Tip the light fantastic

Posted by J.E. Douglas at 8:00 AM

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I hope this entry finds you enjoyed the afterglow of the Christmas holidays.   Preparations for the New Years bash has  begun as well in your future.    Nothing like spending the new year nursing a hangover and exploring the world of gold making in Azeroth.

Something that both new and experienced crafters learn quickly;   there will be a time that you expect a large tip for your efforts.  Only to find that the person thanks you with a tip of the cap and a thank you.   Somehow not realizing just how much you invested in the pattern,  and leveling your profession to its maximum ability.    Their newly crafted items equipped and ready for action.  

The definition of a "tip" is a gratuity.  By definition it is optional to give a tip  if you have an item crafted for you.  Etiquette would say that if you have a task performed,  then a tip should be offered.   Problems arise many times when the 10g tip that used to be a large amount of money in game during the burning crusade expansion is no longer appropriate in cataclysm.   Inflation of quest rewards and easier availability to obtain gold has raised the expectation of crafters.   But many times those asking for the items have not changed with these times.   Multiple times i have taken the time to answer a request for an epic item crafting in trade,   only to be offered 5g in tip.   In my mind I jokingly will say 'I do not even go over to the other side of orgrimmar for less than 100g'.

If your tips have not been to your expectation,  it may be time to go ahead and explain that there is a crafting fee for your time and effort.   Sometimes where there is a large amount of competition for items (Rare Gem cuts etc) this might not be the best technique to use.   Finding yourself with one of the only trained crafters with a specific pattern would change the idea of asking for a 100g or more crafting fee.   Just be careful to know what your server population will support.  Making sure that you do not quickly drive yourself out of the market.

Supply and demand should be your main drive in understanding when to ask for a crafting fee.  And when to just invest your own mats and put the item up on the AH and not worry about non tipping customers at all.



Want to get in contact with me? . Email me at Dragonbearjoe @ gmail. dOT com or find me on twitter at  "@Dragonbearjoe" or leave a comment here.   You can find me hanging out on the Shandris Server,  chat me up and I will buy you a glass of juice.

Past articles by Mommar:

Tis the season to be goblins

My rod shall comfort thee.. and make gold

Your milage may vary

Would the owner of the saronite please stand up?

Stars are full of gold

You got your jewelcrafter in my alchemist

join the fun ... buy the t-shirt

The Stars are full of Gold

Posted by J.E. Douglas at 8:00 AM

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For the 5th day straight I was raking in a large amount of gold on my server.   While letting one of my add-ons sort things out,   a conversation started with one of my group cartel members.   We have actively been keeping an eye on Gem sales to make sure that they don't get too low.

The topic of the conversation was how much gold is too much gold.   Both of us had gold capped

before patch 4.2.   And as with many people,   collecting and reposting becomes more of a chore instead of something that's necessary for raiding or PVE quests.   Every mount on the AH is available at a click,  every pet yours for the buying.   Gearing up a raiding alt is just a few clicks away.  Even faster if you have the needed crafting skill to make items.

As warcraft matures,  the economy becomes more saturated with your wow millionaires.  As more gold making websites,  and gold making guides like Markcos gold guide become popular,   there will be a continued amount of movers and shakers on server economies.

Blizzard every so often will issue a "money dump" to level the playing field.  But advanced gold makers will always have an advantage over people who aren't able to amass large amounts of wow riches.   The question is truly what can someone do with their gold.  I"m going to give you 5 ideas to spark some ideas of your own.  Two of these I did myself,  and others were suggested from others.

1.     Buy a specific mount for every one of your raiders (My personal choice is the Mechano-hawg)

2.     Host your own trivia show on trade channel with varying amounts of prizes

3.     Drop 10k gold on a random level 1 player in a starting area.  

4.     Powerlevel all of your alt characters to max level

5.     Buy random pets to everyone in a specific area

There comes a time in every gold makers run to figure out a new way to entertain or challenge themselves.  Creating a new goal besides wow millionaire status will extend your enjoyment in

auction house PVP.    Plus everyone needs a cool show of all their guild members on hawgs don't they?

Want to get in contact with me? . Email me at Dragonbearjoe @ gmail. dOT com or find me on twitter at  "@Dragonbearjoe" or leave a comment here.   You can find me hanging out on the Shandris Server,  chat me up and I will buy you a glass of juice.

Links to Previous articles

You got your jewelcrafter in my alchemist

join the fun ... buy the t-shirt

Tools of the Trade

Goodbye Darkmoon Faire

Freud never said anything about warcraft gold

Between Deathwing and panda invasion

Cataclysm Farming Spots Nerfed

Posted by Markco at 8:00 AM

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Several key cataclysm farming spots have been severely nerfed, all of which have been talked about on this site (sometimes the day of the nerf!).

