I just checked out the functionality of the online AH that is attached to the armory. There is some good functionality on there for gold sellers and and normal people who post a few auctions here and there.
It is not a good application for the incredibly psycho, obsessed with making gold, ocd players like myself.
Lets start with me, cause me is my favorite subject. I cant use the website/iphone version of the AH because I post in the range of 3000 auctions at a time on a 48hr or less cycle. Mostly that is glyphs but I am ranging into the world of scrolls of enchants. I need addons like QA3 and postal and auctioneer to be effective with my gold making and you can't use any of those with this version of AH access.
The other main problem is that my main poster of auctions is a bank alt. That bank alt is level 3 and no toons under level 10 shows up on the ah.
The last problem is less of a hassle than the first two is that you have to manually put in prices for everything you sell. My addons price my auctions at a set price or percentage of undercut from the lowest priced item on the AH at the time.
Now on to why this service is good.
For casual players it gives them a chance to play with the market and keep track of the items they are selling. More gold in the pocket of casuals means more they can spend on my auctions.
It would also be good for someone like me when it comes to buying in the specialty markets. Certain big ticket items or rare materials are only worth buying at specific prices. This online AH would help those of us who want to snag a great deal when we cant actually log on to our toons.
And finally, the controversial side of things.
Goldsellers. These are the guys who will truly profit from this application. One of the few ways to earn gold that has not fully been realized by the goldsellers is selling things other than base materials (like herbs and ore) on the AH. With this application they could monitor sales and keep on top of the undercutters without having to be online. I am sure there will be scripts and bots made to continually refresh the web page and cancel/repost as soon as they are undercut. Its much easier to exploit a web browser or even the iphone than it is the game.
All in all I won't be paying even the small fee of $3 a month for this.
Monday, May 24, 2010
Friday, May 21, 2010
Learn Your Job!
Edit: I just found a blog post on another blog that shows the bad side of this mentality. Check it out here.
It is more important that you do your specific job, than the boss dying.
It's a strange dynamic. You have to try to put out your best individual effort, but at the same time do whats best for the raid. The goal is for everyone to come together to kill the boss, but you may have to do things that at times is moving away from that outcome. I guarantee that if everyone did their specific job the boss would die in the end.
For the past 3 weeks we have been wiping on Sindragosa hard mode and by the time the last raid ended it was obvious that some people were not doing their specific jobs. We have had over 40 tries to kill her. That should have been more than enough due to the fact that we have the gear to do it.
(important note, if we kill her this week it will be the server 5th kill)
Jobs on sindra include:
1. NOT parry hasting the boss
2. Running all the way out when she does her deathgrip/blistering cold
3. NOT blowing up the raid with the caster debuff
4. NOT letting your debuff stacks get too high (which means stopping dps)
5. Placing your ice tomb in the correct spot
6. NOT killing the ice tombs too early but bringing them low to kill them fast at the end
7. Using LOS to not die when tombs are up
8. Stacking up correctly when the phase changes
9. Attacking your assigned target, I.E. ice tombs or boss
10. Waiting for the tank call to finish off the tomb
11. Making sure to LOS the stacking debuff so healers have an easier job
12. Moving out of the raid to the assigned spot when you are the next ice tomb
13. NOT being in the assigned spot when you aren't the next ice tomb
All too many people think their jobs are:
A. DPS the boss
B. Heal the raid
The people who think A and B are the only thing that matters are the same people who say things like "LOL you scrub look at my 1337 dps. you suck. I rule!" Too bad they never have a dps meter of a boss kill.
The people who truly care about 1 through 13 and their counterparts on every encounter are raiders who get server firsts (and fifths) and kill the boss week after week.
The bottom line is that you need to understand and execute your specific job first then dps or heal second. If you had a group of 25 people who could do this you would be WoW famous for not just being server 5th but being world 5th (or first)
It is more important that you do your specific job, than the boss dying.
It's a strange dynamic. You have to try to put out your best individual effort, but at the same time do whats best for the raid. The goal is for everyone to come together to kill the boss, but you may have to do things that at times is moving away from that outcome. I guarantee that if everyone did their specific job the boss would die in the end.
For the past 3 weeks we have been wiping on Sindragosa hard mode and by the time the last raid ended it was obvious that some people were not doing their specific jobs. We have had over 40 tries to kill her. That should have been more than enough due to the fact that we have the gear to do it.
(important note, if we kill her this week it will be the server 5th kill)
Jobs on sindra include:
1. NOT parry hasting the boss
2. Running all the way out when she does her deathgrip/blistering cold
3. NOT blowing up the raid with the caster debuff
4. NOT letting your debuff stacks get too high (which means stopping dps)
5. Placing your ice tomb in the correct spot
6. NOT killing the ice tombs too early but bringing them low to kill them fast at the end
7. Using LOS to not die when tombs are up
8. Stacking up correctly when the phase changes
9. Attacking your assigned target, I.E. ice tombs or boss
10. Waiting for the tank call to finish off the tomb
11. Making sure to LOS the stacking debuff so healers have an easier job
12. Moving out of the raid to the assigned spot when you are the next ice tomb
13. NOT being in the assigned spot when you aren't the next ice tomb
All too many people think their jobs are:
A. DPS the boss
B. Heal the raid
The people who think A and B are the only thing that matters are the same people who say things like "LOL you scrub look at my 1337 dps. you suck. I rule!" Too bad they never have a dps meter of a boss kill.
The people who truly care about 1 through 13 and their counterparts on every encounter are raiders who get server firsts (and fifths) and kill the boss week after week.
The bottom line is that you need to understand and execute your specific job first then dps or heal second. If you had a group of 25 people who could do this you would be WoW famous for not just being server 5th but being world 5th (or first)
Wednesday, May 19, 2010
The Glyph Council
2 posts in less than 24 hours? WTF?
