Cloak Enchants and Belt Buckles: Feed Your Raiders!

I feel like I have a secret agent inside World Of Warcraft sometimes. My good buddy David (@Darkfriend337 on twitter), who is an active raider and gold making entrepreneur has been feeding me all kinds of goodies that are coming out of the new 4.2 patch Firelands. From the awesome new gear and patterns, to screen shots like the one pictured above of the actual instance. It's amazing really. It brings memories rushing back of my time spent in early vanilla in Molten Core. Those really were the days. Now players of all kinds can relive that nostalgia with the new raid dungeon.

With that in mind, David also shared with me a gold tip to pass along to you, dear reader. The faction associated with the new raid dungeon are the Avengers of Hyjal. Those who increase that faction will be rewarded with various epics on the journey to exalted status. The first of which comes at friendly. Players who achieve friendly with the Avengers of Hyjal can buy a back piece for 250 gold. It took David's raid group just one night of farming trash to get there. What does that mean? Raiders need cloak enchants!

Cloak Enchants
The best thing about Hyjal is that it brings all kinds of new and different cloaks into the game. So all classes will be able to benefit. That means you don't have to focus on one specific cloak enchant. Healers will need enchants. DPS will need enchants. Tanks will need enchants. Moreover, the cloaks aren't only being given out in the new raid dungeon. I heard a rumor, and I'm going to preface it with saying I haven't seen it yet, but I heard that completing the new Thrall quest chain will reward you with a 365 cloak as well. That means the player base that will be upgrading their back-piece is tremendous. Take advantage!

Belt Buckles
Keeping on topic with the Avengers of Hyjal, once you reach honored with the faction you'll be able to purchase a new belt from the vendor. That means a major increase in belt buckle sales. So don't get frustrated if you're buckles haven't been selling yet. As soon as people start getting to honored with the Avengers of Hyjal, you'll be seeing them fly off the shelves.

Reach out!
Let me know how your 4.2 is going. What's selling well, what's not. Made any big gains? Been surprised by anything? I and the readers here at Capped By Cata want to know.

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What's Selling: Day 1 of Patch 4.2

Merry Patch 4.2mas! Yes, Patch 4.2 has graced us with its presence and is giving us all of the bounty we expected. I wanted to take this time and point out some of the items that are moving for me this far in patch 4.2. To this point, I've landed about 30k so far. Not bad for one night of posting. Here is a run down.

Sold
18,889 Gold in Volatile Life (Got a crazy good deal and flipped them)
6,000ish Gold in True Gold Bars
3500 in Bold Inferno Rubies
3500 Brilliant Inferno Rubies

Have listed:
Hypnotic Dust Stacks
Great Celestial Essence Stacks
200 Heavenly Shards in Singles
Embersilk Cloth Stacks


My plan of attack:
I wasn't happy with my numbers on the rubies. I have close to a full guild tab of stacks of 20's ready to go. I started really high and tried to set the price. I started at a 170 mark for each cut I was selling and went from there. Undercutting has ensued, but with so much stock, I'm going to get in the trenches and fight it out. Couple quick tips, now that the shuffle has been nerfed, now is a great time to cash in on Hardened Elementium Bars and I suggest looking into this compliation post about 4.2 from some other bloggers about how to go about things now that we've been hit with 4.2.

Why Today will be better than yesterday
I'm really hoping today will yield bigger results. I hope everyone is able to get into the game and start thinking about gearing their toons. I'm hoping for a big night tonight. Will see how it goes!

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4.2 Panic: Reader Question

Pretty epic reference to panic there, know? Alright, if you don't get it then you may have missed 2005. It's alright though, I'll let you off this time. For today's post I wanted to address a very timely topic. A reader sent me an e-mail in a bit of a "panic" and I wanted to provide some advice. Take a read:

"Hi Wes,

Love your podcast and your site so thought to ask you for advice, please.
I've been shuffling for the last two months and been selling a few gems on the AH but my main source of gold is flipping low to medium so a little nervous over other methods. (have only reached around 30-40k liquid)

I've accumulated a stockpile of around 400 to 1000 of each rare Cata gem (700 infernos) and wonder if you think that listing them Tuesday evening (pre-upgrade) is a good idea... And in what form?

Am on eu-turalyon where prices are pants (infernos are around 66g uncut) so don't want to waste my stock.

Thanks for any help you can give.
Cyril-Turalyon"

Cyril, first off thank you for the comments. They main a lot and I'm very much flattered. I'm glad you enjoy the content. Keep on reading :D. With that out of the way. Let's get to the meat of your question. First off I want to point you to two posts that you may find useful. Defining a percentage for stockpiling and catering to a DPS centric WoW. Both of these will be useful for you when you go about clearing out what appears to be a pretty massive stockpile.

