So that's that. No parting words of wisdom. My methods could be described in but a word: dedication. Just stay at it, and you'll get there (but seriously, if you have questions I'll be happy to attempt answers). When I get stumped, I'll often check out the heavy hitters: Elvine, Cold's Gold Factory, WoW Profitz, Power Word: Gold, Auction House Addict, Copper to Gold, among others.

Now. Enough camping the AH. It's time to camp the BMAH!

Series Recap:
Inaugural Post - Chasing the Gold Cap in a Material World
Chasing the Gold Cap Update #1
Chasing the Gold Cap Update #2: A spending problem
Chasing the Gold Cap Update #3: A penny saved
Chasing the Gold Cap Update #4: Ghost iron bore
Chasing the Gold Cap Update #5: Thanks...but why?
Chasing the Gold Cap Special Edition: You've got competition...now what?
Chasing the Gold Cap Update #6: Panic mode
Chasing the Gold Cap Update #7: Two week notice
Chasing the Gold Cap Update #8: The final week
Chasing the Gold Cap: Unrealized Goals

Chasing the Gold Cap: Unrealized goals

Ahh, gold. Such a wonderful, wonderful history we've had. It all started in the Burning Crusade when I was flipping Arcanite Bars to make sure I had more gold than I'd ever need. At that time, 20,000g was more than enough. I've been a quarter-millionaire a couple of times and a half-millionaire once between then and now, and would've hit the gold cap long ago were it not for my penchant for gold sinks. Would've, could've, should've. I know. Enough with the excuses!

I'll admit that when I set May 1st as the goal for reaching the gold cap, I knew it was likely I would get there so long as I maintained my normal level of auctioning activity. Heck, I was averaging 60,000-80,000g per week...no problem, right?! In surveying my profits over the last month, it's hard to believe I had that much flow at one time. Seems like it was so long ago. The glyph market has long been taken from my hands, while at the same time several very aggressive sellers have jumped in. The gem market has been on a month-and-a-half-long dive thanks to a farmer who feels bad when posting cuts for over 100g, and I didn't have the time or patience to try taking it back.

So in liquid gold -- meaning a tally of all of the gold held by the Banker on his server -- I've reached 888,663g. Do I have 26,500g out on loan? Yes. Did I send 50,000g with the Main on his journey to Emerald Dream? Yes. Do I have another 17,000g sitting on an Alliance toon? Yes. But even if you add all of that up, I'm still shy of the cap.

Needless to say, this has been fun. I hope everyone who has read one or some of this series gained some insight, or had a laugh or two at my expense. I've never claimed to be doing it right, just claimed to be doing it. I've enjoyed writing about it, and will continue to do so, probably from different angles---I'm in no hurry whatsoever to make another million.

Gold-making is fun and rewarding, however, it's also time-consuming. I could easily log into the game and spend a chunk of the evening auctioning, crafting, prospecting, cancelling and re-posting. Coincidentally, now that I've reached the target date, I'm tired and want to be done with it! It's time to get back to playing alongside friends: chasing achievements, battling pets, raiding, leveling alts, and occasionally scoping the BMAH for things I can buy with my profits.

I'd like to say I'll continue to write about gold-making on a regular basis, but I'm not sure that's true. I've already alluded to the fact I'm meaning to take a break from any gold-making activities (once I do hit the cap, of course). Also, I'm not that great or efficient at it overall---'slow and steady wins the race' is my mantra. Lastly, there are plenty of other gold-makers out there who offer regular content and a larger amount of resources.

In closing, I'm going acknowledge those who've inspired or helped me along the way---these are the folks I'll be reading for the best gold-making tips; that is, once I'm ready to belly up to the auction house once more.

Nev @ Auction House Addict - If it weren't for Nev and her 20 Days of Gold Making series, I would've never written Chasing the Gold Cap. Though that series began in late December/January, just today I saw a blogger who tackled one of the 20 topics in my Twitter feed.

Elvine - The amount of resources this guy has is staggering. I did pick up some valuable transmog tips in the last few months here, and I have Elvine to thank for several thousand gold via armor sales. But that's just the tip of the iceberg. You can get lost in the forums, and that's not such a bad thing.

