10-01-2012, 07:55 PM
I thought I'd compile a list of tips so that newer players could use the Auction Hall more efficiently. This is mostly coming from my experience with making money on the Auction House on WoW, and the system here is similar enough where some of the basic rules apply. The major difference of course is that this is a purely buyout system whereas WoW is both bidding and buyout. Anyway, on to the tips.
1. Spend some time viewing the Auction House and target a few goods you want to start trading in. Maybe even one good. See at what prices they sell and at what prices they're not selling. Simply searching for them and seeing what prices they're up for is not a good idea because it's very much possible that those prices are too high, which is why they haven't sold yet. Searching for them is a good place to start, but don't fully rely on that for setting your prices. If you see one of the goods you're tracking disappear from the Auction Hall, it's most likely because it got sold, and you know that you will also very likely be able to sell at that price.
2. Do a bit of searching on the crafting section of the forums to find out what items people make with whatever you're trading in. Like if you're trading in cloth or leather, perhaps you want to also be looking at Heraldic Mail on the Auction Hall. Find out how much it's selling for. This will give you a very good idea of what people are willing to pay for the cloth or leather. People will always take deals that give them a guaranteed net profit, especially if it increases their crafting skills at the same time.
3. People are usually willing to pay much more for lower tier goods. For example, you need 3 Old Boots to make a Cloth. You need 5 Cloth to make a Leather. You will be able to sell 15 Old Boots for a much higher price than 1 Leather. Why? Because whoever's buying it will be able to get those extra crafting skill ups. So it's up to you to decide whether you want more money or whether you want the crafting skill ups for yourself.
4. Always take the listing cost into account. This can be something that is very easy for a beginner to ignore. Maybe you see that awesome armor selling for 29k and you are absolutely certain that you can resell it for 30k. Easy 1k, right? Actually, listing an item at 30k costs (10 + 30k/20) = 1510 gold. You'd be losing 510 gold in that deal.
5. Always have buy prices set so you can buy out a good deal quickly before someone else does. For example, if you know that you'll be able to sell metal at 150, maybe you would set your buy price at 125. Any metal under 125 and you immediately buy it. Set these buy prices for any goods you're trading in.
6. Don't put all your eggs in one basket. You don't want to be wasting all of your money investing in something you think will sell high only to get shafted. For example, if you only have 10 thousand gold, you probably don't want to be investing in Shade Ore because if you screw up and find out that you can't sell it higher, you're going to be put in a tough spot. Don't invest all your money in one thing and don't invest in the higher tier goods until you have the money to do so safely.
7. Test the waters a little bit. Slowly increment your prices a little bit at a time and see how high you can go. Don't be content with selling low. See how high people are willing to pay. Keep going until people stop buying your goods and then continue to sell at the highest price that people will buy.
8. Don't set a low price just so your good sells instantly. Patience is a virtue. Different people log on at different times of the day and will have different maximum buying prices for different goods. Maybe the people online right now think that steel you're selling is 100 gold too much, but perhaps someone else will come on in a few hours who has a higher maximum buying price set for steel.
These are just some basic guidelines to help new people get started. If anybody else has some good tips to offer, I'd be happy to edit this post with them.
1. Spend some time viewing the Auction House and target a few goods you want to start trading in. Maybe even one good. See at what prices they sell and at what prices they're not selling. Simply searching for them and seeing what prices they're up for is not a good idea because it's very much possible that those prices are too high, which is why they haven't sold yet. Searching for them is a good place to start, but don't fully rely on that for setting your prices. If you see one of the goods you're tracking disappear from the Auction Hall, it's most likely because it got sold, and you know that you will also very likely be able to sell at that price.
2. Do a bit of searching on the crafting section of the forums to find out what items people make with whatever you're trading in. Like if you're trading in cloth or leather, perhaps you want to also be looking at Heraldic Mail on the Auction Hall. Find out how much it's selling for. This will give you a very good idea of what people are willing to pay for the cloth or leather. People will always take deals that give them a guaranteed net profit, especially if it increases their crafting skills at the same time.
3. People are usually willing to pay much more for lower tier goods. For example, you need 3 Old Boots to make a Cloth. You need 5 Cloth to make a Leather. You will be able to sell 15 Old Boots for a much higher price than 1 Leather. Why? Because whoever's buying it will be able to get those extra crafting skill ups. So it's up to you to decide whether you want more money or whether you want the crafting skill ups for yourself.
4. Always take the listing cost into account. This can be something that is very easy for a beginner to ignore. Maybe you see that awesome armor selling for 29k and you are absolutely certain that you can resell it for 30k. Easy 1k, right? Actually, listing an item at 30k costs (10 + 30k/20) = 1510 gold. You'd be losing 510 gold in that deal.
5. Always have buy prices set so you can buy out a good deal quickly before someone else does. For example, if you know that you'll be able to sell metal at 150, maybe you would set your buy price at 125. Any metal under 125 and you immediately buy it. Set these buy prices for any goods you're trading in.
6. Don't put all your eggs in one basket. You don't want to be wasting all of your money investing in something you think will sell high only to get shafted. For example, if you only have 10 thousand gold, you probably don't want to be investing in Shade Ore because if you screw up and find out that you can't sell it higher, you're going to be put in a tough spot. Don't invest all your money in one thing and don't invest in the higher tier goods until you have the money to do so safely.
7. Test the waters a little bit. Slowly increment your prices a little bit at a time and see how high you can go. Don't be content with selling low. See how high people are willing to pay. Keep going until people stop buying your goods and then continue to sell at the highest price that people will buy.
8. Don't set a low price just so your good sells instantly. Patience is a virtue. Different people log on at different times of the day and will have different maximum buying prices for different goods. Maybe the people online right now think that steel you're selling is 100 gold too much, but perhaps someone else will come on in a few hours who has a higher maximum buying price set for steel.
These are just some basic guidelines to help new people get started. If anybody else has some good tips to offer, I'd be happy to edit this post with them.