My server has contracted a disease. Its called the glyph council. A glyph council is where a majority of the big time sellers of glyphs try to get together and set the prices of glyphs by buying out all the lower priced glyphs and then reselling them for a much higher price.
These things never work. The problem is that the only way to control the market is to control the stock. The council tries to do this by getting the big players to only sell at a price that has an unrealistically high price. The market is so easy to get into that anyone can come along and undercut at a large discount and then the council is stuck with tons and tons of extra glyphs that wont sell.
I was propositioned to join the glyph council guild yesterday and I'm kicking myself that I didn't copy the conversation down. Today I was approached with the idea that I post fewer glyphs so they could work their magic, because, my 6 or 7 stacks of glyphs are keeping the price down.
HA HA HA HA HA!
The idea that just because the glyphs have my name on them I am keeping the market down is laughable. Even if I only posted 3 of each glyph there would be others that post under me and the same amount of stock would be under their ideal price of glyphs.
Oh and their ideal price of glyphs is ridiculous. 30 to 50g per glyph? The damn things cost 2.5g AT MOST to make. That's at least a 27.5g profit per glyph. If the market will pay that fine, but the idea that they can hold that price through market manipulation is crazy.
But I say more power to them. I undercut by 2 copper just so my name is the first on the list. If they can manage to raise the price to 30g then ill be at 29g and good for me. Let them do the work and I'll see the profits. I just refuse to sell less product so they can try to get more profit in their pockets. I am now only selling 6 of every glyph because that's about how many I sell on a given day. It used to be 10 but that meant over 3.5k individual glyphs on the market and that took 2 hours to take out of the mailbox.
I thought about making a glyph wall of 12 glyphs each at a top end price of 3 or 4g each and decided not to. It would just give me much more work to do and the only motivating factor is anger at their stupidity.
I'll let them be stupid and I'll just take my profits and run.
Ps. here is the conversation I had today with the guy trying to convince me to sell less product so they can have more sales. Out of the whole conversation his point is most concisely put from time mark 23:40:28 to 23:41:47. he wants me to post less so I get bought out then his buddies can sell theirs. If I am getting bought out I am not putting enough product up. End of story.
[23:35:06] [W From] [Totemlyfunk]: u watch the auctionhouse a fair bit yeah?
[23:35:34] [W To] [Totemlyfunk]: kinda
[23:35:46] [W From] [Totemlyfunk]: just wondering why u post heaps of glyphs at once?
[23:35:56] [W To] [Totemlyfunk]: to make gold
[23:36:17] [W From] [Totemlyfunk]: u know by posting heaps at once ur keeping the glyph price low?
[23:36:57] [W To] [Totemlyfunk]: nah, everyone that undercuts does. it used to be in the 40s and 50s before the competition set in
[23:37:09] [W From] [Totemlyfunk]: but they dont
[23:37:14] [W To] [Totemlyfunk]: now that there is alot of competition it stays int he 5g ish range
[23:37:24] [W To] [Totemlyfunk]: undercut? lol everyone does
[23:37:26] [W From] [Totemlyfunk]: lots of ppl like me and a lot of others only post 2 or 3 of each time
[23:37:34] [W From] [Totemlyfunk]: oh yeah they undercut of course
[23:37:41] [W From] [Totemlyfunk]: what im getting at is this
[23:37:47] [W From] [Totemlyfunk]: by posting say.. 7 at a time
[23:37:55] [W From] [Totemlyfunk]: u keep the price at that lvl
[23:38:02] [W To] [Totemlyfunk]: how many you post doesnt matter when there are lots of people posting
[23:38:04] [W From] [Totemlyfunk]: because u get the undercutters come
[23:38:08] [W From] [Totemlyfunk]: they post
[23:38:10] [W From] [Totemlyfunk]: they sell
[23:38:17] [W From] [Totemlyfunk]: then it falls back to ur 7
[23:38:22] [W From] [Totemlyfunk]: and because there is so many
[23:38:28] [W To] [Totemlyfunk]: i could post 2 and then you and 10 others would post 2 and its still low
[23:38:28] [W From] [Totemlyfunk]: the price never climbs
[23:38:37] [W From] [Totemlyfunk]: i get that
[23:38:42] [W From] [Totemlyfunk]: but what im trying to say
[23:38:51] [W From] [Totemlyfunk]: because you post so many of the same type
[23:39:00] [W From] [Totemlyfunk]: the price will never get the chance to climb
[23:39:16] [W To] [Totemlyfunk]: your logic is flawed
[23:39:17] [W From] [Totemlyfunk]: myself and a few others are trying to force the prices back up to a good profit
[23:39:22] [W From] [Totemlyfunk]: its not flawed
[23:39:26] [W From] [Totemlyfunk]: it works
[23:39:43] [W From] [Totemlyfunk]: we lifted the price of 30 glyphs today
[23:39:56] [W To] [Totemlyfunk]: keep bringing them up. I post 2c under the lowest one
[23:40:02] [W From] [Totemlyfunk]: i know we you
[23:40:05] [W From] [Totemlyfunk]: you*
[23:40:28] [W From] [Totemlyfunk]: the point im trying to make, is that for example
[23:40:38] [W From] [Totemlyfunk]: mr X posts glyph Y at 30g
[23:40:50] [W From] [Totemlyfunk]: mr Z posts glyph Y at 80s
[23:40:55] [W To] [Totemlyfunk]: the thing is that I can sell 6 or so in the 48 hrs i post, why would i only post 3 in that time and lose those extra sales?