Phat Lewt's - Great info here, and he publishes content regularly. While podcasts and streams are great and all, I prefer to read as I can pick and choose where I want to go next. Time is money!

Til next time!

Chasing the Gold Cap Update #8: the final week

"If at first you don't succeed, drink yourself stupid and pass out in the streets." - the Banker

I've mentally checked out. While I would absolutely love to add my accounts receivable -- money borrowed to friends and/or located off-server -- to boost the final number, I just can't in good conscience. Like I said earlier on in this series, I knew full well I was in the midst of a personal competition when I sent away that money, accepting that risk in doing so.

Gold amount at last update: 830,972g
Auctioning activity between then and now: extremely low
Current gold amount: 848,914g
+/- Change: 17,942g

A week involving little posting activity has passed, and my profit shows it. Partially because the amount of gold remaining to hit the cap in seven days is staggering: 150,000g. Also partly because I've transferred the Main off-server, which has pulled my attention off Bonechewer as I get assimilated to a new server, guild and faction.

At this rate, I only need to pull in 21,500g every day for the remainder of this month in order to hit the gold cap. And that's likely to happen. Not. Currently, I'm considering making a last ditch attempt to close that gap. If I decide to go for it, I'll begin tonight, and the vast majority of my playtime will involve crafting, flipping and posting.

Since the amount of gold you can transfer with a character caps at 50,000g, I envision slowly spending the gold I've acquired on Bonechewer's BMAH, specifically on pets and mounts I've not yet collected.

All in all, I am a bit disappointed to be in this position right now, but excited still at the prospect of making a mad dash to the finish line. Either way, if I don't see 999,000 gold within a week's time, I'll still be chasing the gold cap on Bonechewer. It's a goal I've been ambling towards for the past nine months, and regardless of not hitting this goal, regardless of server transfers, I will get there, albeit casually.

Thanks for reading.

Chasing the Gold Cap Update #7: Two Week Notice

Well. A lot of things have happened since last post. Good things, and some terrible, terrible things. The kinds of things that make you not want to write. Or even get up in the morning. But we keep going. We've heard, and will continue to hear enough about the terrible things. So I'm going to talk about the good things as they relate to the subject of this blog.

Our raid group has essentially dissolved on Bonechewer. While some aspects are bittersweet, our core has moved server to be with a more organized and active guild. Overall, this has proved to be a very good thing. While the guild is still wrapping up their recruitment, it's become clear to me that this was the right decision to make. The guildies who've come along -- which has turned out to be 95% of them -- echo this sentiment.

For better or worse, the move has really put a dent in my resolve to hit the gold cap by the end of the month, especially while dealing with the unwitting market-crasher I mentioned in the last posts. I feel like I've given my two-week notice to Bonechewer and my list of characters remaining there: the Alt, the Enforcer, the Banker. Ones I have not yet named -- that's right: the Main is now an Alliance pandaren shaman. You won't find him on Bonechewer, but that deserves its own post. For all purposes, I've mentally checked out.

Gold amount at last update: 848,556g
Auctioning activity between then and now: quasi-moderate
Current gold amount: 830,972g
+/- Change: -17,854g

The nice chunk of cash known as the gold cap? Seems I couldn't wait, and after loading the Main up with sellables, the Banker sent him enough coin to reach the transfer cap of 50,000g -- which, of course, set me back a bit. Which also doesn't help when you're already behind. So! This likely ain't happenin'. Not by the end of the month. But that doesn't mean I'm not going to try. Given my current situation, the logical choice is...........HAVE A SALE!

I methodically went through every character I have on Bonechewer and posted every sellable likely to sell. I think at peak I had over 1,500 live auctions. I've sold quite a bit since then and have recouped more than 20,000g of the 50,000g I sent along with the Main. Though I'm not set to recover all of my costs, every bit helps. Though the gold cap is longer be attainable by the end of the month unless I get cute, I'm not going to stop auctioning.

Cause papa don't need more cute. Papa needs new shoes.