Current Pricing
I'll answer your question in two different parts. The first part I want to address is the low market price for your inferno rubies currently. Whether it's tomorrow or two weeks from now the current list price for rubies on your server is moot. Look for it to double. Demand will greatly outweigh the supply on almost every server. The biggest impact of this will be in the Justice Point convergence. Not necessarily raid content. So don't worry to much about the pricing currently. You want to structure your supply at a much higher price point. I think 150 gold per cut is beyond fair with the incoming demand.

How to list
With that out the way the next part is what to do with your stock. Cut 'em up and get them posted. Whether it hits tonight or in two weeks, you're not risking anything. Don't undercut anyone. In fact, take the opportunity to set the price. Post all of your gems for 48 hours at the price you want. Again, 150-175 per cut isn't pushing it. You're biggest focus should be on your DPS based rubies. I know you have a lot, but you really can't flood this market. I wrote it about it in the past. Can you really flood a market? My opinion is no. Especially not the inferno ruby market.

The best part about 4.2, is the fact that it is going to be a drawn out transition. Many people will jump at the convergence of points, but you'll continue to see more and more new gear coming in with casual players getting into old raiding content, new PvP gear, and current raiders getting into firelands. It's a win win for everyone. You're on the right path, now just execute your game plan. Post a lot and with high prices. You won't be disappointed.

You too!
You could see your question featured right here at Capped By Cata just like Cyril. Have questions? Leave them in the comments, or e-mail me at CappedByCata@Gmail.com or catch me on twitter @CappedByCata

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Auction House Junkies Episode 11: What A Long Strange Month its Been!

Auction House Junkies Episode #11

Brought to you by Cold of www.ColdsGoldFactory.Blogspot.com and Wes of www.CappedByCata.com

The World Of Warcraft Gold Making Podcast!

In This Episode We Talk About:

• Goldgrub's Gobin Academy: A World Of Warcraft Gold Making Teaching site


• 4.2 Stockpiling!
  


• Reader Questions!
  


• Twitter Fun!
  


• Winged Guardian Giveaway!
  


• Our Weeks In WoW


• Mysterious Fortune Card Mastery


• Capped By Cata Consulting


• Other goodies that I've forgotten to list!

Please check it out! Find it at AuctionHouseJunkies ! or at the Auction House Junkies Podbean!

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Auction House Junkies Episode 11 Records today!

Hey guys! Just wanted to check in you today and let everyone know that Auction House Junkies will be recording Episode Number 11 today. We're going to have a jam packed episode for you today. So instead of just letting my twitter followers know that we're recording today (You follow me on twitter, right? @CappedByCata) I wanted to put this up and see if there are any last minute questions or concerns any of the wonderful readers here may have. Please leave them in the comments area and will do our very best to go them answered on the show!

Also, if you hadn't taken the opportunity to sign up for The Winged Guardian Giveaway, there is no better time then now. Click on over to sign up and have Capped By Cata delivered to your inbox!

Also, I wanted to spotlight a couple of posts that may be of great interest to you as 4.2 draws closer and closer. Feel free to look them over!

When to start preparing for 4.2
I hope you already have, but it's never too late!

Preparing for 4.2: Landslide and Hurricane
The word on DPS enchants!

Make Gold Smelting: Hardened Elementium Bars
These are going to be in high demand!

Heartblossom Buyout Strategy
A great strategy that you can implement to any item you're looking to stock up on.

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Captain! Set course to 4.2!

What a long strange month it has been! Just wanted to give everyone an update on the state of things here at Capped By Cata. I've been traveling for the past month training for a new job. Jumping from hotel to hotel, living off a netbook and a shoddy WiFi connection. Because of this, I have had to do the majority of my blogging from my phone. This made it increasingly difficult to get out things promptly. But alas, dear readers, this is over! I'm back home. Back on my real computer and back to a 24 inch World Of Warcraft. I'm a very happy guy. With that said, I wanted to take this wonderful Saturday and put together some of the best posts to come out of the Blogosphere this week in regards to patch 4.2 and other tasty gold making tidbits. Enjoy!

Powerword: Gold Make Cheap Inferno Rubies Before Patch 4.2
A fantastic rundown of why you should be making Inferno rubies, like, yesterday!

Cold's Gold Factory: Midsummer Fire Festival | Ideal Holiday for leveling alts!
If you've got an alt that isn't 75 and has professions, take advantage of this one!

Player Vs Auction House: Fate of Crafted Epics in 4.2(and more)
One of the best run downs on how to approach crafted epics going into patch 4.2. A must read!

Just My Two Copper: Patch 4.2 Niche Market
A great overview of making with 77-79 BoE green quality items

Goldgrub's Goblin Academy: Starting Capital: Dalaran Pets! (And a shameless plug)
I wrote it, so it must be good! :P

Auction House Addict: What's been Selling This Week
Check out Nev's gold making strategies and performance, talk about inspirational!

Miss Mediocre: Sup Azeroth? I'm back!
One of my favorite gaming bloggers makes her return to Azeroth!

The Gold Queen: Gold With Guilds Series
Check out this awesome series written by the queen of gold herself. Give her some support, she's had a hard week with those headaches. Feel better!