[23:41:08] [W From] [Totemlyfunk]: then you come along and post 6 or 7 at 75s
[23:41:17] [W From] [Totemlyfunk]: now
[23:41:21] [W From] [Totemlyfunk]: if you only posted 2
[23:41:24] [W From] [Totemlyfunk]: they would sell
[23:41:27] [W To] [Totemlyfunk]: so buy mine out then you can sell yours at 30g
[23:41:29] [W From] [Totemlyfunk]: mr Z's would sell
[23:41:37] [W To] [Totemlyfunk]: what do i care about mr z?
[23:41:47] [W From] [Totemlyfunk]: and the price returns to mr X's price.. the market has recovered
[23:42:06] [W To] [Totemlyfunk]: the market is what the people buying say it is
[23:42:07] [W From] [Totemlyfunk]: you care because the prices will be higher and you will make more gold
[23:42:17] [W From] [Totemlyfunk]: yeah but IF you flood it
[23:42:20] [W From] [Totemlyfunk]: then it stays low
[23:42:29] [W From] [Totemlyfunk]: it wont recover
[23:42:31] [W To] [Totemlyfunk]: I know my mats cost down to the copper. I make a profit on every sale
[23:42:38] [W From] [Totemlyfunk]: im sure you do
[23:42:42] [W From] [Totemlyfunk]: but dont u wanna make more gold?
[23:42:48] [W From] [Totemlyfunk]: i know you watch the AH
[23:42:51] [W From] [Totemlyfunk]: we all do
[23:43:05] [W From] [Totemlyfunk]: so posting only 3 at a time.. whats the diff
[23:43:06] [W From] [Totemlyfunk]: they sell
[23:43:08] [W To] [Totemlyfunk]: sure, bring the prices up and I will. im fine with whatever but im not gonna post less glyphs cause the ones I post sell
[23:43:11] [W From] [Totemlyfunk]: u post anther 3
[23:43:24] [W To] [Totemlyfunk]: the diff is I dont want to log on 3 times a day for ah stuff
[23:43:30] [W To] [Totemlyfunk]: once is enough for me
[23:43:52] [W From] [Totemlyfunk]: i post twice a day
[23:43:57] [W From] [Totemlyfunk]: for example
[23:44:04] [W From] [Totemlyfunk]: i dont do anywork to post
[23:44:12] [W From] [Totemlyfunk]: so whats twice a day..
[23:44:24] [W From] [Totemlyfunk]: mate im not trying to scam you
[23:44:25] [W To] [Totemlyfunk]: if i post 6 at 2g and you want the price at 30g then then buy my 6 for 12g total and the first one you sell gives you back your gold
[23:44:30] [W From] [Totemlyfunk]: im trying to help the market and us
[23:44:36] [W To] [Totemlyfunk]: i know you arent trying to scam
[23:44:48] [W From] [Totemlyfunk]: i know that.. but its alot of work on our behalf to do that all the time
[23:44:56] [W To] [Totemlyfunk]: you just want me to work the way you do and I dont care to
[23:45:00] [W From] [Totemlyfunk]: im trying to make more gold for all of us
[23:45:05] [W From] [Totemlyfunk]: while reducing the my work load
[23:45:16] [W To] [Totemlyfunk]: cooperation or a glyph council doesnt work.
[23:45:30] [W From] [Totemlyfunk]: im not asking you to stop posting
[23:45:35] [W From] [Totemlyfunk]: im asking you to stop flooding
[23:45:36] [W To] [Totemlyfunk]: there are always new ppl taking up inscription cause it is the best way to make money on the ah
[23:45:53] [W To] [Totemlyfunk]: lol this isnt flooding. i even brought my stack down from 10 to 6
[23:46:21] [W To] [Totemlyfunk]: I could flood at 2.5g per glyph with 15 per stack easy and keep it up for months
[23:46:24] [W From] [Totemlyfunk]: sigh.. i tried
[23:46:35] [W To] [Totemlyfunk]: you just dont understand a free market
[23:46:39] [W To] [Totemlyfunk]: good luck tho
[23:46:49] [W To] [Totemlyfunk]: like I said buy mine and you can set your prices
[23:46:53] [W From] [Totemlyfunk]: i do.. but im purely trying to help us all.. thats all
[23:47:00] [W From] [Totemlyfunk]: good luck
[23:47:16] [W To] [Totemlyfunk]: i understand the thinking, but there will always be someone deep undercutting so it will never work
[23:47:24] [W To] [Totemlyfunk]: good luck to you too
My server has contracted a disease. Its called the glyph council. A glyph council is where a majority of the big time sellers of glyphs try to get together and set the prices of glyphs by buying out all the lower priced glyphs and then reselling them for a much higher price.
These things never work. The problem is that the only way to control the market is to control the stock. The council tries to do this by getting the big players to only sell at a price that has an unrealistically high price. The market is so easy to get into that anyone can come along and undercut at a large discount and then the council is stuck with tons and tons of extra glyphs that wont sell.
I was propositioned to join the glyph council guild yesterday and I'm kicking myself that I didn't copy the conversation down. Today I was approached with the idea that I post fewer glyphs so they could work their magic, because, my 6 or 7 stacks of glyphs are keeping the price down.
HA HA HA HA HA!
The idea that just because the glyphs have my name on them I am keeping the market down is laughable. Even if I only posted 3 of each glyph there would be others that post under me and the same amount of stock would be under their ideal price of glyphs.
Oh and their ideal price of glyphs is ridiculous. 30 to 50g per glyph? The damn things cost 2.5g AT MOST to make. That's at least a 27.5g profit per glyph. If the market will pay that fine, but the idea that they can hold that price through market manipulation is crazy.
But I say more power to them. I undercut by 2 copper just so my name is the first on the list. If they can manage to raise the price to 30g then ill be at 29g and good for me. Let them do the work and I'll see the profits. I just refuse to sell less product so they can try to get more profit in their pockets. I am now only selling 6 of every glyph because that's about how many I sell on a given day. It used to be 10 but that meant over 3.5k individual glyphs on the market and that took 2 hours to take out of the mailbox.
