A Numbers Game
Playing the Auction House is sometimes like playing the slots in Vegas, it’s all about the numbers. Sometimes they fall in your favor, other times… not so much. But unlike Vegas, there’s no scary guy with a bat to make sure you “play by the rules”. So I say, hedge your bets and double down. This week, it’s all about playing the odds…
Probability
Believe it or not, everytime you post an item in the auction house you’re gambling, every item posted is a coin toss. You’re betting that someone will drop their hard earned gold for it. If you’re posting gems for instance you have a few things to keep in mind: First, uncut gems have the highest probability of selling (and quickly) however at a smaller payout. Cut gems have a higher payout, but a lower probability of selling (and often times slower, possibly you’ll even have to relist before they sell).
In the case of gems, it helps to identify what gems are best for what classes. Tanks, the least represented role is dependent on: Blue, Green, and Purple gems. Healers (the second least represented role) are dependent on: Red, Yellow, and Purple gems. DPS classes (the most represented role) are dependent on: Red, Yellow, and Orange gems.
That said, we find the highest probability of resale in Red and Yellow gems.
+ Red Gems of Interest:
Bold Cardinal Ruby
Runed Cardinal Ruby
Delicate Cardinal Ruby
Fractured Cardinal Ruby
Bright Cardinal Ruby
+ Yellow Gems of Interest:
Quick King’s Amber
Brilliant King’s Amber
Smooth King’s Amber
Rigid King’s Amber
Risk
This late in the expansion, it’s not reasonable to try to go after all of the various gem cuts. So focus is key, for the most profit you’ll want to go after the big bang cuts. Looking at the red and yellow cuts the first two cuts I would recommend are Runed Cardinal Ruby and Quick King’s Amber, these two cuts are going to have the highest probability of sale because Healers will use them as well as DPS. By going after the higher demand cuts you lower your risk, and at the end of the day that’s what it’s all about… not losing your shirt.
In the event of multiple gems (say red gems) you really want to avoid putting all of your eggs in one basket. Let’s say you have 4 Cardinal Rubies, and only 3 cuts for them: Bold, Runed, and Fractured. In which case, I would make 2 Runed, 1 Bold, and 1 Fractured. This maximizes earning potential while minimizing risk, the Runed can be used (and therefore purchased) by Healers and/or DPS. And so, I leave you with that friends. See you next week.
The Bloodscalp Report
The Glyph Market is abysmal right now (and I don’t really care). Inscriptions is still making me a good amount of gold, I made a good chunk this week from making decks, in fact the lions share of the gold I made this week was from Greatness Decks alone. My Alchemy/Jewelcrafting system is chugging along nicely, I’ll be adding another Alchemist tomorrow in fact. At my current rate, I should hit the gold cap before too long. I’m holding off on a few things right now till I see what kind of an impact 3.3.3 is going to have. Flasks for example, the prices of Lotus have already dropped considerably on Bloodscalp as a result of the patch news. So now just doesn’t seem like a great time to buy. I am however always looking for deals, so anyone looking to unload some Ore or Herbs, feel free to look me up.
Khaas
JC and the Glyph markets seem to be the most often discussed professions on these auctioneering blogs. They also tend to have a lot of competition. I know by name (as in on my friends list as sellers) of at least 3 big players in the gem market. They spam trafe to buy buy up uncut gems for 20-50g less than what can be sold on the AH, but they have all the cuts and make the profit margin from cut gems at or below the price of uncut sometimes.
I’ve been out of the gem market because of this, but I’ve been buying a lot of materials lately. I have over 200 stacks of thorium ore all purchases at 25g or less, 40 stacks of mithril ore, 20 stacks of adamantite and some other misc. mats in lower quantities. I can usually flip the ores for 50% to 100% markup, or do the same as bars, or prospect for the gems.
I’ve encountered a lot of competition with my old bread and butter (thorium prospecs) and have found an old niche coming back (green gems from lvling JC from 300-350, from fel iron and adamantite ore) as well as citrine, lesser moonstone and jades selling for 5-15g.
I’m in more markets than before, but I have more compeition than every before and my margins are 10-15% lower.
Keep up the good work, always enjoy your writing and your tips. Markco has some good pre-patch tips too if you haven’t seen them!