Warcraft Econ: Making Gold as a Raid and Responding to the demands of Raiders
One of the oldest and most trusted names in the Gold Making Community weighs in on cashing in on your servers population of raiders

Foo's WoW Musings: Snowfall Ink
A fantastic tip about cashing in on those snowfall inks you have in your stockpile!

Nerf Faids: Minimizing risk when flipping via the Neutral AH
A great post if you're thinking of getting into the neutral auction house game. Minimize your risk and maximize your profits!

Kuja's Gold Mine: How Professor Putricide Makes Gold
Alchemy Encyclopedia. You need to read this if you are an alchemist!

This is just but a sprinkling of some of the great posts to come out of the Gold Making community this week. So take this Saturday and catch up on the week in news. Patch 4.2 is on the horizon and by checking out these great writers you'll be well prepared no matter what your intentions are when patch 4.2 arrives.

As always if you have questions, comments, or concerns, feel free to contact me via E-mail CappedByCata@Gmail.com or via Twitter @CappedByCata

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The Calm Before the Storm: 4.2

In today's post I want to revisit my Friday Call for Questions. While a lot of the things I received were for individual help, one of the most common questions I heard was what to do in between now and 4.2?

"There is a consistent lull in sales, what do I do?"
This is where I'm going to focus my attenion for this post, because this is something I have also faced. For those of us who play in multiple markets, I'm sure you've noticed that some of your sales of slow down, if not stopped completely. Things like Gems, Enchants, etc. These items have probably slowed down for you. I know they have for me. This is because the majority of players are waiting for 4.2 changes.

The majority of players are not looking invest more gold into items that could be obsolete in as little as five days. It just doesn't make good economic sense. However, if you deal in trade goods you'll probably still have a steady demand and then a spike once 4.2 is released.

So what should I do?
Be patient. Take this week and invest your time in stockpiling and making sure you're characters are ready for the patch release. I recommend taking a look at my good friend Cold from Cold's Gold Factory post about Alt Army Preparation for patch 4.2 that should be a great starting point for you if don't know where to look in regards to getting your characters ready for patch 4.2!

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Catering to a DPS centric WoW

Nostalgia? Yea, I seriously miss BC. But I digress. Already. Anyway, I was working on an action plan earlier today for a client of Capped By Cata Consulting and I was writing about how making items available for DPS players is essential to being successful, especially during patch time. I wanted to elaborate on that point in today's post.

World of Warcraft as I know it has evolved tremendously since the time I started playing. In the early days the players that were catered to were tanks and healers. If you could tank, you tanked. If you could heal, you healed. There was no diversity. There was no choosing which set, or enchant you want to provide for players. Healers and Tanks came first, and DPS really got the left overs. Tanks and Healers were glory roles that everyone wanted to play. As times shifted and more casual players came into the game the dynamics changed.

Fast-forward several years to today. The landscape is different. Blizzard essentially has to bribe players into playing the glory roles of yesteryear. So much so that it's become profitable just for people to take up those roles.

Because of these factors, we have to take a hard look at how we prioritize items we craft for profit.

Craft for DPS
In the next few weeks when we see patch 4.2, players will once again be clamoring for new items, new enchants, and new gems. The majority of these players? DPS players. That's why it is important to keep these player at the forefront of your mindset. For example, focus on DPS gems first. Same goes with enchants. Have mats to make a tanking enchant and a DPS enchant, but not both? Make the DPS enchant. These are going to be the items that move the fastest.

It's important to know your target when it comes to moving items quickly and efficiently. This is no exception with World Of Warcraft. While great niche markets exist, during patch time it's all about catering to the masses.

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Is there a percentage to stockpile?

In Friday's post, I sent out a call for questions. I wanted to get a feel for the current state of readers, and how things were being received. I received several e-mails with questions and also a comment! So I wanted to go ahead and start answering some of those questions with today's post. Enjoy!

Darkautumn from the Alliance side of Antonidas posed a great question that I had never really thought about. I had been using it in practice, but never had it been posed to me in such a way. With that said, I wanted to explain my thoughts behind stockpiling percentages, and how they could help you going forward.

"Do you tend to stockpile anything that's 80% of market, or are we talking more along the lines of 70 or even 60%?"

Well, like most questions I've answered before the easiest answer for this one is "it depends." When it comes to stockpiling I generally try and create most of the materials I'm stockpiling. I want to go ahead and create materials that are already profitable to some extent, and hedge my bets that a patch will increase that profitability. A great example of this are Inferno Rubies. I wrote about the best way to obtain them when I wrote about the need to be transmute spec. My goal for stockpiling them is to invest the same amount I always have, about 24g each and then count on them rising in 4.2. So while my general rule for stockpiling is to create items for profit, it doesn't stop me from buying things when the price is right.

In regards to a particular percentage, I want to be able to double my money or at least get as close to it as possible when buying in speculation. Once again using inferno rubies, I watched several popular cuts fall between 50-60 gold per cut gem. I swooped them up knowing that I should be able to double my money in patch 4.2 with the rise in demand. I can see a cut like Bold rising to 100-120g on my server, so it's worth the risk for the reward.