• Volatile Fire Lava Pools in Hyjal
• Bats in Deepholm
• Crazed Engineers in Uldum

These were all sensational farming spots until they were nerfed, and you can bet your ebonsteel belt loops that blizzard will continue to nerf any farming spots that yield more than average results per hour.

How can you possibly make gold in an environment where farming is frowned upon? Perhaps now is the time to turn to the auction house...

Every single person reading this post has their own view point, their own playstyle and most importantly, their own gold making problems. The single most important failure of gold guides out there is that they do not understand this. They believe that writing a guide which solves the most generic and frequently occurring problems which auctioneers face will be successful. What's worse, they assume that your problems must be those of the generic and frequently seen kind.

Perhaps you have been upset with your inability to make gold. Maybe you are super frustrated as well. Case in point: I recently had an ongoing discussion with a buyer of 20k Leveling who was having a lot of trouble figuring out how to put the strategies within it to work. He mentioned that he didn't feel "smart enough" to apply the content of the guide but when I showed him some of the easier and surefire methods for making gold he said that he was beyond them. What he needed was a very unique solution for his particular problem. After some prodding I began to realize that his problem was a fear of using addons to make gold. I couldn't teach him to use them because of this fear, and he wanted a way to make gold without them and without farming. Due to this player's unique situation I decided to start developing a baby steps chapter for the guide, which will go into showing you how to make gold with very simple methods that slowly ramp up to the bigger stuff. I thought that I had already done this but apparently the step up from the earlier sections of auctioneering to the "Identify, Diversify and Automate" chapter was too big for some. By making a chapter which looks more like a series of homework assignments, I think that I can get those too timid to try the strategies some much needed help.

I was also recently asked for a spreadsheet of all profession crafted items and materials... so I spent 5 hours putting one together. You'll find it in chapter 9 - page 5 of the guide and it is down-loadable and I will be updating it frequently throughout cataclysm. Just enter the market value of the materials and the rest is done for you!

Unlike any other guide writer out there, I understand that your gold making quandary is unique. Yes I try to solve the most generic issues that every auctioneer has to face, but I also recognize the fact that you will need your own personal solution(s). Sometimes you can come up with this on your own thanks to the detailed concepts in the cataclysm gold guide, but every once in a while you will be that one unique snowflake who needs a new angle on the same problems that others have solved using the gold guide. That's the difference which 20k Leveling brings that no other guide comes close to providing.


Do you find that you are struggling to understand the concepts for auctioneering? What are you struggling with or did you struggle with at one point?

PS: Are you interested in selling 20kleveling? Even if you don't have a blog or website, you can make money spreading the word about 20kleveling and helping other auctioneers learn to play the ah with my guide's help. You can learn more at the affiliate area of 20kleveling.

Cataclysm - Auction House Sluggage... Liquidate?

Posted by Markco at 8:00 AM

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Is it time to slow down making gold in wow?

NO WAY. I've been running full tilt making hand over fist because so many auctioneers have decided to take a break until cataclysm. I ask them why and they say they're bored or just tired or whatever reason they can come up with. I understand that the content is currently a little slugish and the game is no where near as entertaining as it will be when cataclysm launches, but why not take advantage of a thriving auction house in the mean time?


It pays to be different.

While others are emptying guild banks or taking a break until cataclysm I'm plugging away selling everything I can at insane markups. The farmers are still out there looking for people to buy their goods and new toons are constantly hitting level 80 regardless of whether you take a break or not. Many people are telling you to dump your items now while you still can. I'm saying don't you dare and you better take advantage of those that do!

Click to Continue Reading...

5 Tips to Making 1 Million Gold in Cataclysm - Tip #5

Posted by Markco at 8:00 AM

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Tip #5: Investing Long Term and Selling Short Term

Initially, there will be a huge rush for items and you should try your best to get everything you can up there for maximum profit. Relist your stock a lot and often. You don't have to get into bidding wars, but watch for people pushing your stock by multiple pages of items. Setup QA3 and go nuts during cataclysm's release.

You will want to keep about 20% of your stock (unless you are just making an absolute killing) for inflation. Although you may think you are making killer amounts of gold, there is a chance that inflation will set in and become even better than what you're selling during release week. I sold fade leaf for 45 gold a stack during the crazy days of inscription's release week, and yet now I see it sell for 50 gold + some days. Inflation is an amazing tool, use it and don't ignore the possibility of it occurring over time. By making 80% of your sales early on, you will cut all your investment losses and be healthily in the black. But trust me on this... what you think is a lot of gold at the start of cataclysm will be a small amount of gold, however you have to take advantage of the demand and sell off most of your stock or you'll be left with mats until the end of cataclysm! Especially if you are planning on stockpiling like I am.