Chasing the Gold Cap Update #6: Panic Mode

Red button because Panic Mode (img src: WoWWiki)

Well now.

I've managed to speak with every single one of my main competitors in the glyph and gem markets. Mainly, I wanted to get a sense of their motivations, since I have a pretty clear goal in mind. My glyph competitor, a friendly warlock, seemed happy to "share" the market -- as he put it -- and even offered to whitelist me until the end of month! Whitelisting, for those unfamiliar, is when you essentially never undercut a certain player. Unfortunately, he didn't end up whitelisting me in the end. Thus, glyph sales have been mostly shite.

Gem markets have been equally terrible, and for better or worse, it IS one of my main competitors who is absolutely defecating all over the market -- and it's because she has a soft heart: she doesn't feel it's fair to players to post gems for, let's say, more than 100g. Nope. She feels bad for the players. How cute.

Market price be damned, she's resolved herself to listing damn near every single gem cut known to both man and goblin for a prices as low as 1/5th the crafting cost! IDKWTF to do other than resort to swearing via acronym. It's gotten so bad other players are reaching out to ME, as a big player in the market, in frustration. See the report below to get a sense of how this has affected my profit these last two weeks (hint: I've been averaging 37,000g per week up to this point).

Gold amount at last update: 805,255g
Auctioning activity between then and now: moderate to high
Current gold amount: 848,556g
+/- Change: 43,331g

That's just over half of what I average in one week. Problem is, it took me two weeks to acquire it.

I'm kind of out of ideas here. Truth is I was just planning on working just a wee bit harder to coast past my goal in time. Now I'm facing a situation where I need to work harder & smarter while taking risks. Fact is, the JC market killer isn't going anywhere without some coaxing. I'm considering buying her out -- along with another player -- and reposting at costs even lower than what she's been posting. She farms a good deal of her mats, and we'd like to ensure it's not worth her time. Yes, it entails a significant investment, a cutthroat attitude AND profit loss in the short-term with the potential to return the market back to a more balanced state...but desperate times call for it.

Wish me luck. I need it.

Chasing the Gold Cap Special Edition: You've got competition...now what?

Well, seems I've a bit of a problem on my hands.

In previous CtGC updates, I mentioned how I actually knew my main competitors in both the glyph and gem markets. Both are RID friends, and one even has a toon in our guild. My competition in the gem market has an empathetic heart, which causes her to choose to never post gems for more than 75g. While this practice confounds me, I ignore it and instead focus on the high-priced gems in the market.

My competitor in the glyph market? I want to unleash the most harsh-sounding, yet graceful tirade of curses right now. This player literally posts for 16-18 hours every single light-forsaken day...that ass is just like me! Within a few minutes of me posting my glyphs, they usually log on (if they're not on already) and undercut the majority of what I've posted.

ANGRY FARM KIDS! ADDER-FILLED KNICKERS! APACHE FUNK KNIVES!! I still don't feel better. Curses! CURSES!!!!! When you find yourself in this position, there's only so much cursing you should allot yourself before it becomes unproductive. Time IS money. Well, gold in our case. So if you're gonna complain, do it while you're cancelling and reposting auctions like I do.

But seriously. I've got a damn gold cap to hit and I've got four weeks to hit it. Doesn't my competition know that?!? Here are some things I'm considering in order to fight back. Perhaps they will be of use to you as well.

• Talk. Nothing is stopping me from whispering this player to get a feel for what's going on. Because the truth is that they are aware of me just as much as I'm aware of them. They're cancelling auctions just about as often as I am. Maybe we could work out a schedule so our efforts wouldn't involve pooping on the efforts of the other? Perhaps I could ask them to take a few weeks off while I make this final push for the gold cap? I don't know the answer to those questions. But it never hurts to ask.
  
  
• Dose them with their own meds. This is the route I'm currently taking. To be forthright, camping the auction house isn't practical, and it makes me feel dirty. Also, it can be a colossal waste of time, especially with respect to the glyph market. I do actually like to play the game. However, this is also psychological warfare, in a sense. You know that feeling you get when you see you're being undercut as soon as you post? They get that feeling, too. Control your reaction and exploit theirs.
  