Demand Plays an Important Role
Now while my general rule is double my money, if the flip is quick I'm not going to turn my nose up to it. A fantastic example of this is the volatile market. Fires, waters, airs, earth you name it, it's profitable if bought at the right price and sold quickly. When trying to buy volatiles for profit, I want to buy in bulk and flip them quickly. So let's make an example to work with. Let's take volatile air.

For this example, let's assume volatile air sell for 20 gold on average. A farmer is selling a bulk amount 200 in this case for 15 gold each. I know those 200 volatile air are worth 4000 gold. However, I'm going to have to invest 3000 gold to purchase them. This doesn't follow my normal rule of doubling my money. But that's ok. I'm still going to purchase them because I know within a day or so I will be able to move them at full market price. Not only will I return my investment rapidly, but I will make a significant amount off of the purchase.

My rule in a percentage world is 50%, however rules are made to be broken and the situation determines the amount. At the end of the day, if you can make money with little to no risk, it's going to be worth your time and the amount invested.

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Make Gold Smelting: Hardened Elementium Bar

Once again with today's post I want to focus in on items of profit and professions. One of the most overlooked professions in regards to crafting is the art of smelting. Smelting comes along with mining but is often overlooked by most players because they think mining is a gathering specific skill. This is not always the case! I want to take a look at one sure-fire way (nice pun, huh?) you can make money with smelting.

Hardened Elementium Bar
One of the most versatile end game crafting items today are Hardened Elementium Bars. Currently they are used as a reagent for 20+ different items and currency for some of the most popular blacksmithing plans. (PvP items, I'm looking at you). Hardened Elementium Bars benefit from a sustained demand due to all of their different uses. This demand will continue to thrive, and perhaps grow with the edition of patch 4.2 in the coming weeks. This, accompanied with current ore prices, make crafting Hardened Elementium Bars a profitable venture.

Cost Breakdown:
On my server, Hardened Elementium Bars cost about 46 gold to make and are selling on the Auction House for a consistent 60 gold each.

Volatile Earth x4: 16g (4g ea)
Elementium Bar x10: 30g (Derived from one stack of Elementium Ore at 30g)
Total cost to craft: 46g

Of course, everything is always server dependent. If you're prices are skewed, you will have to adjust accordingly. But for me 14g on a single bar is worth the small amount of time invested. That's another great thing about smelting this item. The cast time on smelting is very quick as compared to other professions and is "set it and forget it". No constant clicking like prospecting or disenchanting.

Conclusion
While 14g a bar isn't the most outstanding thing ever, it can still add to your overall income. Let's say you only process 1,000 ore a week. Which is enough to make 100 Elementium Bars. You'll end up making back, on average, close to 1,400g in profit a week. Tack that in to what you already bring in and it becomes a significant side business. Another great aspect is that it only requires the single profession interaction. So if you're only a miner, you can use the crafting part of your skill to make gold and not solely focus on the gathering aspect.

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Friday Call for Questions: 4.2 style!

Today I want to open up the floor to you, dear readers! There is much speculation about patch 4.2 and it's release date. It could be as early as this coming Tuesday, June 21st. However, a good argument could be made for it to be moved all the way to July 5th or later. It really all depends on how the most recent PTR changes are received by testers. So don't speculate, or try to lock in a date at this point. It's still a little premature.

With that being said, I want to hear from you! What questions or concerns do you have about the upcoming changes in 4.2? Is there anything in particular you're struggling with that maybe I could help with? Do you have a speculation idea that you'd like some feedback on? Or maybe you just want someone to analyze your stockpile?

Whatever it is, I want to know about it. My goal with this post is to pick up a few great questions and address them right here in post format. I'll answer as many questions as I possibly can via comments or e-mail, but I would like to take a few of the most common/requested questions and address them here.

Now get to work! Head to the comments section and leave your 4.2 related questions. You can also send me a tweet @CappedByCata and I'll make sure to add those as well. Also, don't forget the Winged Guardian Contest either. I've had a lot of entries, but there is still plenty of time to get your name in the hat!

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Volatile Fire: Revisited for patch 4.2

Let's focus on another fantastic item you need to be stocking up on for patch 4.2. Volatile Fire. Volatile fire is one of the most versatile and in demand items currently in the game. When 4.2 drops, the demand for volatile fire will continue to rise. The overall price of the item is going to level out at a higher price then it currently is today. There are a mixture of variables that will drive this increase in price. With the combination of new craftable items being released; accompanied with current gear becoming more readily available to the masses volatile fire is sure to be a high demand item for the foreseeable future.

The easiest way to obtain these is obviously going to be buying them now and holding on to them in hopes of higher prices. But what if you don't have the capital? What if you are just getting started with gold making? The best advice I can give is to jump into fishing for volatile fire.

