11 posts tagged “auctions”
*stretches in the sun*
Hydra and Aurum gave me some time off. Apparently they have been taking the notes I have provided and are training up another Hunter for the 29 bracket. I hear she is a dwarf with a big gun. Good luck to her. Hope she has half the fun I have.
So here I am on the beaches of Booty Bay. Watching the scenery and licking the juices from imported fruit off my fingers. This gets interrupted by the wildlife interaction, like the undead that was trying to convince me that it was a nude beach.
*gnaw slurp chew*
That is Cutie with his new chew toy. We call it Mister Femur.
*grin*
My vacation was interrupted by a shadow.
I glanced up from my latest reading to see Cutie getting chin scratches from a very wide chested shadow. Hovering over me was a Draenei, a 70th season Hunter. Clearly Cutie recognized this hunter from somewhere… There goes my bodyguard.
“Sorry to bother you on such a lovely day. You are Iridium, Hydra and Aurum’s contact on the Horde side.”
I recognize this Hunter too. He is Hydra’s ex-arena partner.
There is no denying my connection since apparently he knows Hydra first hand.
“It is widely known that Aurum has been looking for a specific blade for quite some time.”
Understatement… Aurum has been looking for one actively for eight months two weeks and four days.
“If you hurry you can acquire one.”
I start shaking. Is he for real? This would be a total coup. Cutie responded to my sudden excitement, by stretching nonchalantly.
“All you need to do is let her know where the information originated.”
Without a goodbye I ran to the Horde auction house. There it sat no more…
The 225G for an Assassin’s Blade, this final piece, was a steal.
I shall wrap up the blade and send it as a late birthday gift to Aurum. Aurum will surely consider that Alliance Hunter as her favorite for the rest of the month maybe two.
Cannot wait to hear back on how she likes her new blade. I do hope she tells me how she decides to break it in… I am thinking it will be quite bloody.
*arrives back to beach*
I just earned my level 39 goodies. I hear that Hydra was able to get the Cobra Scale farmed out for my Nethercobra. Once some of the last mats are collected I will be well off to level to the next PvP bracket and some new fun will begin!
Well the trip to Origrimmar was not a complete loss for me.
*stretches in the sun*
I did get to pick up a new book. You think the hint is too subtle?
Iridium has some side things I do for gold beyond the AH. One is Deviate Scale Belts. This is a twink level 18 crafted leather item. The scales come out of Wailing Caverns only. To make one it takes 6x Perfect Deviate Scale, 4x Deviate Scale, and 1x Fine Thread. I minimum bid on the scales and pick up the tread at the vendor.
Once I collected all of the materials I then provide all the mats, including tread, to a leatherworker. I made a leatherworking friend (I like to collect them, leatherworkers that is) in this process. Knowing this is their first character I provide a one gold tip for each one or two belts made. Then I slowly put these new belts up into the AH. I can get anywhere between 5-13 gold each. On a WSG weekend I can easily get 11G for one.
Question: I cannot convince him/her (we do everything by mail) to borrow money from me to buy their mount. I personally abhor borrowing money. But have no qualms about loaning it out. So this is a really delicate question for me. At this point I have made the offer and expressed that it is an open offer and to just let me know if they should change their mind. But should I be whispering them to remind them of the offer?
How narcissistic is it that I am posting a link to a post about me? Well I guess I came up with a “fascinating post” worthy of girlmeetswow to mention.
DEing Auction House Greens for Fun and Profit
She commented and I was delighted but this was unexpected. Oh… and how did I find the link? I was looking myself up in Google. We all have our moments.
My profession is tailoring. This is the bag making profession. New Guildies… Hydra bags. Random cloth… Hydra bags. Need a prize… Hydra bags. Alt needs… Hydra bags. Friends needs … Hydra bags. Okay it isn’t that bad. It is actually a complete exaggeration.
But something else to think about is capes. Or how they are listed in AH “Backs”. Capes are one of the few things that every class uses. Unfortunately there seem to be a big gap in patterns until you hit level 69-70. I don’t like paying hundreds of gold on a pattern drop but this is the one category that is worth it if the price is reasonable.
I picked up Cloak of Eternity for 300G. This cape was an upgrade for five of my guildmates at level 70. This cape is cheep to make and doesn’t take Primal Nether. My guild is full of miners to provide the Primal Earth. Even without a supply from miners, Primal Earths are the cheapest of all the primals in AH.
Back Patterns available:
[Cloak of the Black Void] - Level 68+ World Drop (+11 Intellect Equip: Increases damage and healing done by magical spells and effects by up to 35.)
