World of
Warcraft Auction House Guide
The auction
house is one of the pillars of economy of the World Of Warcraft where players
meet to trade the fruits of their labor to the players that need them in
exchange for cold, hard currency. Money and goods change hands in WoW much as
they do in the real world and much in those ways, there is a lot of potential
for profit. For new players, especially
those who buy cheap WoW accounts to get a head start, the auction house can be a
bit overwhelming so we are here to help with that.
The recent
introduction of Burning Crusade classic and the reintroduction of professions
and the associated goods have thrown the economy of the classic servers into
heavy flux. That is why now is the time to get yourself invested in the auction
house, specifically if you are doing so in order to make money.
There are a
total of nine auction houses in the entire world, three for each faction and
then an additional three that are neutral and can be accessed by both factions.
The three horde auction houses are located Ogrimmar, Thunder Bluff, and The
Undercity. The Alliance auction houses can be found in Darnassus, Ironforge,
and Stormwind. The three neutral auction houses can be found by either side in
Booty Bay, Gadgetzan, and Winterspring. Something players should bear and mind
is while the faction neutral houses will give you access to a lot wider of
customer base the neutral houses also take a much higher percentage cut of
profits from sales. The faction-based auction houses take 5% of the sale and
the neutral auction houses take a sizable 30%.
So you have
found an auction house that has a flow that you like, what is the next step?
How does one make money in an auction house? Well, there are two options, both
presenting their own challenges, but both can prove to be very lucrative in the
current economy of classic WoW.
Firstly,
there is the far more traditional method of making money at the auction house
which is simply based in selling goods for a profit. There are many lucrative
professions in WoW that many players don’t have the time, money, or interest to
commit to. Still, in true MMO fashion, products of all those professions are
still necessary to play optimally. And that doesn’t just include arms and
armor, the consumables that players can produce are just as, if not more,
essential. So having a character who has committed hours to perfect the skills
and producing in-demand goods can yield a ton of gold in return for your hard
work.
This has
been made particularly true by the recent BC classic launch. That was the key
difference between the original Burning Crusade and the classic launch, players
knew what was coming. Many started to harvest resources for the coming changes
in professions before the expansion was officially added, altering the market
and changing the landscape for future auction house entrepreneurs. That is why
we recommend scoping the supply and demand chain of the auction house you will
be frequenting before you show up with an armload of goods that nobody may
want.
What is the
biggest advantage of this form of auction house business? That is has a
relatively low cost. You can buy the supplies, sure, but they are also
obtainable through travel and combat, meaning the initial investment is going
to be small to nonexistent. It may not
be a way to make money fast, but it is a way to make a sizable amount of money
from almost nothing.
One of the
most important aspects of the auction house to learn to utilize if you want to
make money in this way is the buyout price. The buyers can bid like they would
with a traditional auction but they also have the option to buy out. The buyout
is a higher price set by the seller that a player can pay immediately in order
to secure the purchase of the object. Often players will use this option, even
if it is more expensive, to avoid having to wait until the auction has
finished. This also eliminates the possibility of being outbid. The key for you
as a seller is to find the pricing sweet spot, where it is not too high to
deter people from opting to buy but not so low that you are losing out on
potential profits.
The other
method of profiting from the auction house involves no professions or
production of goods. In fact, most times you will never have to leave the
auction house. The second method is specifically modeled off of how somebody
would make money on a stock market, since that is what the auction house is, in
a way. You buy low and sell high, keeping the difference.
There are a
couple of downsides to this method. Firstly, it requires a much larger base
investment. You won’t be able to make money this way without having a lot of
initial investment to throw in. You might not necessarily be risking anything
unless something goes terribly awry, but having a lot of money to through
behind something just to make more might not be the most fun use of your time
in a video game.
The other
aspect of this system that is generally unappealing to players is it takes a
good chunk of time. You won’t need to travel around, but you also can’t really
leave in order to properly keep track of the prices. There are websites and
apps to assist with this, but the only way you will be able to act in the
appropriate amount of time is to be online pretty frequently.
All that
taken into account, why would you want to utilize this method of gaining gold
in Wow? Results. This may be a lot less exciting than other methods, but the
gold yield on a good day can set up your character for a long time.
Those are
the best ways to try and yield a profit from the auction house in the classic
servers. The markets are going to still be in flux from the recent expansion
launch, but if you play your cards right you can use that to your advantage.
See you around the AH!