In Cold of Cold's Gold Factory blogging carnival in January I wrote about my favorite farming spot in Cataclysm. Which is fishing for volatile fire.

So whether you just want to add some extra money to your pocket or really want to get out of the city, I highly recommend fishing up some volatile fire. You won't be disappointed!

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Royal Scribe's Satchel: A must have for Scribes!

Today I want to talk about an item that is on it's way in 4.2. The Royal Scribe's Satchel. It's a 36 slot inscription bag that will be the new best friend of any serious scribe on your server. Now, I'll be honest. It may not seem like a huge difference between the Royal Scribe's Satchel and the Pack of Endless Pockets but for any serious scribe it's a small investment for those 4 extra bag slots.

Where does it come from?
It can be obtained from the new quest chains that will be available in 4.2. I'm still a little unsure of how the new rep and quest lines are going to work out, so I will refrain from giving you exact details of how it will be obtained, as I don't have first hand experience on the PTR. Nevertheless, it's going to be a great pick up for any Leatherworker.

Cost:
3x Pristine Hide
3x Inferno Ink

Be Smart
Now, here is a disclaimer and a tip. 3x Pristine Hide is not something I would consider to be on the cheap side. Depending on server, these can run anywhere from 350-600g. The inferno ink is negligible in comparison to the hides, so that's the biggest worry with these. If you're a leatherworker and you want to be prepared to make some money selling these bags, then you need to act now. Go ahead and stock up on a few sets of materials to get you started. Otherwise, when the patch is released the prices will be going up and you'll miss your opportunity to cash in.

Over the next few days I'll be showcasing other items that are coming in 4.2 and give you a small break down of those. If you have anything special you would like me to feature, feel free to e-mail me CappedByCata@gmail.com or via twitter @CappedByCata

Also, don't forget the Winged Guardian Contest, sign up now!

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Winged Guardian Giveaway!

Yep, it's that time again! Once again I'm looking to give back to the audience here at Capped By Cata and reward you with one of the coolest mounts in the World Of Warcraft. Whether you're a passionate mount collector, or someone who looks at them as nothing more then a money pit you have to admit the new Winged Guardian is pretty freaking cool!

As you know the last contest was for a 60 Day World Of Warcraft Time Card. During that contest all you had to do to enter was to follow me on twitter.

For this contest, entering is just as simple. You may have noticed the new E-mail sign up box to the bottom right of your screen, and if you're a new visitor the pop up window. Don't fret. I'm not adding pop ups, I just want to give new visitors an opportunity to provide their e-mail to receive the daily posts here in their inbox.

The same goes with you!

How To Enter:

Simply sign up to have Capped By Cata delivered to your e-mail box. The sign up is a quick and painless process and you will have updates delivered to you in no time.

A winner will be chosen at random from the list of subscribers at the end of the contest period. The contest will run from now until July 15th, 2011 at Midnight Eastern Standard Time.

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Trade Chat Score

One of the best tips I can ever give a gold maker is to never run out of liquid gold. It's something I've said from the get go of writing here at Capped By Cata. I know it can sometimes be a hard prospect for many gold makers, but if you can stick to your plan and be diligent in your efforts times will come when you can cash in on those once in a blue moon type deals.

This evening, I was following my normal routine. Looking for good deals on the Auction House, processing ore via the Lazy Obsidium Shuffle and otherwise watching television. I noticed someone advertising in trade chat. They were selling a "bulk" of Twilight Jasmine. I always get excited when I see the word bulk. However, more often then not bulk ends up being like 20, so nothing too spectacular. But not tonight. I found a guy selling 176 stacks of twilight jasmine. After a little negotiation, I landed all 176 stacks for 8,800 gold. Or 50 gold each.

The great thing about this is that these stacks usually go for around 90g a stack on my server, so I landed all of them at very close to half price. The next step is what I'll do with them. Well, that's still up in the air. Regardless of the outcome, the point is don't ever run out of liquid assets. If you do, you'll miss golden opportunities to increase your wealth.

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Preparing for 4.2: Landslide and Hurricane

With today's tip I want to focus on one of the things I'm stocking up for patch 4.2 Enchant Scrolls for both the Hurricane and Landslide enchants. Hurricane and Landslide are the two most popular enchants for most DPS classes for their weapons. Hurricane currently holds the most popular position, simply because of the pricing discrepancy between the two items. This should change over time, as Maelstrom crystals are starting to settle to a price where even casual players can afford them.

My reasoning behind stocking up on both Landslide and Hurricane is because of the proposed released of 8 new blacksmithing patterns . Now, don't get me wrong. There is still a lot of unknowns about how these patterns will be obtained and just how much they will end up costing. And of course it's coming from MMOChampion, so as much as I like to believe I'm still a skeptic. However with nothing wagered nothing gained. But I digress.