[Cloak of Eternity] - Level 68+ World Drop (+36 Stamina Equip: Increases defense rating by 23.)
[White Remedy Cape] - Level 68+ World Drop (Equip: Increases healing done by spells and effects by up to 59. Equip: Restores 7 mana per 5 sec.)
[Cloak of Arcane Evasion] - Honored with Lower City (+12 Stamina +32 Arcane Resistance.)
[Resolute Cape] - Level 68+ World Drop (+30 Stamina Equip: Improves your resilience rating by 21.)
[Manaweave Cloak] - Level 68+ World Drop (+20 Intellect +21 Spirit Equip: Restores 8 mana per 5 sec.)
So keep your guild in mind in evaluating how useful a pattern will be. With just the five I made for guildmates this pattern thoroughly paid for itself. For all master patterns, wowwiki has them in one place.
/confession
I am broke.
All of my hoopla about AH playing and things like crafting make me broke. The AH had Pattern: Manaweave Cloak up for sale this weekend. I minimum bit on it and save myself some gold. It was a medium time … I have 2 hours to save that type of gold.
[me] After our conversation on healing gear… look what is on AH. [Pattern: Manaweave Cloak] interested?
[Guildie] Yes.
[Me] I minimum bid on it. It is medium and I am sure we will get it.
[Guildie] We cannot lose this pattern just buy it out.
[Me] I cannot.
[Guilie] Why?
[Me] …
[Me] Can you believe I don’t have the gold?
[Guildie] I cannot trade with you. Get your nose out of the AH for a second.
Talk about epic flying mount setback. It about killed me to buyout that pattern and click on that accept button. Let alone learn it. That is okay the back will go to a healer and they can resurrect me.
Now what do I get for all this work? Gold. Beautiful sweet your auction has sold messages. Below are three documented runs of how much gold they netted.
Group one:
Criteria: Level 64-70 Uncommon Armor and Weapons. Minimum bid on 3g50s or less items, will bid higher on level 66 items only.
Number of items: 19
Spent in items: 66g50s00c (19x3g50s. Assumed since I didn’t keep track of what I spent in purchasing items.)
Tip for DE: 5g
Received: Large Prismatic Shardx1; Greater Planar Essencex2; Arcane Dustx63.
AH Gross: 128g62s91c
AH Fee (5%): 6g12s52c
AH Net: 122g50s39c
Total Net received: 122g50s39c - 66g50s00c - 5g = 50g00s39c
Return: 42%
That is fifty-gold, not bad. But let’s check how much I really am spending by keeping actual track of purchases.
Group two:
Criteria: level 64-70 Uncommon Armor and Weapons. Minimum bid on 3g50s or less items, will bid higher on level 67 items only. Buyout anything under 3g50s.
Number of items: 24
Spent in items: 75g40s54c (Kept track. Low of 2g00s to high of 3g88s.)
Tip for DE: 5g
Received: Large Prismatic Shardx1; Greater Planar Essencex9; Arcane Dustx59.
AH Gross: 148g14s20c
AH Fee (5%): 7g41s18c
AH Net: 140g73s51c
Total Net received: 140g73s51c - 75g40s54c - 5g = 60g32s97c
Return: 43%!
I was shocked. No system is perfect; let me see if I can repeat. Also since I know how much I am profiting I can tip the Enchanter for more.
Group three –
Criteria: level 64-70 Uncommon Armor and Weapons. Minimum bid on 3g50s or less items, will bid higher on level 67 items only. Buyout anything under 3g50s.
Number of items: 29
Spent in items: 94g96s74c (Kept track. Low of 1g98s to high of 3g76s.)
Tip for DE: 10g
Received: Large Prismatic Shardx1; Greater Planar Essencex12; Arcane Dustx66.
AH Gross: 188g90s14c
AH Fee (5%): 9g44s48c
AH Net: 179g45s66c
Total Net received: 179g45s66c - 94g96s74c - 10g = 74g48s92c
Return: 42%
Note: Any errors are from rounding in adding stack prices together. Results are from actual sales.
On a few occasions I have had to put up stacks a second time. But again enchanting materials have no listing fee so you are only losing time. This is not for the faint of heart. I see my gold drop big in this process.
Now that I did this for you and myself, I am changing my criteria. I am buying out auctions only if it is 2g50s or less and 3g50s is my max. I am changing this since if someone needs the item I want them to be able to buy it out. (See that was a marketing answer to pretend that I am nice. No, it is more like I am questing right now and don’t want bags full of stuff to DE.)
