More Gold Tips For Alchemy And Herbalism

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I promised more Alchemy and Herbalism tips after last week so let’s jump right into it with five more pieces of advice.

You’ll find that certain areas and herbs are consistently good for Alchemy and Herbalism. The Swamp of Sorrows is particularly good for collecting herbs – it’s a relatively small zone, with a large quantity of herb spawn-points, and generally has a very low population. Ghost Mushrooms from the caves in the Hinterlands also offer a great opportunity to earn gold. Pick those whenever possible.
Watch for non-alchemy herbs like Deadnettle which are found along with other herbs. You won’t be able to use these yourself, but they sell really well on AH for inscriptions, rogue-poisons, etc. Most herbs seem to have a use for some type of profession. When you come across a new one, check it out on the Auction House.
Once you’re maxed out on Alchemy and Herbalism, you have some great opportunities to start making serious gold. Transmuting Skyflare Diamonds and Earthsiege Diamonds are a great way to double your investment (material costs), provided you’re paying attention to the market: buying mats when they’re cheap, and selling Diamonds when they’re high. Example: If Eternal Fire (the main material for Earthsiege) is selling for 30g, but Earthsiege Diamonds are selling for 25g, it’s a bad time to be in the Earthsiege Diamond business. If you can buy Eternal Fire at 20g, and sell Earthsiege at 40 – 45g, you’re making bank.
Watch for sellers who post their Earthsiege Diamonds (or any other item) significantly below the going prices. You might find that someone posts 5 Earthsiege Diamonds for 19g each. Next after him though, the price is 45g each. (I see this more than I’d ever imagine.) Although a bit of a gamble, it’s a sound strategy to purchase all 5 of the cheap diamonds (costing you 95g total) and immediately repost them for 44g 99s. If they sell, you’ll have 224g 95s – a profit of 129g 95s. If you end up having to sell them cheaply, you should at worst get your money back – and you’re still better off than buying the Eternal Fire when it costs more than the Diamond you’re wanting to make.
Frost Lotus is a much-coveted herb and generally sells for around 20 – 25 gold in the AH. But instead of posting the Frost Lotus that you find, I recommend checking the AH cost on Flask of the Frost Wyrm first. A single Flask often sells for about the same – 20 to 25 gold. Frost Lotus is the “main” material for it (being the most expensive), and one batch of materials is good for 2 Flasks. Since you’ll benefit directly from using that potion (assuming you’re an awesome warlock like me), you may decide to either keep the Flasks or go with a “keep 1, sell 1″ strategy. If I don’t have much gold to spare but need the Flasks, I’ll buy several Frost Lotus, along with whatever other mats I need, and brew up the Flasks. Then I’ll keep half of the Flasks and put the rest on AH… generally making enough gold to come close to covering my material costs. Free flasks, basically!

Wrapping Things Up

A last bit of advice: never undersell your items. If an item is selling for 20 gold, and you want to sell your item fast, do NOT price it at 15 gold. Price it at 19g 99s. You’ll still sell your item first. In fact, you don’t even have to be cheaper on the buyout price – you can match the current buyout price, but be cheaper on the bid price and still be ranked “cheapest”. So if at item has a bid price of 19g and a buyout of 20g, if you price yours at 18g 99s bid, and 20g buyout, you’re listed as cheapest, and you will sell your item first, and enjoy the added flavor of feeling like an auction ninja.

Ultimately, the bottom line is buy low and sell high. Pretty obvious, I know. But with AH prices swinging wildly from one day to the next, it’s worth restating. I’ve sold Earthsiege Diamonds for 45g one day, and the next day the price was down to 18g. So pay attention to your costs.

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Nuff on August 17th, 2009

Your wrapping things up section actually has some mistakes.

First ” If an item is selling for 20 gold, and you want to sell your item fast, do NOT price it at 15 gold. Price it at 19g 99s. You’ll still sell your item first. ”

First != Fast
You can sell it first and still have it not sold fast. There are a few items I am selling currently that sell at a good steady rate at 18g each. However, I have a backlog that I want to clear out…lowering the price to 14g sells them faster.

“So if at item has a bid price of 19g and a buyout of 20g, if you price yours at 18g 99s bid, and 20g buyout, you’re listed as cheapest, and you will sell your item first, and enjoy the added flavor of feeling like an auction ninja.”

Sometimes true sometimes false. The problem here is the person below you who has the same buyout as yours but matched bid and buyout is *easier* to buy from. I just select and click bid, no confirmation dialog in the default UI. Having separate bid and buyout prices costs you sales a *lot* more than you might think.

Finally the 1c undercut just flat out pisses people off. You undercut by 1c and yes, most of the time you’ll sell first. However, there are a pretty big number of people who buy from the more expensive seller and skip 1c undercutters. If you want to undercut undercut by more, at least 10-15s. Its just psychology.

Palmolive on August 18th, 2009

I know if i ever buy something off the AH i wont buy from the 1c under cutter.

Rogue Macros on July 16th, 2010

Be careful about under bidding and then forgetting about the lower bid price. Person with the lower bidding starting point will show up first. And that’s who, more often than not, sells first. People are quick to come on line and start raiding. THey just grab what they see and buy.

Aug200916

Mortigan

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