Wednesday, January 23, 2008

I've been Schooled

/equip [Feathered Pointy Hat Of The Noob]

I had a professor once tell me that the more you know the more you realize what you don't know. So the more you learn the stupider you get.

My goal is to become a Grade-A, First Class moron, and now I'm one step closer.

I've just caught up on the great podcasts being put together by Tyson over at mmo Auctioneer. So far he's got six podcasts in a series that shows how to get from zero to 1,000 gold without using any add-ons. It exemplifies how knowing a market can boost your ability to make good buying decisions and even better profits.

With his recent two podcasts he discusses the key of his strategy which is flipping recipes. There's been mention of it through his previous four podcasts, but now he's talking brass tacks. You'll learn which recipes to look for, how to get a price check and what to do if it's not moving.

You'll also be lifting your jaw off the ground when you hear the profits he's making.

For making monster profits, my experience is that Auctioneer becomes a little less important to the equation. After my bankroll grows large enough I start trading in Blues and Purples from the Weapon/Armor market. At that point knowing the market will find you killer deals that Auctioneer misses, and sell them for what their market really is as opposed to what Auctioneer thinks it is.

Personally I have learned a ton after listening to this series. I knew next to nothing about the demand for the recipe market before listening to his series. Now I'm feeling like a kid in a candy store and can't wait to give his strategies a test drive.

He also gives excellent advice on how to use the Trade channel to sell items that might not be moving in the AH. Listen carefully. Pay attention. Take notes. Do not vary. Memorize it.

The keys to negotiating are to get the other person to offer a price first, keep an even keel and use the AH to support your case. I don't talk about the Trade channel in this blog. Why? Because I don't use it. I don't get that much time online so I don't want to filter through whispers and run all over Azeroth to sell something. I'm interested in creating something formulaic and repeatable.

But, after listening to Tyson, if the profits are significant you bet your bottom copper that you won't be able to shut me up on Trade.

9 comments:

Anonymous said...

Made just for you Og ;) . Love the blog, keep up the awesome work!

http://www.wowitemcreator.com/view/157887/Feathered_Pointy_Hat_of_the_Noob.html

Og said...

Bri - I'm touched.

/grab Kleenex
/dab eyes

That's totally awesome! Now if I can figure out how to have it popup when hovering over links...

There goes my productivity for the rest of the day.

Anonymous said...

I bought a few recipes last night based on that podcast :)

Got some dirt cheap via bidding on one or two decent recipes on short duration pretty late on/early in the AM this morn.. some on stupidly low buyouts. Checked with a few guildies on value of them and I think they weill sell ok based on comments I got.

Definitly learning a lot from this blog and tysons podcasts.

Og said...

Topknot - I did my own searching last night and picked up a few that should net modest profits. I'll keep looking with an eye on the primo recipes at great prices. It would be nice to have a cheat sheet. Repeatedly flipping between WoW and my browser caused a small seizure.

Anonymous said...

While running my AH scan last night I paid more attention to the Trade Channel, as I usually don't because of all the non-Trade-related chat on that channel. As a result, I lowballed someone spamming WTS and picked up a [Dark Whelpling] for about 30% of what it was worth! :D

Og, I always keep a laptop on the side of my desk, running a browser open to Thott, WoWhead, and Kaldorei's excellent maps. Maybe a second monitor might help you if you only have one machine?

Anonymous said...

I'm not a big fan of podcasts, so I like your stuff more. Please keep going with your story!

Og said...

Bri - Awesome! You can do very well using the Trade channel in addition to bargain hunting in the AH. My problem when I would use the Trade channel is that I would say things like "You know you can get more for this in the AH."

Can't help myself.

And I'm a one monitor kind of guy.

Anonymous - I'm with you with a twist. I like them, but my attention span is about the same as a 2-year-old. So I miss a lot.

Thanks for the comments.

Anonymous said...

I've only just found your blog today (hi, avoiding work), and have enjoyed the read so far.

I gotta second the vote for recipes--I'm not the best about trolling the AH for deals, but I make a pretty steady income buying and reselling either cheaply listed or limited-quantity vendor recipes.

When I started playing a year ago, a friend told me about Pattern: Blue Linen Robe, and how you could make an easy 60s auctioning it. That's now by far the least I make from recipes, but I always keep it in the rotation. ^_^

The next step in this, of course, is enlisting the help of a RL friend and doing a smuggling run, to get faction-limited recipes to the other side. It requires more running around (many death runs for my 15 gnome warrior), but satisfying and quick profits.

Og said...

Blue - You can do a good business on reselling vendor items on the AH. I did quite a bit of this in my early days, before I discovered the Auctioneer add-on. OK, before I actually figured out how the darn thing worked.