I thought about making a glyph wall of 12 glyphs each at a top end price of 3 or 4g each and decided not to. It would just give me much more work to do and the only motivating factor is anger at their stupidity.
I'll let them be stupid and I'll just take my profits and run.
Ps. here is the conversation I had today with the guy trying to convince me to sell less product so they can have more sales. Out of the whole conversation his point is most concisely put from time mark 23:40:28 to 23:41:47. he wants me to post less so I get bought out then his buddies can sell theirs. If I am getting bought out I am not putting enough product up. End of story.
[23:35:06] [W From] [Totemlyfunk]: u watch the auctionhouse a fair bit yeah?
[23:35:34] [W To] [Totemlyfunk]: kinda
[23:35:46] [W From] [Totemlyfunk]: just wondering why u post heaps of glyphs at once?
[23:35:56] [W To] [Totemlyfunk]: to make gold
[23:36:17] [W From] [Totemlyfunk]: u know by posting heaps at once ur keeping the glyph price low?
[23:36:57] [W To] [Totemlyfunk]: nah, everyone that undercuts does. it used to be in the 40s and 50s before the competition set in
[23:37:09] [W From] [Totemlyfunk]: but they dont
[23:37:14] [W To] [Totemlyfunk]: now that there is alot of competition it stays int he 5g ish range
[23:37:24] [W To] [Totemlyfunk]: undercut? lol everyone does
[23:37:26] [W From] [Totemlyfunk]: lots of ppl like me and a lot of others only post 2 or 3 of each time
[23:37:34] [W From] [Totemlyfunk]: oh yeah they undercut of course
[23:37:41] [W From] [Totemlyfunk]: what im getting at is this
[23:37:47] [W From] [Totemlyfunk]: by posting say.. 7 at a time
[23:37:55] [W From] [Totemlyfunk]: u keep the price at that lvl
[23:38:02] [W To] [Totemlyfunk]: how many you post doesnt matter when there are lots of people posting
[23:38:04] [W From] [Totemlyfunk]: because u get the undercutters come
[23:38:08] [W From] [Totemlyfunk]: they post
[23:38:10] [W From] [Totemlyfunk]: they sell
[23:38:17] [W From] [Totemlyfunk]: then it falls back to ur 7
[23:38:22] [W From] [Totemlyfunk]: and because there is so many
[23:38:28] [W To] [Totemlyfunk]: i could post 2 and then you and 10 others would post 2 and its still low
[23:38:28] [W From] [Totemlyfunk]: the price never climbs
[23:38:37] [W From] [Totemlyfunk]: i get that
[23:38:42] [W From] [Totemlyfunk]: but what im trying to say
[23:38:51] [W From] [Totemlyfunk]: because you post so many of the same type
[23:39:00] [W From] [Totemlyfunk]: the price will never get the chance to climb
[23:39:16] [W To] [Totemlyfunk]: your logic is flawed
[23:39:17] [W From] [Totemlyfunk]: myself and a few others are trying to force the prices back up to a good profit
[23:39:22] [W From] [Totemlyfunk]: its not flawed
[23:39:26] [W From] [Totemlyfunk]: it works
[23:39:43] [W From] [Totemlyfunk]: we lifted the price of 30 glyphs today
[23:39:56] [W To] [Totemlyfunk]: keep bringing them up. I post 2c under the lowest one
[23:40:02] [W From] [Totemlyfunk]: i know we you
[23:40:05] [W From] [Totemlyfunk]: you*
[23:40:28] [W From] [Totemlyfunk]: the point im trying to make, is that for example
[23:40:38] [W From] [Totemlyfunk]: mr X posts glyph Y at 30g
[23:40:50] [W From] [Totemlyfunk]: mr Z posts glyph Y at 80s
[23:40:55] [W To] [Totemlyfunk]: the thing is that I can sell 6 or so in the 48 hrs i post, why would i only post 3 in that time and lose those extra sales?
[23:41:08] [W From] [Totemlyfunk]: then you come along and post 6 or 7 at 75s
[23:41:17] [W From] [Totemlyfunk]: now
[23:41:21] [W From] [Totemlyfunk]: if you only posted 2
[23:41:24] [W From] [Totemlyfunk]: they would sell
[23:41:27] [W To] [Totemlyfunk]: so buy mine out then you can sell yours at 30g
[23:41:29] [W From] [Totemlyfunk]: mr Z's would sell
[23:41:37] [W To] [Totemlyfunk]: what do i care about mr z?
[23:41:47] [W From] [Totemlyfunk]: and the price returns to mr X's price.. the market has recovered
[23:42:06] [W To] [Totemlyfunk]: the market is what the people buying say it is
[23:42:07] [W From] [Totemlyfunk]: you care because the prices will be higher and you will make more gold
[23:42:17] [W From] [Totemlyfunk]: yeah but IF you flood it
[23:42:20] [W From] [Totemlyfunk]: then it stays low
[23:42:29] [W From] [Totemlyfunk]: it wont recover
[23:42:31] [W To] [Totemlyfunk]: I know my mats cost down to the copper. I make a profit on every sale
[23:42:38] [W From] [Totemlyfunk]: im sure you do
[23:42:42] [W From] [Totemlyfunk]: but dont u wanna make more gold?
