Mastering the Master List – Part 1

The Master List
A while back I did an interview with warcraft econ, in the interview I included my Master List – a list of items I craft on a regular basis to generate large amounts of gold. The main idea behind this list is that I try to maintain the items on the list, in the quantities listed. With a list like this it’s assumed that inventory will not be sold out in a twenty four hour period. The important thing is to maintain stock as necessary. There are several addons that can facilitate your inventory maintenance, but for now let’s focus on the list itself and how you can create your own.

Creating the List
For the sake of practicality, let’s focus on Enchanting Scrolls. There are two types, weapon scrolls and armor scrolls. There are more armor type weapons to enchant on each character than weapons, so logic dictates we make more armor scrolls than weapon. Initially I suggest making a 2:1 ratio of armor scrolls to weapon scrolls, you can (and should) adjust this ratio as you become more comfortable with the market. But now the question is, which scrolls should you make?

As I’ve said before, Research and Development is key when entering a new market. You can watch the Auction House doing Auctioneer Scans, etc. Even sounding the market out with some test scrolls and watching Bean Counter. However, there are more expedient ways of forming your list. Two web sites in particular wowPopular (hereafter refered to as WP) and the Undermine Journal, both of these offer some useful insights into new markets. The Journal of course gives you pricing data on various items in an easy to read format for various servers, unfortunately it’s early on in it’s development so currently might not be a whole lot of help if you’re server isn’t supported. WP on the other hand is a site dedicated to listing things and organizing them by popularity, the data is gathered directly from the Armory.

With WP you can select enchants and see slot by slot which enchants are most popular according to the armory. Using this tool removes preconceived notions about the value of particular enchants and gives you the raw data, which enchants being used the most. Going through the list you see a popularity ranking by each item, 3 stars and lower I wouldn’t bother with. Above that, it’s probably worth crafting. Another thing is that you may opt to craft items in quantity based on their popularity – each star representing a single item you’re crafting at a time. Note: If you do choose this route, you’ll need a lot of materials and a steady source for them. Just as importantly if you are going to do something like this you have to be sure your server can support it, high population with multiple raiding guilds would be a great place for something like that.

Scroll List
Enchant Cloak – Major Agility
Enchant Cloak – Greater Speed
Enchant Boots – Icewalker
Enchant Bracers – Superior Spellpower
Enchant Bracers – Greater Assault
Enchant Chest – Powerful Stats
Enchant Gloves – Exceptional Spellpower
Enchant Weapon – Mighty Spellpower
Enchant Weapon – Exceptional Spellpower
Enchant Weapon – Berserking
Enchant Shield – Greater Intellect

Taking the Next Step
Now that you’ve figured out how many scrolls you want to maintain, you have a choice – make the full amount of items at a regular time or replenish stock as necessary. Myself, I do a combination of the two. On weekends I make a load of scrolls and toss them in my guild bank. Throughout the week I fill holes as necessary. Doing this however requires a large amount of materials, the trick then is finding those materials and getting them at a price that ensures a profit. Next week I’ll cover some addons and some tips to ensure you keep the production rates up.

That’s all for this week, thanks for reading…