The point I'm trying to make is that coupling these patterns a long with new content of 4.2 and the impending nerf of current raid content, players of all play style are going to have new weapons available to them. With DPS being the most common, it only makes sense to have both Hurricane and Landslide enchants ready to go. There will be a steady upswing in demand for these enchants, a long with enchanting materials. So by starting your preparations now, you'll be able to cash in on higher profit margins.

If you're looking for a little more detail on making enchanting scrolls profitable, check out my post I did on Enchant Weapons - Mending. It follows the same logic, only the reason for the build up was the influx in tanks taking advantage of Call To Arms.

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Cold's Gold Factory Blogging Carnival: The Auction House In Real Life!

This post is written in contribution to Cold's Gold Blogging Carnival. A monthly blogging Carnival hosted by Cold of Cold's Gold Factory. Be sure to check him out daily for gold making updates.

For this months carnival, Cold wrote a really unique post. It was about applying Auction House principles to the real world. Buying goods at low prices and moving them in a bigger market place at a higher price. It's money making 101. He asked for bloggers to write about their experience with this and how it could correlate. So here is my response.

My Other Passion
First, you need a little bit of back story. If you don't care about me and are only here for gold making tips that's awesome, so go ahead and check out another post like Heartblossom Buyout Strategy or listen to episode 10 of Auction House Junkies otherwise keep on reading!


Anyway, as long as I can remember the sport of Paintball has been a passion in my life. Now, I know what you're thinking. Paintball isn't a sport. It's a bunch of guys who dress like army men and go in the woods and shoot each other. It's not. It's so much more than that. For years I have traveled and competed competitively. I look forward to doing so again in the near future once my career is settled. Just because I like to show off, the picture to the left is of my team last year after we won a tournament. The above is also of that tournament. I'm the one in the bandanna!

How does this apply to gold making in World of Warcraft? Well, for years I have made money by applying the same methods to paintball equipment that I do in World Of Warcraft. In fact, my years of buying and selling paintball equipment probably gave me the gold making abilities I have today when it comes down to it. I spent years buying bulk items from players quitting the sport, separating them out and selling them individually over time. Or, if I wanted a new marker (gun) I would buy it, use it, and resell it. Usually for profit. I also used the art of trading and slowly traded up to newer and better things.

Paintball gave me my roots as someone who could identify with an economy. Cycles exist just as much in the resell of paintball equipment as they do in World Of Warcraft. New Makers are released by manufacturers every year. Prices go up and down as the competitive season plays out. If you want to be able to make any money and feed your habit, you learn to watch these cycles and take advantage of them.

So that's pretty much my story. So not only did you learn something about me (That I look awesome in purple) but that my real Gold making roots came from Paintball!

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Weekly Column: Starting Capital

Today's post I want to introduce all of the readers here to a weekly column I'm going to be writing. I've posted in the past about Goldgrub's Goblin Academy but I want to give a little bit more information about the column I'm writing over there.

What is it?
Well,the premise of the column is to inform new players/auctioneers about making their initial capital so that they can then grow their investments. I'll be trying to illustrate basic principles for success and relate them to current items and events in the game.

So if you've been struggling with making gold, obtaining gold on a new toon, or just want to be able to have a better understanding of some of the principles that make up a successful gold maker, be sure to take a look at my weekly Starting Capital post over at Goldgrub's Goblin Academy!

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Maximize Your Potential: Secondary Professions

When talking with readers, I run into a lot of the same questions. "What profession should I level next?" or "I have one profession spot left, what should I pick up? I already have X,Y,and Z." I usually answer the question with the best linking profession available. However, if you already have them covered, I'll go ahead and default to add another jewelcrafter, or add another alchemist. In my opinion, you can never have too many of either. The more of them you have, the more you can optimize those cool downs and enhance your gold making abilities without even leaving your home twon.

However, today's tip/post/soapbox is more about secondary professions. So many people over look secondary professions. Don't get me wrong, I still haven't started in on Archeology. That's more because I'm lazy, but the mounts are drawing me in so that's probably something I will start sooner rather than later. But I digress. Because I'm not an archeology expert, I want to focus on the big two of secondaries. Fishing and Cooking.

Fishing and Cooking
Talk about profession linking! These two were made for each other. It's no secret that one of my favorite parts of World Of Warcraft is fishing. I've made several posts about it's awesomeness. Whether it's creating a niche market with Albino Cavefish or just how valuable it can be in patch 4.1, fishing is a great source of income. Moreover, pairing fishing with cooking gives you that added flexibility for profit.

The great thing about these two skills is that is that even if you don't enjoy them, you can level both of them without even trying. The daily quests in both of these skills give you skill points. Now it's not the most efficient way, but once you get a couple skill points it will help increase your motivation to level up. It's nice to get a perk everyday in a skill.

Do this with urgency!
Why am I bringing up these overlooked skills now? It's because patch 4.2 is right around the corner. I know a lot of bloggers are really preaching 4.2 and all of the ways you can cash in, and these secondaries are no different. In 4.2, people are going to start hitting raiding hard once again. This means the added need of buff foods for those hardcore raiders on your server. If they've already bested current content, I would hedge my bets on them not having a stock of buff food ready to go. This means raiders are going to log on, run to the Auction House, and look for buff food. If you can take the next week or so and level up fishing and cooking that will be your buff food they'll be buying. You can level up these skills rapidly with just a little bit of time.