[23:42:48] [W From] [Totemlyfunk]: i know you watch the AH
[23:42:51] [W From] [Totemlyfunk]: we all do
[23:43:05] [W From] [Totemlyfunk]: so posting only 3 at a time.. whats the diff
[23:43:06] [W From] [Totemlyfunk]: they sell
[23:43:08] [W To] [Totemlyfunk]: sure, bring the prices up and I will. im fine with whatever but im not gonna post less glyphs cause the ones I post sell
[23:43:11] [W From] [Totemlyfunk]: u post anther 3
[23:43:24] [W To] [Totemlyfunk]: the diff is I dont want to log on 3 times a day for ah stuff
[23:43:30] [W To] [Totemlyfunk]: once is enough for me
[23:43:52] [W From] [Totemlyfunk]: i post twice a day
[23:43:57] [W From] [Totemlyfunk]: for example
[23:44:04] [W From] [Totemlyfunk]: i dont do anywork to post
[23:44:12] [W From] [Totemlyfunk]: so whats twice a day..
[23:44:24] [W From] [Totemlyfunk]: mate im not trying to scam you
[23:44:25] [W To] [Totemlyfunk]: if i post 6 at 2g and you want the price at 30g then then buy my 6 for 12g total and the first one you sell gives you back your gold
[23:44:30] [W From] [Totemlyfunk]: im trying to help the market and us
[23:44:36] [W To] [Totemlyfunk]: i know you arent trying to scam
[23:44:48] [W From] [Totemlyfunk]: i know that.. but its alot of work on our behalf to do that all the time
[23:44:56] [W To] [Totemlyfunk]: you just want me to work the way you do and I dont care to
[23:45:00] [W From] [Totemlyfunk]: im trying to make more gold for all of us
[23:45:05] [W From] [Totemlyfunk]: while reducing the my work load
[23:45:16] [W To] [Totemlyfunk]: cooperation or a glyph council doesnt work.
[23:45:30] [W From] [Totemlyfunk]: im not asking you to stop posting
[23:45:35] [W From] [Totemlyfunk]: im asking you to stop flooding
[23:45:36] [W To] [Totemlyfunk]: there are always new ppl taking up inscription cause it is the best way to make money on the ah
[23:45:53] [W To] [Totemlyfunk]: lol this isnt flooding. i even brought my stack down from 10 to 6
[23:46:21] [W To] [Totemlyfunk]: I could flood at 2.5g per glyph with 15 per stack easy and keep it up for months
[23:46:24] [W From] [Totemlyfunk]: sigh.. i tried
[23:46:35] [W To] [Totemlyfunk]: you just dont understand a free market
[23:46:39] [W To] [Totemlyfunk]: good luck tho
[23:46:49] [W To] [Totemlyfunk]: like I said buy mine and you can set your prices
[23:46:53] [W From] [Totemlyfunk]: i do.. but im purely trying to help us all.. thats all
[23:47:00] [W From] [Totemlyfunk]: good luck
[23:47:16] [W To] [Totemlyfunk]: i understand the thinking, but there will always be someone deep undercutting so it will never work
[23:47:24] [W To] [Totemlyfunk]: good luck to you too
Tuesday, May 18, 2010
Breaking into a new market
Now that I am all set up on my new laptop and got my glyph business up and running again, I have decided to go into a new market. I set myself a goal to make it to the gold cap before the expansion comes out. I am about 1/3 of the way there with almost 70k gold. down from about 100k after changing professions. With Inscription as my only earner at about 1.2k in pure profit a night I need to branch out.
I used to have Inscription and Jewelcrafting on my main but I never used the jewelcrafting for profits. I had it solely for ease of getting gems for my gear and the raiding bonus. The few times I dipped my toes in the gem selling pool I saw loads of work for little profits. Granted I didn't give it a full try but Jewelcrafting made me tons of easy gold in Burning Crusade and I hated seeing how much profit margin has been lost in this expansion. I'll keep the fond memories and try something new.
Since I had decided to switch, I had to pick a profession that would be good for making gold and good for raiding. My main is a DK so the easiest choice was Blacksmithing. The raiding benefit for Jewelcrafting is 42 of a stat (strength in my case) and for Blacksmithing its 40. I can live with a 2 strength loss. Blacksmithing also has potential for HUGE profit spikes when new patches and patterns come out. It's also got steady profit makers in leveling and fresh 80 gear.
The biggest drawback to starting out B.S. is the gold sink of leveling. It cost me 25k gold to level both Mining (on another toon, mostly buying ore and smelting to save time) and B.S. All that ore and more went into the B.S. leveling grind. Then I spent another 15k testing the waters with level 80 crafted gear, ICC patterns and a few high cost items. So far I have made back 10k selling most of the level 80 gear and still have a 12k item waiting to sell that cost me 8k to make. Almost have made my investment for materials back with a 8k profit when that last item sells.
After looking at what I was doing right in the glyph market I have decided that I need to make a stockpile of B.S. items and send them to an alt. I will start with 2 of each post 80 item I have and go from there. There are a few items like eternal belt buckles that I know will sell in bunches. I also plan on making a few of the level 40 items since that's the level you learn plate wearing and all of the enchanting rods.
As always I will be posting with Quick Auctions 3 and have a hard bottom threshold so I don't post below my materials costs. Since the deposit costs are much higher than the glyphs are I can't ignore that and will add in 4 failed auctions worth to the threshold.
I also plan on making a few macros to advertise my most expensive items in trade so the people who didn't even know they wanted the item can see the error of their ways and put gold in my pocket.
I think I will try to do a weekly update on this and my trek to the gold cap on the weekly maintenance days.
I used to have Inscription and Jewelcrafting on my main but I never used the jewelcrafting for profits. I had it solely for ease of getting gems for my gear and the raiding bonus. The few times I dipped my toes in the gem selling pool I saw loads of work for little profits. Granted I didn't give it a full try but Jewelcrafting made me tons of easy gold in Burning Crusade and I hated seeing how much profit margin has been lost in this expansion. I'll keep the fond memories and try something new.