  

• Research their posting habits and maneuver accordingly. This involves checking out The Undermine Journal. There, you can look up any player and get a snapshot of their auction house activity. This includes a heat map of when they post, the type of items they post as well as the volume posted.
  
  With this information, I know that my competitor prefers to go to sleep between 4am and 12pm local time, which indicates this player is being controlled by a real human being...not a bot. They show heavy posting shortly before bed (coinciding with the time I normally log off if I'm on at night), right after waking up in the morning (midday), and around suppertime/end of the work day. 
  
  They may or may not be employed, but if they are employed, it's at a place where they have access to the desktop version of the AH (like me); the volume they post and the rate at which they cancel and repost indicates they're not doing this activity via the mobile auction house or web interface.
  
  The key here is to maneuver in and post when you know you won't be undercut for a solid chunk of time. Given what I've learned above, if I wished to fully maximize my positioning, I'd post my glyphs at 4:30am, 8:00am (before heading to work), after they log off over the noon hour, and 5pm (end of work day). This, of course, while taking time to cancel and repost auctions during my normal play time.
   
• Choke them out. There are several ways to do this, and not of them screams "easy." I'd actually recommend this WoW Insider article from 2010. It talks about the advantages and disadvantages of "walling," as well as covers some strategies on how to drive your competition from the market by choking their supply. I haven't executed this strategy to date, but I've definitely not ruled it out. 

What about you? Any strats to add to the list?

Chasing the Gold Cap Update #5: Thanks but...why?

Found this in my mailbox earlier today.

It's been one of those weeks.

While managing not to send small sums of gold to random players, I've been maintaining a steady profit. In fact, this is probably one of the largest sums I've made over a two week period. It's surely the largest I've posted since I started keeping track for this Chasing the Gold Cap exercise.

Gold amount at last update: 716,084g
Auctioning activity between then and now: high
Current gold amount: 805,255g
+/- Change: 89,171g

There's been a resurgence in glyph sales. I've done well over 10k during these last two weeks, and that's mostly just by posting and leaving them to expire; I rarely scan the AH for undercut glyphs to cancel and repost like I do with gems. Whatever the reason for rise in demand, it's been a nice complement to the killing I've been making with jewelcrafting.

I have been pretty aggressive in the gem market, but I've also acquired some new competition. Normally no big deal, but the issue here is that he's a Real ID friend. Meaning we both get to see when the other logs on, presumably to post auctions. Up to this point, I hadn't decided whether this is a good or bad thing. It's a good thing. He's on his JC as I write this sentence, most definitely undercutting the auctions I posted earlier this morning. So as soon as he logs off of that toon, I'll cancel my auctions and undercut him. As a child of the Aughts might say, it's a Doggy Dogg world.

And there he goes.

Some notes, in no particular order:

• I'm not counting on seeing the 25k+ Vial of the Sands loan money. If I were being less strict about this exercise I'd simply pile it onto the final sum and mark it as an asset. But I chose to loan the gold fully aware of my gold cap chase deadline, which means I assume all risks. Including untimely/no repayment. 
• In recalling the last update, I remarked how the glyph market was doing surprisingly well, meaning it's been strong for about a month now.
• The transmog market has been quiet. I'm still occasionally buying up pieces on the cheap.

I need to have weeks like these past two. That happens and the cap is definitely in reach by the end of April. And I think I've figured out what I'm going to do with part of my profits: give them away. Perhaps randomly, perhaps in response to acts of kindness I witness...haven't decided the method, just the madness.

Read the first post
Read Update #1
Read Update #2
Read Update #3
Read Update #4

Chasing the Gold Cap Update #4: Ghost Iron Bore

Greetings! So 5.2 happened, and after spending an hour crafting, mailing, and cancelling and posting auctions on that first night, it dawned on me I must be friggin' crazy. All the activities I could've been engaged with at that very moment, I chose to ensure my gems were positioned at the most attractive market price. Charming. Within each driven pursuit there is a line that, once crossed, signals unhealthy addiction.

