20 days of gold-making: a wrap-up

This will be my final post as part of the 20 Days of Gold Making series.

After crawling out of the bottomless cavern Blizzard affectionately refers to as pet battles and grimacing at the searing pain mere light inflicts on my eyeballs, I was surprised and happy to see Nev's 20 Days of Gold Making Challenge still thriving and, even more, the list of participants growing. By my count, twenty days had passed, but to be fair I don't really know how these things work. I'm just grateful she suggested such a challenge.

In addition to connecting with and learning about other gold makers both casual and hardcore, Nev's exercise nudged me towards organizing my own approach: I now at least have an idea about the sorts of things I'll write about in this space. Chasing the Gold Cap was borne out of answering a question about goals, and I'm having a ridiculous amount of fun writing it. So thank you, Nev, and to all of the participants who answered, shared, tweeted, retweeted and connected with one another.

If you have a WoW blog you keep current, you can bet I'll be a reader. If you're not listed amongst the blogs below, please leave me a comment...I'd like to see what you're doing. Be warned: I'm a lurker. If you see hits from Wisconsin in your analytics, that could be me.

Current Reading List
Most of these aren't strictly gold-making blogs, though some did participate in Nev's 20 days. Please check them out.

Admiring Azeroth
Alternative Chat
Auction House Addict
Curse of Exhaustion
Elvine
Grown Up Gamer
Memoirs of a Pet Collector
Phat Lewt's
To All the Squirrels
Vault of Light
Way of the Totem
WoW Tipper

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!

Fresh start: tips for a new gold maker

img : fewyn@wowhead

Another in a series answering select questions from Nev's 20 Days of Gold Making. In this piece I dish out some things I wish I would've known when I first embarked on my gold-making journey.

So, "gold maker." You want to get rich fast, do ya? You want to be part of the one-percent. You think you have what it takes? Are you prepared to sweat and toil day in and day out in the ripe air of the auction house? With the gnomes and/or goblins making those funny faces at you? Are you prepared for the auctioneers to lobby accusations at you, calling you LOITERER, LIAR and THIEF! In the words of Illidan, no, you are NOT...

Sorry. I get carried away sometimes. I blame it on great coffee. But I digress...and since I've wasted enough of your time with this intro, what follows are bits of info I wish I would've known right from the start of my gold-making journey. Be forewarned that these tips are meant for a person who actually likes to play the game and not spend the majority of their time camping auction houses. This doesn't involve speculation, flipping, or farming. This is for the noob. Let's start slow and work our way up.

950g Later

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 recount my biggest "oops" moment.

Ka-ching!

That's the sound of a cash register. The sound the addon iSold makes whenever one of my character's auctions sells. I find it to be a soothing sound. A regular reminder that while in flight, battling pets, or even while tabbed out of the game, I am making gold.

One time, though, I can remember that sound eliciting panic and dread. Ka-ching! I glanced down at the chat dialogue and read:

A buyer has been found for your auction of Skullflame Shield.

img: wowhead

That's the Skullflame Shield, pictured at right. It's a Vanilla-era world drop. It has a chance to drop from 69 different mobs, and Wowhead lists the best drop rate as 0.06%. The Undermine Journal lists a US Horde average going rate of over 16,000g. So why was I filled with panic and dread on seeing it sell?

I'd literally just listed it. Within the previous five minutes. In fact I'd been listing it over the previous three weeks while deciding whether I should hold onto it for my warrior's transmog outfit. If it didn't sell after a while I'd take it as a sign from the gods that my warrior should have it.

The item once in my possession was no more, and there were two possible explanations for why the shield sold as quickly as it did. Either I'd been extremely lucky or I'd made a serious error.

Should I ever be fortunate enough to loot another Skullflame Shield, it's going to my warrior.

 

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

Arcanite Bars & Me

Martinfury, banker extraordinaire! (est. 2005, pictured in 2012)

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 revisit when I started making gold & what triggered it. 

I know the value of a gold coin.

My introduction to Azeroth happened in late 2005 at the hands of a friend. The better part of the next two years in-game were spent wandering around aimlessly, totally enamored, waving to everyone I encountered and dying too much. I didn't quite know what to expect of Azeroth, nor how much a part of my life it would become.

At the time, 10 gold seemed like a lot of money. There were many instances when leveling up my first character where I didn't have enough coin to foot a repair bill. I remember reaching level 40 and not having anywhere near the amount of money---a whopping 90 gold coins---to purchase a mount and the required riding skill. I nearly reached level 60 before I had earned enough.

But towards the end of the Burning Crusade, I had accumulated enough gold to not have to worry if I'd have enough for mount purchases, gems and enchants. It wasn't a fortune, and it arrived via slow, steady accumulation; one made possible by the occasional auctioning of extra stuff I found in my character's bag from leveling through Outland. See, I wasn't actively trying to made gold.

Almighty arcanite.

Then, patch 2.4 happened. Which, at the time, meant absolutely nothing to me as a player, other than the release of the Magister's Terrace 5-man. Well, that and the removal of the 24-hour cooldown on Transmute: Arcanite. Up til then, I'm not sure my transmute alchemist had ever made an arcanite bar. On a whim, I visited the auction house where I found a surplus of cheap thorium bars and arcane crystals---the mats I needed to make arcanite bars. So I went at it.

The mat supply remained steady for the next couple of months, as did the demand for arcanite bars. Why? Didn't know then, don't know now and don't care. What I do know is auctioning arcanite bars provided the largest amount of gold I'd ever made in the shortest amount of time. Though the scheme lasted only a couple of months, the lesson was apparent: investing a little time in the right area could net a significant profit. I realized there was a potential to make more gold than I'd ever need.

And that's how I, too, became an auction house addict.