Since I had decided to switch, I had to pick a profession that would be good for making gold and good for raiding. My main is a DK so the easiest choice was Blacksmithing. The raiding benefit for Jewelcrafting is 42 of a stat (strength in my case) and for Blacksmithing its 40. I can live with a 2 strength loss. Blacksmithing also has potential for HUGE profit spikes when new patches and patterns come out. It's also got steady profit makers in leveling and fresh 80 gear.
The biggest drawback to starting out B.S. is the gold sink of leveling. It cost me 25k gold to level both Mining (on another toon, mostly buying ore and smelting to save time) and B.S. All that ore and more went into the B.S. leveling grind. Then I spent another 15k testing the waters with level 80 crafted gear, ICC patterns and a few high cost items. So far I have made back 10k selling most of the level 80 gear and still have a 12k item waiting to sell that cost me 8k to make. Almost have made my investment for materials back with a 8k profit when that last item sells.
After looking at what I was doing right in the glyph market I have decided that I need to make a stockpile of B.S. items and send them to an alt. I will start with 2 of each post 80 item I have and go from there. There are a few items like eternal belt buckles that I know will sell in bunches. I also plan on making a few of the level 40 items since that's the level you learn plate wearing and all of the enchanting rods.
As always I will be posting with Quick Auctions 3 and have a hard bottom threshold so I don't post below my materials costs. Since the deposit costs are much higher than the glyphs are I can't ignore that and will add in 4 failed auctions worth to the threshold.
I also plan on making a few macros to advertise my most expensive items in trade so the people who didn't even know they wanted the item can see the error of their ways and put gold in my pocket.
I think I will try to do a weekly update on this and my trek to the gold cap on the weekly maintenance days.
Thursday, May 13, 2010
New Laptop
You know how my laptop died a few weeks ago? Well, I had a repair done on the video card and it worked for all of 2 days.
It's been 2 years since I bought the thing and this is a good excuse to get a new one. That's just what I did. I am now in the process of moving all my important info over to the new one when I can find time outside of raiding/work/girlfriend. I have had a few things cause that spark in my brain want to make a blog post and will be putting them up after I "move house".
In the meantime you can bask in the awesomeness that is my new laptop.
It runs 2 wow instances at 60 fps both, load screens take about 6 seconds to load and the graphics are amazing.
it also looks like a stealth fighter plane.
Saturday, May 8, 2010
Rituals of the Cash Cow
Rituals of the New Moon
Binds when equipped
Held In Off-hand
+37 Stamina
Requires Level 70
Item Level 159
Equip: Improves hit rating by 25
Equip: Improves critical strike rating by 36
Use: Transform into a giant black wolf. (10 Min Cool down)
This is an extremely unique item and to a gold savvy goblin unique=opportunity=gold in my pocket.
I remember in vanilla WoW that the easiest way to make money quick was to go farm either a reputation or a rare drop for a recipe that very few people had. Timbermaw exalted reputation recipes or that damn fire resistance elixir recipe from LBRS are great examples. NO ONE wanted to put in the effort to get the effort to get these recipes. Therefore those that did have these were minting their own gold.
In Wrath of the Lich King we have virtually no reputation or farmable recipes. The only recipe in inscription that needs to be farmed is [Rituals of the New Moon]. It is an offhand item that has decent stats for a fresh 70 and it has a unique "on use" effect that turns you into a wolf.
Not many people know about this item for a few reasons.
1.It is not learned from a trainer or a boe recipe on the AH.
2.People at lvl 70 are leveling and really only care about gear they can get from leveling since that gear will be replaced soon anyway.
3.Being that it is an offhand item most mele would rather have a weapon in that hand and most casters don't really need the hit stat that is on it. Especially before they hit 80. Its not an item that is drool-worthy of anyone for its stats alone.
4.The recipe only drops for scribes in a specific area. No non scribe will ever see this item other than when it is for sale from a scribe on the AH or in trade chat.
People just don't go looking for this item. Those that do see it usually dismiss it because it is so mismatched to what is needed on this type of gear (off hand item that is not a weapon) that they usually look elsewhere before they see the "on use" that turns you into a wolf.
So why is this thing such a cash cow?
Its because so many people overlook it that gives us an opportunity. If few people know about it then even fewer are selling it. On my server there are exactly 2 other people who ever sell this on the AH. They really never make sales and I will explain why later.
Do people want it?
Yes, they just don't know that its there. The item is cool for one simple fact. It turns you into a wolf. You can do any of the wolf emotes and a few non combat things like eat with the costume on. Its a purely fun item. Hunters love it because they can have a wolf pet out and wear the wolf costume at the same time. Add wolf pup non combat pet and you are your own wolf pack.
Lets get down to the numbers. Remember, we only care if this item can make us a profit. Here are the mats and the average AH price for my server.
Ink of the Sea (5) - 2g each = 10g
Resilient Parchment (10) - 50s each = 5g
Eternal Shadow (3) - 6g each = 18g
Total cost to make = 32g
What is the fair* market value for the finished product? I truly have no idea. Since really no one goes through the trouble to make these its up in the air. You know what the cost is so price it at 33g or more and you will make a profit. But why think small. If you are making this you have a virtual monopoly on the item. I price mine at 189g each. That's over 150g profit on each one. Will they sell at a higher price? Probably. I wouldn't be surprised to see it sell for 250g each.
There is one more kicker with this item and the main reason almost no one puts in the effort to get the recipe or make the item. People don't buy this item just browsing the AH. If you make one and put it up it will never sell UNLESS you advertise or "bark" in trade. This is the key to making this item sell. It's so important I'll say it again.
You must advertise in the trade channel to get this item sold.