Gold amount at last update: 640,414g
Auctioning activity between then and now: moderate
Current gold amount: 716,084g
+/- Change: 75,670g

While I didn't carve out nearly as much auctioning time as I had in the weeks prior, the additional profit came via gems: the market, which had previously crashed, experienced periodic resurgences. For a brief period it became super economical to buy up Golden Lotus and send them to my transmute alchemist. Spend a grand, make four. Not a bad return.

Not-so-surprisingly, the Ghost Iron market hasn't moved much. If you've read gold-making tips in the lead-up to patch 5.2, you probably read about buying cheap Ghost Iron to resell for a profit post-patch. And there were probably dozens of disappointed investors scanning the auction house on patch night. The prices on my server are currently hovering just above their historical average. So what gives?

For starters, the Thunder Forge wasn't available to players when the patch went live, meaning there wasn't an immediate demand for extra Ghost Iron bars. Secondly, the new engineering mount recipe, which called for Ghost Iron, got pulled from the patch at the last second, with Blizzard providing no ETA on when engineers might see it in-game. And the new method to level blacksmithing from 1-525 quickly with Ghost Iron? Chances are leveling an alt blacksmith is a low priority for most players at the moment. There's also the chance that everyone followed the advice to "buy low" and now the market is flooded.

With this reality, I've been quelling panic by prospecting stack after stack of Ghost Iron to sell as cut gems. Luckily, the market has been receptive of this practice...for now. But, so far this week, the gem market hasn't been as volatile, which worries me, as I plan to lean on it heavily during this final push towards the gold cap.


Some notes, in no particular order: 

• I received 3k more in repayment for the Vial of the Sands loan. I'm hoping to be able to call on the remaining 26,500g before this all ends, as it may be the final bump I need to hit the cap!
• Was able to put together an Ox Deck from cards I had on my scribe. It sold immediately for 6.5k. To build it using cards purchased from the AH would've cost more than double that, but we all know no one pays that much for a Relic of Niuzao.
• A couple of weeks back I mentioned how someone seemed to have purposely tanked the gem market. Turns out, I wasn't too far off the mark: she posted her gems at 50g flat or lower with absolutely no regard for the current state of the market. How do I know this? One of her toons was recently recruited into our guild! Apparently, she's received quite a bit of hate mail from other gold makers regarding her practice. She apologized profusely to me, after which I assured her I wasn't "one of those types of gold-makers." 
• I've sold more glyphs than anticipated these last two weeks. I don't know why this is, but I'll allow it.   

When it comes to spending, I've been a good man. A very good man. I did purchase an Amber Scorpion with the Main, but that was with finances he earned all on his own. I've limited spending to fail-safe investments where the worst-case scenario is breaking even. Still, maintaining this current profit rate won't yield enough gold to reach the cap by the date of the final update, scheduled for May 1.

Three more Chasing the Gold Cap updates remain before the final post. There are four days between that last update and May 1st deadline during which I will be making an insanely huge push to hit the cap if I haven't already. That should be fun and enlightening in its own right. I'm also kicking around the idea of what to do with the gold once I've reached the cap, since being able to accumulate and save that amount of money is evidence that I don't really need it. Would like to do something for the community, and at the least, something meaningful for my guildies. Thoughts?

Read the first post
Read Update #1
Read Update #2
Read Update #3

Chasing the Gold Cap - Update #3: A penny saved

The above image was supposed to be taken with the Banker's concubines, but they may not actually exist.

I did it, kind of. Well, I didn't spend much gold in the past two weeks. At least, I didn't spend it on crap I didn't need. Not surprisingly, when you don't spend gold, it begins to accumulate. D'ya think it would work in real life but with teh moneys? Hmm...

(Yes. It works IRL, too.)

