Patch 5.2: Are you Ready???

Posted by J.E. Douglas at 12:58 PM

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Mommar here.

If nothing goes wrong we will all be hip deep in Patch 5.2 glory tomorrow.   Lots of new toys and places to look at.   Lots of opportunities to invest in materials for the massive upgrade rush.

Keep in mind that investment and sales will be a marathon and not a sprint.  Yes it is nice to be the first one to drop something on the market.   But there will be many players across many servers having these same thoughts.   Setting the price sky high,  then watching your newly selling treasure be overrun by the floods of
undercutters.

Staying disciplined in your sales techniques will get you high on the pile of gold instead of falling under the avalanche.   If the Auction House is flooded by sales,  look to bark in trade for your sales.   Everyone announcing all of their goodies as they dance on the mailbox in Stormwind?   Then drop some on the auction house for sales.   Those first two hours after the servers come live will be both exciting as well as very volatile.  

Take a few minutes while the patch is downloading and installing to size up your strategy.   Will you be farming for the new recipes first?  Or crafting and manufacturing?   Reselling that sizable stockpile of Ghost iron ore and leathers?  

How you come prepared to the dance is just as important as what you have to offer.   The other thing is that, and I know this will come as a shock,  there are many many many non sales things to do with this patch.  The new scenerios,  new lands to conquer,  new rares.  Keep an eye on what tickles your interest and go for it.

Marathon, not a sprint.   And make sure to enjoy the new patch.

Good Luck and Good Hunting


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

Previous Entries

Patch 5.2:  Tap That Mob
Patch 5.2:   The Great Ghost Iron Ore Rush
5.2 Watch: Capping Justice Points
Language People.  Language
Patch 5.2: Know They Economy
New Leatherworking Pattern.html
Patch 5.2: Jewelcrafters
Patch 5.2: Thanks Uncle Blizzard for the Valor
Something Stinks In The Air
Get a Grip On Your Pricing
Patch 5.2:  Prepping for the rush
How Do You Effect The Market?
He's So Great He's A Fivefather
Patch 5.2:   Farming For Rep.. With A Farm?

The good, the bad and the addons

Posted by J.E. Douglas at 12:33 PM

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One of the enjoyments I have with writing here is getting emails asking specific questions.   Sometimes gold goblins want specific advice on how they can raise their gold amounts.  Others ask questions and get a more general knowledge on my views on the Warcraft economy.

This week was another one of those questions I get multiple times a week.   Sometimes it uses more colorful language to describe their frustration.   In a nutshell they asked me why people seem to undercut like lemmings off a cliff.

Undercutting is something that any active gold goblin has had to deal with.  Post up a shiny new belt of awesomeness,  only to have another one posted right behind it 5 minutes later.   The price of the newly listed belt being only 1 silver under what you posted.   Coming back in 30 minutes and there ends up being 5 belts of awesomeness posted,  with the price driven to half of your original posting.  

So why does this happen?  Undercutting is a part of the game of playing the Auction House.  And there are many entries both here and other journals that talk about how to combat it.  The frustration hits when undercutting is taken to an extreme that the price no longer even comes close to the value of the original item.

Extreme undercutting happens for 4 reasons.

1.  Dumping of stock/quick profits

A player ends up inheriting a guild bank,  or purchases a large amount of items and instead of pricing them out for a maximum profit,  they want a quick amount of gold.  So they list them to sell,  and others follow the pattern til the price is driven into the ground.

2.  Attempting to collapse a market

Any inscriptionist that has had an decent market share at one point will grind their teeth with the expectation of someone posting glyphs at just above cost.  Instead of listing a glyph at a higher price,  they want to keep the market low to drive others out of the playfield.  Technially they never take a "loss" on the item.  But many gold goblins back out and find other markets instead of wanting to fight an extended losing battle.

3.  Addon Mismanagement

Addons are a powerful tool to a gold goblin.  But just like a hammer it's not that difficult to smash your thumb if your not paying attention.  An semi automated posting tool (TSM is a good example) can be set to a very low posting standard.   If your not seeing what your posting then you could easily be putting up cut gems at bargain basement prices.  Many players will follow the pattern and undercut farther and farther down the chain.  Unless there is a reset in the market,  the gems will sell lower and lower cutting into possible profits.

4.  Players are just stupid.

Yes,  we've all run into it.  I can forgive ignorance in a players life.  I've been there before not knowing what an item was worth.   Without the knowledge I have now, I posted up items at guessing prices and threw the market out of whack for a short while.    I learned my lesson,  went to get knowledge and didn't repeat the same mistake again.   Stupid players are ones that will repeat the same marketing mistake over and over, expecting a different result.   These can drive a gold goblin insane.

Know your enemy is the best mantra when facing a situation like this.   Knowing them and conquering these reasons will help limit your frustration and let you still enjoy the auction house.

Good luck and Good Hunting

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 Entries

Pre expansion dusting and scrubbing

The world is your oyster

Selling for Dummies

Iron Sharpens Iron

It's Elemental Dear Goblins

Four words to rock your head (enchants)

Trade Channel Boredom, bring on the dailies

Preview of upcoming events

Gold to burn

I'm gonna tell you a secret

Life with no AH

Yakity Yak

The Auction House Blues

O Brother Where Art thy professions

Come Back Players... Come Back

Measuring the AH of a "Wow Killer"

Gold: It makes a player better

Get thee to an Engineer

Darkmoon Faire Returns....  Much rejoicing

Prepping for MOP:   Dinner Improbable