Now you can have them on the AH and direct people to them but you must do it, and furthermore you must do it in a way that lets them know why they want it. To become a wolf of course. Be witty be fun, and make sure to link the item in your trade barking. Make them know that its a fun item they want and they will buy it. Make sure to also let them know there are 4 colors of wolf to choose from. Some people will even buy all 4 just to be able to change to different colors of wolf. There is red, black, white, or grey
A few examples
[Rituals of the New Moon] ON THE AH NOW. Twilight fans, don't be team Edward, support team Jacob by turning yourself into a wolf! [Rituals of the New Moon] 4 COLORS TO CHOOSE FROM.
FOR SALE [Rituals of the New Moon] Hate playing a hunter but always wanted a pet? Be your own pet! Become one of 4 colors of wolf with your very own [Rituals of the New Moon]
Now, you may get some competition but if they are not barking in trade they will never sell an item. What they will usually be thinking is that your barking will sell the items for them. Like I said before I have 2 people who try to undercut me when I bark in trade a lot. How I combat this is that before I ever say a word in chat I go and make sure that I have undercut all my competition. I have literally seen one of my competitors put up a book and leave it there on 48 hr auctions for 2 weeks straight with no sales because I always had a cheaper one.
*(fair market price is defined as: the price at which the item will sell on a consistent basis.) It doesn't matter what you think it is worth, It only matters what the people will buy it for time and time again
Binds when equipped
Held In Off-hand
+37 Stamina
Requires Level 70
Item Level 159
Equip: Improves hit rating by 25
Equip: Improves critical strike rating by 36
Use: Transform into a giant black wolf. (10 Min Cool down)
This is an extremely unique item and to a gold savvy goblin unique=opportunity=gold in my pocket.
I remember in vanilla WoW that the easiest way to make money quick was to go farm either a reputation or a rare drop for a recipe that very few people had. Timbermaw exalted reputation recipes or that damn fire resistance elixir recipe from LBRS are great examples. NO ONE wanted to put in the effort to get the effort to get these recipes. Therefore those that did have these were minting their own gold.
In Wrath of the Lich King we have virtually no reputation or farmable recipes. The only recipe in inscription that needs to be farmed is [Rituals of the New Moon]. It is an offhand item that has decent stats for a fresh 70 and it has a unique "on use" effect that turns you into a wolf.
Not many people know about this item for a few reasons.
1.It is not learned from a trainer or a boe recipe on the AH.
2.People at lvl 70 are leveling and really only care about gear they can get from leveling since that gear will be replaced soon anyway.
3.Being that it is an offhand item most mele would rather have a weapon in that hand and most casters don't really need the hit stat that is on it. Especially before they hit 80. Its not an item that is drool-worthy of anyone for its stats alone.
4.The recipe only drops for scribes in a specific area. No non scribe will ever see this item other than when it is for sale from a scribe on the AH or in trade chat.
People just don't go looking for this item. Those that do see it usually dismiss it because it is so mismatched to what is needed on this type of gear (off hand item that is not a weapon) that they usually look elsewhere before they see the "on use" that turns you into a wolf.
So why is this thing such a cash cow?
Its because so many people overlook it that gives us an opportunity. If few people know about it then even fewer are selling it. On my server there are exactly 2 other people who ever sell this on the AH. They really never make sales and I will explain why later.
Do people want it?
Yes, they just don't know that its there. The item is cool for one simple fact. It turns you into a wolf. You can do any of the wolf emotes and a few non combat things like eat with the costume on. Its a purely fun item. Hunters love it because they can have a wolf pet out and wear the wolf costume at the same time. Add wolf pup non combat pet and you are your own wolf pack.
Lets get down to the numbers. Remember, we only care if this item can make us a profit. Here are the mats and the average AH price for my server.
Ink of the Sea (5) - 2g each = 10g
Resilient Parchment (10) - 50s each = 5g
Eternal Shadow (3) - 6g each = 18g
Total cost to make = 32g
What is the fair* market value for the finished product? I truly have no idea. Since really no one goes through the trouble to make these its up in the air. You know what the cost is so price it at 33g or more and you will make a profit. But why think small. If you are making this you have a virtual monopoly on the item. I price mine at 189g each. That's over 150g profit on each one. Will they sell at a higher price? Probably. I wouldn't be surprised to see it sell for 250g each.
There is one more kicker with this item and the main reason almost no one puts in the effort to get the recipe or make the item. People don't buy this item just browsing the AH. If you make one and put it up it will never sell UNLESS you advertise or "bark" in trade. This is the key to making this item sell. It's so important I'll say it again.
You must advertise in the trade channel to get this item sold.
Now you can have them on the AH and direct people to them but you must do it, and furthermore you must do it in a way that lets them know why they want it. To become a wolf of course. Be witty be fun, and make sure to link the item in your trade barking. Make them know that its a fun item they want and they will buy it. Make sure to also let them know there are 4 colors of wolf to choose from. Some people will even buy all 4 just to be able to change to different colors of wolf. There is red, black, white, or grey
A few examples
[Rituals of the New Moon] ON THE AH NOW. Twilight fans, don't be team Edward, support team Jacob by turning yourself into a wolf! [Rituals of the New Moon] 4 COLORS TO CHOOSE FROM.
FOR SALE [Rituals of the New Moon] Hate playing a hunter but always wanted a pet? Be your own pet! Become one of 4 colors of wolf with your very own [Rituals of the New Moon]
Now, you may get some competition but if they are not barking in trade they will never sell an item. What they will usually be thinking is that your barking will sell the items for them. Like I said before I have 2 people who try to undercut me when I bark in trade a lot. How I combat this is that before I ever say a word in chat I go and make sure that I have undercut all my competition. I have literally seen one of my competitors put up a book and leave it there on 48 hr auctions for 2 weeks straight with no sales because I always had a cheaper one.