Gold amount at last update: 561,888g
Auctioning activity between then and now: moderate to high
Current gold amount: 640,414g
+/- Change: +78,526g

Even though I finally reached exalted with both the Shado-Pan and Klaxxi on the Main, I wouldn't allow the Banker to bankroll the mount purchases. I've managed to pay for the Shado-Pan mounts by just doing random stuff, but March will turn to May before I'll be willing to drop 7000g on a friggin' bug mount from the creepy bug people. Plus, I'm Horde: we already have a scorpion mount. Speaking of the Klaxxi, WTF was up with that "Your gods are not your gods" thing underneath Klaxi'vess? I know I'm a bit late to the soiree, but that line sort of gave me the shivers.

Moving forward, I may need an auctioneering equivalent to Bloodlust; while these last two weeks have been profitable, they weren't much better than the two weeks prior even though I've reported moderate-to-high auctioning activity. Granted, the profit from two weeks ago came at a time where the majority of cut gems on my server were selling for between 150g and 400g. Highway robbery, I know.

Some items of note, in no particular order:

• Sold the Relic of Xuen I purchased from a guildie last week. I am delighted to have made any profit, even 1000g.
• The 37k I borrowed to a guildmate for her Vial of the Sands? Still out 30k on that loan and it has been a month since she last made a payment. I'm not going to get that money back, am I? I kid. I'm sure it has simply slipped her mind. She'll remember at some point in the near future and apologize profusely. And probably pay me the rest of the debt right there. I just hope it's before the end of April.
• I'm not super well-versed in this whole market shift thing and what-not; currently on my server, the supply and demand of cut gems is such that one minute the gem sells for 25g---less than the going price of the raw gem it was cut from---and six to ten hours later sells for 275g. I've made lots of gold by paying a greater amount of attention to the gem market. Really. I made tens of thousands of gold just by monitoring it more. Hint. Hint.
• Been flipping here and there; lost several hundred gold trying to reset the Mysterious Essence market. But transmogs? It seems like a slow-but-steady trickle market akin to glyphs. Given the small investment I've made, I'd call it a success. However, because I've been regularly collecting auction proceeds and purchasing items through the mobile armory, my accounting addon isn't able to accurately track my sales. That means you'll have to take me at my word. The addon did record purchasing Overlord's Gauntlets for 3g75s, which I promptly resold for 855g. That, my friends, is what I call a Critical Profit.
• Invested roughly 5k gold in ore and Golden Lotus in anticipation of 5.2. Invested, not spent. It's diction, baby.
  
  

See you in two weeks!

Read the Intro Post
Read Update #1
Read Update #2

Chasing the Gold Cap - update #2: a spending problem

That's it. Hand over the debit card.

At face value, it appears I didn't do too horribly. Unlike what I reported last time, I'm posting a net gain today. But on seeing my two-week yield, veteran gold makers may laugh. Scoff. Chuckle. Tee-hee. Pshhh. 50,000g. That's like, the amount the biggun's pull in over the course of a day. Truth is, even as a casual seller my net gain could've been one hell of a lot bigger.
   
Gold amount at last update: 510,051g
Auctioning activity between then and now: moderate
Current gold amount: 561,888g
+/- Change: +51,837g
 
This week's confession: gains aside, I spent roughly 25,000g on items not related to gold making in the past two weeks, and technically I have 30,000g out on loan. Still, the 51k net gain I posted surprises me given how my main markets---jewelcrafting and inscription---have absolutely tanked. I've started to research flipping---buying to resell at a higher price---but I haven't been able to subdue my penchant for avoiding risk when it comes to spending gold. 50,000g for a Brawler's Guild invite on launch night? A tangible reward, and worth it. 5,000g on AH items to immediately list to try to make a profit? That's when I start sweating.

