This question is something I see all the time:
Do I have to be the lowest priced item to sell?
The answer is an emphatic...
NO.
I rely on simple mathematics to sell my goods: If an item is worth X amount I sell it for X amount, even if seven idiots are selling it for X-Y amount.
You see, if an item is valued by the playerbase and purchased frequently, then people will snatch up those cheaper priced goods and eventually get to mine. Who makes more money? The undercutter or me who posted them at normal value?
Let's have fun with some more math.
The auction house takes 5% of your profits, so if you buy an undercutter who is posting at X-6% and you resell it for X, you will make 1% of X off the sale.
Let's make that easier to read shall we? We'll use Abyss crystals because I love to do this with them.
Abyss crystal, my price: 100 gold.
Undercutter price: 94 gold.
Auction house cut of 100 gold: 5 gold.
So if I buy out the person selling for 94 gold and resell for 100 gold, I will make 1 gold.
Let's say I buy out 10 abyss crystals at 88 gold, and relist them two at a time for 100 gold each. Sure more undercutters appear, but eventually over a 48 hour period my auctions will sell and I'll repost as they do.
GOOD LUCK!
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15 comments: on "Do I have to be the lowest priced item to sell?"
Kring said... April 15, 2009 at 8:46 AM
That works only with items who cannot be produces for less than 100g.
I think abyss is a good example, all other enchanting mats would be bad for this. Right?
Bill said... April 15, 2009 at 9:37 AM
If the demand is high enough it would work. However, most enchanting mats are so easy to come by compared to Abyss Crystals. So in most cases it wouldn't work.
Markco said... April 15, 2009 at 10:08 AM
This is just simple mathematics, I used abyss crystals because they go for 100 gold which makes the math easier to display.
Anonymous said... April 15, 2009 at 10:22 AM
Hey does anyone know when there will be a version of Carbonite Quest Helper to use with 3.1? Im kinda lost without it :(.
Anonymous said... April 15, 2009 at 10:51 AM
Anyone know a mail addon which did not break with the patch? Postal is gone and I need a new one.
Thanks
Jaime said... April 15, 2009 at 11:48 AM
So you list all your auctions as 48 hour auctions? I was told by a gold guru on our server that he lists everything for 12 hours. Is there a hard and fast rule for things you should post as 48 vs. 12?
Markco said... April 15, 2009 at 12:03 PM
12 hours make your buyer feel a sense of urgency, so if used correctly it can be amazingly effective.
Grinton said... April 15, 2009 at 12:41 PM
On a completely unrelated matter, with 3.1 having just come out and auctioneer having just been updated, how to update everything without losing the scans and data I've collected over the last little while as I upgrade my addons?
Markco said... April 15, 2009 at 1:17 PM
You may want to start over grinch, many items have seen serious value changes.
Artemicia said... April 15, 2009 at 3:39 PM
If something has a free/negligible deposit, I'll almost always list it for 48 hours. If it's got a more expensive deposit, it depends. There are items that probably won't sell at all if they don't sell in 12 hours because of undercutting. For example, I like to put Icescale and Frosthide armor kits up for 12 hours if I hit one of the sweet spots when there aren't any on the AH. I'll put one up at 120% of regular price or so. Sometimes someone gets a new pair of pants before I get undercut, and I come out with an extra 30-40g. Sometimes not, and then I'm only out 30s instead of 1g20.
Sparks said... April 15, 2009 at 6:37 PM
I do shorter auctions on my enchanting mats since there's no fee involved. It allows me to react quicker to fluctuations without having to cancel/repost.
Anonymous said... April 15, 2009 at 8:24 PM
Markco , i just wanted to inform you about this ingame bug on patch 3.1
I don't know if you know it but at the moment Track system is pretty messed up.I am a miner and a herbalist myself , if i use one of my 2 tracks(herbs or minerals)then i can see both.That means if i have Find herbs on , i track herbs and veins on the same time on my minimap.
~Darkdemon
That was i was making almost 500g per icecrown run.You can translate that to 1000-1500g/hour in night hours 12+(you must be very lucky to make 1500 but still.)
Frozen lotus sell for 45g each on my realm , i got only 5.But i got many scarlet rubies and other rare gems and many ores too that can prospect or sell.
Gauri said... April 15, 2009 at 10:58 PM
Grinch - on the auctioneer site there are directions on how to back up your data and save it..but I don't believe you lose your data when you update. I updated today and still have my numbers.
Unknown said... April 16, 2009 at 12:03 AM
hey, this is just a thought, but say you were to buyout the abyss crystals, and repost them, you may only be making 1g per auction, but aren't you fixing the prices (keeping them at 100g)? As long as supply isn't so huge it may be the desirable outcome.
David Alexander said... April 17, 2009 at 12:54 PM
For slow selling (expensive) items or items that do not get bought in multiples, you absolutely have to be the lowest priced. For consumables (or any other items bought in bulk) you should place your auctions 1c cheaper than the first large batch of items that probably won't sell out fast.
I am very agressive about defending my markets. I buy out anything too cheap and either store or relist it, which has meant 100 abyss crystals in the bank at times, but I kept ours 30g more expensive than alliance on the same server.
I am even more agressive about the glyph market. I buy out any of the good seller glyphs if they are 7g (per ink) and relist them, sometimes I'll buy out a 15g one if it means I can then list at 30-40g.
You can't control infinite dust or GCE, but that price is largely tied to the supply of eternal earth (and shadow to a lesser extent).
re: listing length.
if the deposit is negligible then list 48 hours and cancel when you are undercut. Otherwise 12 hours. Any other method is wrong.
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