5 Tips to Making 1 Million Gold in Cataclysm - Tip #4

Posted by Markco at 8:00 AM

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Tip #4: What not to do... that you think will make sense

Mithril spurs and any other patterns.

At first you would say... oh boy recipes will help people level faster! Especially those recipes that are perfect for saving money while leveling a profession like the famous mithril spurs! Wrong. Well, sort of. Most likely wrong. Here's why: Blizzard is changing the way we level professions in cataclysm, so odds are those recipes will no longer be necessary, while the materials we would be using to power level anyway will always be necessary for leveling.

Skinning knives

Worgens use their claws... don't try to sell skinning knives...

Wrath, bc, old world shards (as discussed in tip #3)

As discussed before, these will not be used in bulk by the enchanting leveling population.

Saving Up Gold

You may think it makes sense to build up a nice pile of gold in preparation for cataclysm but you would be incorrect. Investing will make more gold per hour right now than continuing to craft and sell your normal goods

5 Tips to Making 1 Million Gold in Cataclysm - Tip #3

Posted by Markco at 8:00 AM

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Tip #3: Enchanting Mats (old world, bc, but not wrath)

I originally stated in an old post that I would hang on to all wrath mats, I've decided against "all" wrath mats. There will be new recipes that will remove the need for wrath mats, except for dust and essences. Get those if you want, but don't focus on any shards,old world, bc, and especially wrath ones.

The dust is the main seller, followed by the essences for all levels of enchanting. The shards are usually rarely used and only a handful total throughout the leveling process become necessary to level to the current max (this is because mostly chest and weapon enchants require shards of any kind). In order to get your enchanting materials, instead of just looking at the dusts/essences themselves, try to look into buying up greens and disenchanting them. This will give you the highest return on investment from enchanting materials.

When I say stockpile... I mean bloody guild bank tabs.

5 Tips to Making 1 Million Gold in Cataclysm - Tip #2

Posted by Markco at 8:00 AM

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Tip #2: Gems and Ore

BC Ore, Old World Ore/Gems

The reasoning behind BC ore and old world ore/gems is Jewelcrafting. JC and enchanting are probably going to be the best combo of abilities for arenas, particularly if Jewelcrafting gets special gems that are better than whatever blue gems we are given at 85. While waiting for the epic gems JC will have a leg up against other professions for arena and pve min/maxers.

Therefore, expect many players to powerlevel Jewelcrafting to go along with their alchemy or skinning depending on whether they chose a Goblin (yey) or Worgen (boo).

Mercurial adamantite is going to be the big seller, as well as mithril and thorium ore. The gems associated with these ore will also go for a pretty penny, particularly the ones from mithril. Stockpile these like crazy and you'll be rolling in money. I highly suggest buying these for 100% normal value or less, since inflation and insane initial demand will take care of increasing the price.

I expect cataclysm to be the greatest chance for wealth we've seen since inscription was introduced and those of us (chuckle) who stockpiled thousands of herbs sold them for hundreds of gold per stack.

5 Tips for Making 1 Million Gold in Cataclysm - Tip #1

Posted by Markco at 8:00 AM

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Today is the start of a new gold making series, and no this isn't an april fool's prank like last year. I'm going to show you how to invest, starting now, in order to make one million gold in cataclysm. That's right, one million gold.

You can join the forum discussion on cataclysm speculation as well.

Let the lessons begin!

Tip #1: Herbs and Goblins (Plus bags!)

Specialization bags for herbing as well as straight netherweave bags are going to be huge sellers for Goblins (the netherweave bags for Worgen as well but they would probably prefer skinning bags instead of herbing bags!). All herbs from the old world and outland are going to be huge sellers for people leveling their alchemy, and since Goblins get an alchemy bonus you can bet your boots that many will pick up herbing along with alchemy.

How can you start preparing for this? Start buying the mats on the ah, even for full price now (but not more) and stockpile like crazy. So you'll want herbs, netherweave cloth, and some profession bags. You can also focus on infinite dust and frostweave cloth for frostweave bags, since those will most likely sell almost as well as their 16 slot cousins.

There is no way that you will be able to stockpile enough.... so go nuts. I'm going to invest huge percentages of my income into these items, in the hopes that inflation and insane demand early on will make me literally a million gold from cataclysm. I would think that if you have 100,000 to 200,000 gold ready to invest you can do the same, and if you get really lucky on your purchases do something similar with only 50,000 gold. As long as you have the bank space and make the right purchases you are going to make a killing.