Invest in Yourself
If you want to be successful, you have to invest in yourself. This doesn't just mean power leveling professions. It means investing the time in your character. Yea, fishing might not be fun and cooking isn't that exciting either, but these skills will pay dividends over your gold making career. Get to it!

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When to start preparing for patch 4.2

It's that time again. A new content patch is just over the horizon. Patch 4.2 promises to bring new content to the masses and add some flexibility to the raiding scene. Hopefully this will bring an influx of players back to the raiding community with the promises of a nerf to current content, and the new content for players who have already played through it. While Cataclysm hasn't been as casual friendly as Wrath of the Lich King, hopefully patch 4.2 will address some of those concerns voiced by the larger community as a whole.

With that said, how does it apply to you? The gold maker? The answer? It depends. I know what you're thinking. "That's always the answer!" Yea, I know. It is always the answer. That's because with gold making, everything is situational. Patch time for some gold makers can be make or break. However, for others, patches come and go without concern. It depends on your method of game play. Let's take a look at two well known gold makers who are preparing for patch 4.2 in two very different ways.

To Stockpile
Anaalius over at Anaalius The Hunt for Gold wrote and showed off his stockpile for 4.2. Anaalius is one of my idols in the gold making community. He has over 1 million gold in liquid capital, and stockpiled half a million gold in items just for patch 4.2. Anaalius is a great example of someone who can make or break off of a patch. With so much invested, he stands to make a crazy amount of gold. However, if things don't pan out, he could lose a crazy amount as well. Now don't get me wrong. Going to the same extreme as Anaalius isn't for the faint of heart, but it is a prime example of stockpiling to the max.

Not to Stockpile
On the other side of the fence, you have bloggers who are reluctant to dump a bunch of their assets into a patch. For example, if you listened to our episode of Auction House Junkies about patch 4.1, you know I didn't do anything. This is because I got burnt by speculation in the past. MMOChampion had led me astray before, so I was worried about that in the most recent instance. For a great example of the anti 4.2 stockpile, Cold at Cold's Gold Factory wrote a post on now not being the time to prepare for 4.2

Conclusion
As a gold maker, you have to do what's best for you. Take a look at your liquid capital. Do you have 100k available to you? Fantastic, that's a lot. I would invest some of that in some riskier markets. While it is high risk, it can also be high reward. If things don't pan out, it's not going to cripple your business going forward. However, if you only have 10k available to you, I'm not going to do anything risky for patch 4.2. Losing a significant amount of that can make doing business very difficult. At the end of the day, you have to wager risk and reward and what makes sense to your given situation.

Finally, I'll pose a question. If you had to take 20% of your liquid and invest it into one market for 4.2 what would you choose and why? I'm interested to hear your ideas and see how they compare. So what are you waiting for? Let's hear it!

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Auction House Junkies Episode 10 is Live!

Auction House Junkies Episode #10

Brought to you by Cold of www.ColdsGoldFactory.Blogspot.com and Wes of www.CappedByCata.com

The World Of Warcraft Gold Making Podcast!

In This Episode We Talk About:

• Cold's Ideal Alts Series


• Build a Better Banker Series by Wes


• Goldgrub's Gobin Academy: A World Of Warcraft Gold Making Teaching site


• Alchemy Transmutes vs. Potion Mastery


• Winged Guardian and Pay Items


• Our Weeks In WoW


• Mysterious Fortune Card Mastery


• Capped By Cata Consulting


• Other goodies that I've forgotten to list!

Please check it out! Find it at AuctionHouseJunkies!

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Pro Tip: Heartblossom Buyout Strategy

Today's Pro Tip is something that can be implemented to fit just about any item that has a high supply rate. My example of this is Heartblossom. By the way, the word blossom for me is probably the most difficult word to spell for some reason. But I digress :P. Heartblossom is used for various items in the game. From Potion of Treasure Finding to Inferno Ruby Alchemy Transmutes it's an item that stays in demand, but can often times be over supplied.

On my server, a stack of Heartblossom can fluctuate depending on Day of the week, time of day and whether or not my server is bot happy. Because Heartblossom can be farmed in massive quanities, the supply of the good can often very much out weigh the demand of the good. Today's strategy is going to tell you how to take advantage of that and stock up when the pricing is right.

Determining Your Buy Price
I like to buy heartblossom when it is at 50g a stack or under. The reasoning behind this is because I use heartblossom to transmute Inferno Rubies with Carnelian. If the price of heartblossom is 50g a stack or under, it means the maximum price I have invested in my Inferno Rubies is 22.5 gold.