*(fair market price is defined as: the price at which the item will sell on a consistent basis.) It doesn't matter what you think it is worth, It only matters what the people will buy it for time and time again
Thursday, May 6, 2010
Applying to a Server 5th guild
One of the not very well known aspects of being in a top 10 (Also know as a server 5th) guild is the application process.
If you want to be in a guild that gets it done you have to prove that you will be an asset to the guild in getting those goals completed.
Its kind of a catch 22. If you have killed the cutting edge content, you are probably in a guild at the same level and don't want to leave it and start over from scratch. If you haven't killed the cutting edge content, then why would we want you? Its like the job that won't hire you without experience, but how do you get experience without the job?
The only way is to prove yourself. And if you want even a chance to prove yourself you need to have a good application.
I know of no top 10 guilds that just let people in to raid without applying to the position. In my guild we have a friends and family rank where we do invite anyone in who is a friend of an established member but if that person ever decides they want to raid they still have to throw in an app.
You have to think of the app as the interview. You want to be as appealing as possible so we pick you over anyone else.
First thing you need to do is do some reading. Go find out what is the best spec for your class. Find out why some talents are better than others and what ones you can swap around. Learn what stats are best and what the optimal rotation (or priority) for your spells are.
Second you need to go out and min/max your gear. Is all of your gems and enchants the best possible for your spec? Have you bought all the upgrades you can from the AH or the badge vendor? Is there an instance you can farm or a pug raid you can get into to get just a little bit better in your gear. You have put forth obvious effort to get the best gear you can and then (and only then) how under geared you are doesn't matter.
Oh and do not mention gear score. GS is a horrible addon that lets people be lazy and lazy doesn't cut it in a top 10 guild. Put it this way, I play a Death Knight and because we ran ulduar so much we were disenchanting lots of gear. I decided to "buy" spell power gear that would otherwise be disenchanted by paying an abyss crystal to the gbank for each piece I got. I ended up with a 5100gs SPELL POWER set for my dk when the highest possible was 5600gs. I had over 2k spell power without gems or enchants. My dps in that gear was worse than a tank. I could get into any pug raid or group with that gear score and be the worst performer there.
Top ten guilds don't care about your gear score they care about your performance.
Third, learn the encounters. Top 10 guilds want people who are ready to go. We do explain the fight before the first pull of the night on most nights, but we expect to not have to hold your hand. The more prepared you can show yourself to be, the better your chances. That means reading strats, watching videos and checking out forum discussions on the encounters.
Now that you have done all that you are ready to put in an application.
Some tips:
Treat this like a job application.
Don't just throw down any answer that comes to your head. Think it through, take your time.
Make it aesthetically pleasing .
Make sure there is no walls of text.
Do not use leet speak or chat words.
USE SPELLCHECK.
Be concise, but get your point across.
One word answers are useless in most cases.
Applications like this one are entertaining but will never get you a spot in a top 10 guild.
The effort you put into an application is an indicator of the effort you will put into the raids. Make sure that effort paints you in a good light not a bad one.
If you want to be in a guild that gets it done you have to prove that you will be an asset to the guild in getting those goals completed.
Its kind of a catch 22. If you have killed the cutting edge content, you are probably in a guild at the same level and don't want to leave it and start over from scratch. If you haven't killed the cutting edge content, then why would we want you? Its like the job that won't hire you without experience, but how do you get experience without the job?
The only way is to prove yourself. And if you want even a chance to prove yourself you need to have a good application.
I know of no top 10 guilds that just let people in to raid without applying to the position. In my guild we have a friends and family rank where we do invite anyone in who is a friend of an established member but if that person ever decides they want to raid they still have to throw in an app.
You have to think of the app as the interview. You want to be as appealing as possible so we pick you over anyone else.
First thing you need to do is do some reading. Go find out what is the best spec for your class. Find out why some talents are better than others and what ones you can swap around. Learn what stats are best and what the optimal rotation (or priority) for your spells are.
Second you need to go out and min/max your gear. Is all of your gems and enchants the best possible for your spec? Have you bought all the upgrades you can from the AH or the badge vendor? Is there an instance you can farm or a pug raid you can get into to get just a little bit better in your gear. You have put forth obvious effort to get the best gear you can and then (and only then) how under geared you are doesn't matter.
Oh and do not mention gear score. GS is a horrible addon that lets people be lazy and lazy doesn't cut it in a top 10 guild. Put it this way, I play a Death Knight and because we ran ulduar so much we were disenchanting lots of gear. I decided to "buy" spell power gear that would otherwise be disenchanted by paying an abyss crystal to the gbank for each piece I got. I ended up with a 5100gs SPELL POWER set for my dk when the highest possible was 5600gs. I had over 2k spell power without gems or enchants. My dps in that gear was worse than a tank. I could get into any pug raid or group with that gear score and be the worst performer there.
Top ten guilds don't care about your gear score they care about your performance.
Third, learn the encounters. Top 10 guilds want people who are ready to go. We do explain the fight before the first pull of the night on most nights, but we expect to not have to hold your hand. The more prepared you can show yourself to be, the better your chances. That means reading strats, watching videos and checking out forum discussions on the encounters.
Now that you have done all that you are ready to put in an application.
Some tips:
Treat this like a job application.
Don't just throw down any answer that comes to your head. Think it through, take your time.
Make it aesthetically pleasing .
Make sure there is no walls of text.
Do not use leet speak or chat words.
USE SPELLCHECK.
Be concise, but get your point across.
One word answers are useless in most cases.
Applications like this one are entertaining but will never get you a spot in a top 10 guild.
The effort you put into an application is an indicator of the effort you will put into the raids. Make sure that effort paints you in a good light not a bad one.
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