Ask A Gold Guru 1/14/11

Posted by The Lost Meeple at 11:00 AM

Another week has gone by and I've gotten a couple excellent e-mails from everyone, I've picked out three that i think are awesome. Stay with me, one is especially lengthy, but It's full of information!

First up we have a reader who is going to transfer to another server soon and asks what tips can you offer?
" Greetings Mageshadow!

I have been a long time reader of JMTC (about 3 months) and have started reading The Gnomish Coin a month or two ago(until you became content manager for JMTC =D). I am a successful budding auctioneer on my realm of Thaurissan Horde - Oceanic. I started out with 50k gold pre cata and post cata I have grown my portfolio to 180k gold by making use of the glyph, bags(massive stockpile), the new gems, lowbie enchants, and tailoring gear markets. I also flip anything from volatiles to buying embersilk cloth/obsidium ore, and reselling as bolts/ folded obsidium. I have recently discovered that I like playing the auction house more than I like raiding and pvp'ing. I camp the AH 8 hours a day buying deals only occasionally changing toons to use my up my rested xp to level my toons to 84.

I am such a fan of the AH game that I have every profession available (except skinning) over 6 characters with 3 alchemists (xmute, potion, and elixir masters). I have 3 dedicated banker toons and 1 cross faction banker toon. Once i get all(not including the banker toons ofcourse) of them to 84, I plan to be in every market and dominate my server.

As of the moment I have been out of the game(for almost a week now) because of some billing issues I need to resolve with Blizzard, but I will be back some time this week.

Now enough about me, let's talk about the question I want to ask =)

Over the time I have been out of the game, I have been doing some thinking and I have decided that I would like to transfer servers. Not just one or two toons, but I want to transfer ALL my six toons to be with my friends who had transferred a long time ago.

I have studied this server I wish to transfer to(Bonechewer Horde - US) by making a low level toon and checking their AH. Their market seems to be slower than the one I am currently in. My current server is listed as a high population realm(with one of the most severe horde - alliance ratio imbalances of all the servers - rumor has it at 21-1 not kidding!) while bonechewer is listed as a medium population realm with a rumored 2-1 ratio. So as you can see, me being a hardcore hordie, this is a significant blow to my future market pool.

My question is, have you experienced realm transfers or studied the effects of said transfers from varying population realms? In my server I could easily pull 20k gold in one night(since cata atleast) and I am wondering how much different it would be if I transferred to this new realm.

This is really a huge thing for me because I have only recently mastered(well, not really =p) the AH game and now I have to learn my market all over again. This transfer is actually not optional, it's a MUST for me! Any advice you could give would be very much appreciated =) Thanks! "

- Ahcamper

I answered Ahcamper's question with the following response:
" An excellent e-mail on a great topic. If you're looking to transfer to another server you will first want to "scope" out the servers AH, check the prices for items, see what you can buy for cheap on your current realm and then sell for profit once you're on the realm of your liking.

Don't scope the AH once and think that those are the prices for the server, check 4-5 times before you make a decision, as prices will most likely vary every time. With the gold transfer limit being 50,000g now at 85, depending on how much you're going to have to spend will vary from person to person, but you will you want to bring over items that are either:

• Expensive & Yield a nice return
• Cheap but in MASS quantity

Either one will be okay of course you can bring over a mass quantity of epics, but you could try bringing over items such as herbs, ores and even volatiles. You could try to bring epics, but that will vary from server to server, if you can get some for cheap, try it out.

Since you said the server is lopsided, it seems that Cross faction would be an excellent way to make gold. Check the prices for on both sides and see what you can sell cross faction for profits. Since one side has more you should be able to get items like herbs and ores for cheap, while the other side isn't going to have much supply, hence creating an excellent gold making opportunity. "

Best of luck,
Mageshadow

Up next we have a reader who is concerned about Auctioneer's old data affecting his/her prices and asks, what's the easiest way to wipe auctioneers data?
" Hi Markco (and Mageshadow),

Thanks for all the thought provoking content you consistently publish in
whatever media.

My question is threefold: When, why and how do you reset your Auctioneer
database and start afresh?  I'm not trusting my Auctioneer data just yet as I am
still watching prices settle on my server (e.g. Cards in the stones deck still
plummetting having gone from 3.5k to only 300-500g over the last 2 weeks).  I'm
keen to know when I can start trusting the data and set my cut-offs for buying
and selling so my manufacturing turns a profit.  Unfortunately I don't have the
time to keep doing the maths every day to work out if something is worth
crafting/buying the recipe for/selling.  This also makes it hard to plan and
stockpile for future crafting and profit.   "
- Shellicus

I answered Shellicus's question with the following response:
" When? After cataclysm would of been a good time, actually, right now is good too, as you'll want to get rid of some of that old LK data.
Why? Because you don't want to think that XX is selling for let's say 15g when XX is actually going for 200g ( think Primordial Saronite ). Old data doesn't help you much, especially when it's outdated. You're going to want updated prices from Cataclysm
How? There are a couple ways to do so, the simplest being to delete auctioneer, then completely reinstalling the addon.

I know it's a short responce, but I will be writing up a post on this VERY soon. Thanks for the tip/advice/question! "

Best of luck,
Mageshadow

Last but not least we have a reader who's being paying Wow for a year but has some issues making gold and is wondering which alt/profession combo would be best to level up to make gold with.

" Hey Markco,
First off I wanted to thank you for the gold sites and podcast u keep up. I recently received your email about "asking the gold guru", so I am taking advantage of this.

I have been playing wow for about a year now and about 5 months ago found out that gold is a necessity for higher level toons in the game. I bought your 20k leveling guide & I follow the podcast religiously, I search the forums every now and then, especially when I need to find out some information. The problem that i keep coming across I can't really make the gold I want to have. My goal is to be gold caped! During the recent expansion release, I mined as much as i could and made about 20k gold from selling ore and getting a friend to prospect the ore. I was wondering if you could help me to make more gold.

The "tools" I currently have
85 | 525 | Miner & BS
83 | 525 | Skinning & 470 LW
65 | 450 | Scribe & 374 herb
50 | 385 | JC & 297 Engi
32 | 225 | Alchemy
27 | 225 | Tailoring & Enchanting

I have the mobile AH on my phone and I can pretty much can access it all day long. I am trying to farm, as it's the best way for me to make gold right now. Ebonsteel belts are going for about as much as the mats cost and i really haven't found any other item that make good gold over the mats.
On my leather worker I am selling wrath leg armors, for about 250-350g fur is about 50g each and i stocked up on ice scales. I normally sell about 1 per day. I was just wondering if you had any insight.

Also i am going to hit 85 on my 83 and was wondering what toon you would level up next or what profession? Thanks "
- Austan

I answered Austan's question with the following response:
" I would level up your Jewelcrafting. Currently, It's making me a killing by buying cheap ore, prospecting it, making rings from what I can, and then later DE'ing the crafted rings. Read more about this method here.

Have you tried to sell folded obsidium at the AH? It's a great way to make some extra gold as other BS's need a lot of it. I've made a killing by selling folded obsidium.

Great job selling the old LK leg enchants, I'm sure you're making a killing off them as most likely you have zero competition. You could try to level your LW and turn in heavy savage leather for pristine hides. Check the prices for pristine hides, and then check the pricing on savage leather. Turn the 50 Savage Leather into 10 Heavy Savage Leather and turn them in for 1 pristine hide. If it all works out well, you should be making a ton of gold. "

Best of Luck,
Mageshadow

Well that's it for this week folks! Keep sending me e-mails and I will try to respond to all of them, if they're good enough they will be posted on the next weeks Ask a gold guru!