This was all done as a level 19 playing battlegrounds in Orgrimmar. But really what is a low level Hunter suppose to do with 600g plus? Buy scopes!
I had mentioned about minimum bidding on Outland greens. But wanted to get a grasp of how much I was actually making with this procedure. This is exercising the Enchantrix part of the Auctioneer Pack.
My criteria for minimum bids were based on Arcane Dust prices. One stack of Arcane Dust on my Horde AH goes for around 30g. If I get 3-5 dusts off an item I can make around 6g for an item. I lower the 3g50s criteria for Alliance AH since stacks of dust can go for as low as 23g. I am looking for about 40% return on my money.
After I complete my normal scan of the AH. I search Armor and Weapons together since Auctioneer allows you to select two categories at a time. You can select and deselect the relative categories on the Browse tab. I then visually scan the AH for the minimum bidding amounts. I am not using any of these items so I don’t care what type of armor or weapon it is. I only care about the disenchant (DE) value. If someone buys the item out that is okay since hopefully they will use the item.
Once I have a bag or two filled with Outland greens in CITY chat I look for an Enchanter to DE my stuff with no mention of a tip. Why? Because first I don’t want to travel and I don’t want to make someone else travel. As for the tip, our agreement on what the tip is non-negotiable, it is a tip. If someone was standing around anyway and they get a tip unexpectedly everyone is left a happy camper. I would rather give a tip to someone nice who is not expecting a tip any day. And basically I didn’t know what to tip.
Then I immediately slap those enchanting materials right up on the AH. Enough of the chit-chat how much gold am I making.
The above process with buying for resale is what I at level 19 did to make my 100g to 600g with out leaving Orgrimmar. Don’t believe me? For the DE part I will show you my math.
Now that we have the knowledge and know what we want to buy lets start. The following is my AH routine written down. I will try to be as simple as possible. (Which for me is not possible.)
First, start Bottom Scanner, the play button on the Btmscan tab. Then back to the Browse tab with the AH window, start the scan of the entire AH. Each chime is a hit on if the Bottom Scanner recommends the item for resale, disenchanting, or vendor.
You will need to update the default settings in Bottom Scanner to your requirements. I recommend using the default settings for the first few scans to get an idea what items pop up. Don’t act on them, you maybe selecting “No” for most, but this gives you a chance to get use to the process and judge your own settings. Because I am not in a rush, I set my Enchanting level to 375, DE value to 200%, and Resell to 200%. This reduces the chimes significantly. If you want more items lower your percentage.
When it is all done Bottom Scanner will report a scan update in your chat log. For full instruction on how to use Bottom Scanner can be found with those that know it better. Continue to let bottom scanner scan new items while you do this next part.
At this point I have bought out “sell to vendor immediately and make money items”. You can walk your lazy fanny from the mail box to the vendor for 23 copper. “This Blue item was put up for 2g and should have been 20g” also should have been caught by Bottom Scanner.
After I finish my scan, go to the Search Auctions tab and under Search Auctions filter select bid in the drop down. The list is by bid price, time left, and calculated resale percent. The default is medium items with a resale of 30%. I sort by the percent resale column and visually look for items to minimum bid on.
This is where you really bring your knowledge of the game and crafting to the process. I have to know it is a hot item to bid less than 75% profit for the item. Use your brain. You know a level 10 sword is not sold for 2g.
Next, in the same tab under Search Auctions filter you select the drop down for buyouts. This shows all buyouts for items that have a 30% (default) or higher resale. Stack of 20 Wool cloth up for 10s we immediately see the average price to be 85s. Buyout the item and can place it back up for 70s for immediate sale.
I only buyout items 75% or higher resale. Unless I know the item is a common need and will sell quickly. Your twinking knowledge also knows those 20s Feral Shoulder Pads, a white item, is a level 19 rogue/hunter twink item and can make 2-3g at the right time.
Then I go back to bids, but this time I change the Maximum Time Left filter to show “Very Long” auctions. This is where you have to have money to float in the AH. Because your gold maybe tied up in a lot of auctions that you will not win. I have bid on stacks of enchanting materials and won 10g worth of items for silver because they had the buyout price so high no one bought it out and it went to me. I win maybe 1 out of 10 auctions this way. The items could be removed from your grasp in a buyout, higher bidder, or pulled from AH.
Lastly, I have created saved search items that I know sell well. I check through these items to see if I happened to miss anything. I also look for commonly needed items or I need items. My favorite is bags.