Some items of note, in no particular order:

• Paid a guildmate 2,500g for a extra Pandaren Air Spirit he had in his collection; the next day, a spirit he didn't have dropped for me, so I proposed a straight up swap. He happily agreed, but must've spent a grand because he only sent back 1,500g. Or he forgot. Oh well.
• Of the 37,000g I loaned to a guildmate for her Vial of the Sands, I've received a total of 7,500g in repayment. This will provide nice boost towards the cap when I get it back.
• Sold the Mechano-hog, breaking even on that investment. 
• Reached Exalted status with both the August Celestials and the Golden Lotus last week. Normally I'd be all like "Yay!" but my current situation warrants a "but...but...don't let it be over I want to grind more!" because finishing those reps meant a 7,000g mount from the Celestials and three mounts totaling 3,100g from the Golden Lotus. Yay.
• Sold an Eight of Cranes for 9,477g. Yes, a single Eight of Cranes, not the entire deck. My TSM Darkmoon Cards group has a fallback of around 10,000g, and someone paid it. I've added the buyer to my friends list as I'm considering offering them a partial refund, however, I have yet to see them online.
• A guildmate was looking to sell a Relic of Xuen with the intention to use the cash to purchase the Traveler's Tundra Mammoth from Mei Francis in Dalaran, specifically for the mount's armor repairing capabilities. I bought it for an undermarket price of 12,000g. Initially I thought I'd save it for my up-and-coming rogue, but quickly realized you idiot, you're supposed to be hitting the gold cap by the end of April so it's currently on the AH with the rest of the lot. Truthfully, I'm just hoping to break even.

TL:DR: Failing to reign in spending means I've managed an average of a measly 4,000g net gain per week over the course of the last four weeks. People make more without trying. Yikes. I need to get my act together. Quick-like if I am to hit my goal. February's not going to wait for me and come March we'll all be elbows deep in Patch 5.2. No goals for the next two weeks, only a mandate: no spending on goods unrelated to money-making. Here goes.

Read the Intro Post
Read Update #1
Read Update #3

Chasing the gold cap: update #1

When Nev from Auction House Addict threw down the gauntlet and challenged the community to write about their gold-making goals, I answered! Several times now. In the process of editing the goal piece, I realized I haven't really been in the habit of tracking my gold-making progress. So that's what I'm aiming to do once every two weeks. Mostly to chronicle specifically why I'm not hitting the gold cap. Because of stupid stuff like this. And the Black Market Auction House. It calls to me, even now.

Gold amount at last update: 545,336g
Auctioning activity between then and now: moderate to low
Curent gold amount: 510,051g
+/- Change: -35,285g

My commentary after the break.

Chasing the gold cap in a material world

This entry exists thanks to Nev of Auction House Addict and She Rides Dragons. In her post "20 Days of Gold Making," she suggests topics and invites the community to write on them. Today, I look at gold-making goals.

By the time I'd accumulated my first 20,000 gold in profit, it was early on in the Wrath of the Lich King expansion. Yeah, I know. I move fast. I'd transitioned well beyond flipping arcanite bars and had diversified into another market: gems through prospecting and transmutes and of course, still selling everything else I picked up along the way. 

Though my memory is naturally fuzzy, I know I wasn't thinking about the gold cap at the time. Hell, I may not have even heard about it. It wasn't something to shoot for then. I was happy with 20,000g, and though I'd soon spend most of it on some items I needed for my main, including the Traveler's Tundra Mammoth, I knew I had to earn back that 20,000g soon in order finance my cost of living raiding. That's when I started ramping up my auction house activities.

After a few weeks, I was back at 20. Then 25. Then 30. Then 50. Wasn't spending much time---half hour a day---but it was paying off. Slow and steady can win this race. But that was years ago. And as we grow and change, so do our aspirations.

Soon enough the gold cap I once cared nothing for reared up. I'd crested 100,000g and knew that 500,000g was within my grasp. If that were possible, why not just double it and cap gold on a toon? I was at the halfway point before Cataclysm's end, but I just couldn't stop buying things. Things I absolutely had to have---a mount, membership to an exclusive club and a secret gift---which in total cost me 250,000g.

Don't panic. I know what I'm doing. No I don't. But I've got everything under control once again, and there's nothing left for me to throw my gold at---well, almost nothing. So...I've set a new goal: gold-capped by the end of April. Yes, I know, I don't set the bar too high, but it works for me. That's how I am, and that's how I'll hit it: casually.

Hopefully, no one will hold me to it. I'd bet some gold on it, but you know me. I'm trying to save money.

Read Update #1
Read Update #2
Read Update #3