Bottom Scanner has been searching this entire time for additional items to resale, disenchanting, or vendor. If at any point you search the AH not through the Auctioneer tabs, you may want to turn off Bottom Scanner so it stops additional scanning while you are searching.
This is how I went from hard earned 10g from copper ore to 100g. Next I will tell you how I went from 100g to 600g!
Remember not everything resells. Buy what you know. Buying items for resell are tricky. Profit is in raw materials so others can craft. Yes I can go farm a stack of Copper Ore but if I minimum bid it for 3s and sell it right back at 80s I just made a profit. Here are some basics and things to think about when you scan to buy for resell…
1. Metal Ores are used by Blacksmiths, Engineers, and Jewel Crafters.
2. Metal Ores maybe worth as much or more then the bars.
3. White recipes can be bought at vendors. *
4. Herbs are for Alchemists. **
5. Enchanting supplies always sell, added bonus they don’t have listing fee.
6. Always buy “sell to vendor” item. ***
7. Auctioneer and Bottom Scanner are NOT always right. ***
8. Don’t sell Level 10 items for one gold, whatever Auctioneer says.
9. Pay attention to Azeroth verses Outland items. ****
10. Items in your Bank and Bags are not making you money.
* Some white recipes are limited supply recipes or in annoying spots to reach and always sell well. Pink Mageweave Shirt FTW! Some are actually quest rewards and may sell well also.
** Know what goes into Health potions and other consumables that most classes use. Briarthorn will always sell well, but Mageroyal stacks are cheap and picked for Swiftthistle. Herbs are used in some Leatherworking and Tailoring but in small quantities that do not effect the AH prices.
*** Vendor prices can be updated. Cut gems do not sell back to the vendor for one gold (only Golden Pearls do). Bottom Scanner thought cut gems can be sold back for one gold. This was the only discrepancy I have found at this time.
**** The scan may pick up the Legendary Ax of Uber-Azeroth but was long replaced by an Outland quested green. So that once 900g item that is in AH for 60g may not be a good deal.
Next I will tell you how I scan for items and my routine. My routine enabled me to go from 10g to 100g without leaving Orgrimmar.
I enjoy playing with the Auction House (AH). For me the AH is an integral part of World of Warcraft. These are things that are helpful to me, my process, and maybe you can get some insight on how some play with the auction house too. It may also point out some “mistakes” people do that I take advantage of and prevent you from doing the same “mistakes”.
Things you need to bring to the AH:
1. Have leveled at least one high level to have grasp of what is used when.
2. What each class uses.
3. What each profession uses.
4. Installed Addon Auctioneer Pack/Advanced with Bottom Scanner and Enchantrix.
5. Seed money.
6. Patience and time. (I make dinner, do dishes, laundry, etc while scanning and run when it chimes at me)
You must bring these things to the AH or you will quickly have to sell items back to the Vendor at a loss. If you cannot sell it in AH or in Trade chat, the only place left is to the Vendor.
Trust me, this gets better, it is a multipart post with a big numbers finish that took me three weeks to collect. I was told I should sell this information. Was also told I should keep it to myself, since they profit from my profit. But since there are three readers out there, and I like you, I will tell you. And pretty much I believe you will try it once and then get bored. =D
Now that we have that, I will tell you what I buy.
I was inspired by Ratshag. I need to establish my own goals and priorities. I recently realized that I cannot craft my way to 375 AND save for my uber-fast flying mount. Crafting is a money drain. So here is my plan.
First, Tailoring. Just finish it off already! I want my Frozen Shadoweave set.
Second, Scryers reputation. I am 3K to Revered for Scryer's Bloodgem and Seer's Signet. I have been placing minimum bids on reasonably priced Sunfury Signets at the suggestion of Ratshag. This gave me a HUGE bump. Love the AH!
Third, saving 5K Gold mount. Pure and simple… stop spending and start saving. Tailoring patters are not needed to increase my skill, so no 300G+ buyouts. Arcane Dust will go up in AH and not to make something pretty. I will limit how much time Aurum and others spend in the battlegrounds and AH (well maybe).
Some longer term goals:
Fourth, what reputation next. I must pick amongst tailoring patterns, mount, or items. I will have to do some research and see what I feel like.
Fifth, dungeon keying. This is a complete mystery to me. I am looking for something like the Scarlet Monastery key or Stratholme back door key. There must be quest chains that I may have dropped somewhere. I have no idea. This may be picked in conjunction with the Fourth goal. But by the time I do get this done the next expansion will be out so it will not matter.