Carnelian: 5 gold each x 3 for Transmute = 15 gold
Heartblossom: 50 gold / 20 = 2.5 gold each. 2.5 x 3 = 7.5 gold
Total Cost Per Inferno Ruby: 15 gold + 7.5 gold = 22.5 gold

I then go on to cut the Inferno Ruby and sell it in the range of 75-140 gold. Again this depends on Time of Day, Day of the Week and competition. Ok, so maybe not competition. I think I dispelled that myth when I wrote about whether or not You Can Really Flood a Market

Keeping the Pricing Where you Want it:
On a massivly farmed item like Heartblossom, you want to encourage people to undercut each other. Now I don't have any control in getting people to undercut each other down to 50 gold a stack or less each. However, once they've done that part for me I can then control the pricing on my own by artificially making the average farmer think the price is staying that low. Here is an example:

A player farms 40 stacks of Heartblossom throughout the week. He then posts those stacks on Saturday morning. The current price of Heartblossom is 60g. Player is impatient and wants to move all 40 stacks so he can gather his gold for his Saturday night raid. He undercuts the market by 12 gold. The new lowest price on Heartblossom is 48g a stack. Because this falls under my 50g cap on Heartblossom, I'm going to buy it. However, in an effort to artificially keep the pricing low, I'm not going to buy it all. Of those 40 stacks, I'll purchase 33 stacks. The other 7 I will leave on the Auction House. The next farmer who goes to post his stacks of Heartblossom will see 7 stacks listed at 48 gold. "I want to sell mine too!" he thinks. He then lists his 20 stacks at 45 gold. I'll go back in and buy 15 stacks of his. Now there are 7 stacks listed at 48 gold, and 5 stacks listed at 45 gold. If I'm lucky the next person to list their item will repeat the process.

Now, before you start in on me I know this is a perfect scenario. There are other variables, but for the sake of teaching I left them out. Sure, the undercuts probably aren't going to be that deep. And yes, you're right. I cannot keep other players from ruining my method. However, if I'm consistently watching the market throughout the day I can nurse the pricing to play in my favor. It's all about time and patience.

Common Pitfall
The point of this post is to point out how you can control pricing. The most common mistake players make (and this included me for a long time) is buying out a market. It's only beneficial to buy out an entire market if you're going to reset the price yourself. If I buy out all of the Heartblossom at 48 gold and the next highest is 60 gold, I just reset the market to 60 gold a stack. This isn't beneficial for me if they aren't my stacks listed. When you see a good deal listed, don't be afraid to buy it. However, if it's a massive farming item, think a little more carefully before you wipe the market clean.

I hope this post was informative and engaging. Please feel free to leave any questions in the comments section or send me an E-Mail at CappedByCata@Gmail.com or follow me on Twitter @CappedByCata

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Volatile Air: It's all in how you buy them

Volatile Air is heads and shoulders above all other volatiles when it comes to pricing. On average, it hangs out around 18g each on my server. The reasoning behind this is simple. They are hard to come by. Low supply means people are going to pay a higher price. Pretty simple right? Sort of. It all depends on how a consumer goes about it.

Acquiring Volatile Air
Volatile air is used in all sorts of things. In fact our good friends over at Wowhead indicate that it can be used as a reagent for 27 different items. More common things are enchants like Hurricane or one of my personal favorite money makers; Truegold. Whatever it is, people are going to have to acquire Volatile Air one of two ways. Farming or Purchasing it.

Farming:
I really don't want to turn this into a farming post, but I guess I must mention it. Volatile Air is expensive depending on what item you're making. If you're in a rut you may have to farm them. The picture in the post shows a great spot in Uldum to farm them. However, my personal favorite way to obtain Volatile Air is by running Vortex Pinnacle. I always seem to get a good amount with a short run. I sometimes go as far to jumping into a normal dungeon run. Just to stock up if I feel like I want to get out of the city. If you're a tank go into the queue and only select Vortex Pinnacle on normal. You can get a couple quick runs in. You should have quite a few in your bags by the time you're finished.

Purchasing:
This is my preferred way. Because the way I play is liquid gold heavy, I don't tend to have a lot of stockpiled materials. I wrote a post earlier this year about Enchanting and Stack Sizes that echos a lot of the same principles I use in regards to buying. Just as I illustrated in that post that people pay for convenience, so do I. I primarily use Volatile Air for Truegold. I need 10 a day. If someone has a stack listed in 10 for 18.55, while another person may have singles listed for 18.00, I'm stilling buying the 10 stack. Sure it's a five and a half gold difference, but it's worth it to me to buy that way. Moreover, I don't stock up on volatiles unless they are a crazy good deal. The fluctuation of the volatile market as a whole is just that; volatile. Volatile airs are no different. I know they are about 18g each. Some days I get lucky and will buy them at 15 gold each. But I just buy what I need for that day. Some days I'm not so lucky and they are 22 gold each. Same thing applies, just buying what I need for the day. Although if they are listed at 10-12 each I'll buy out everything. It's all situational.

Anyway, the point I'm trying to make is that volatiles ride a roller-coaster when it comes to pricing. Air will be much cheaper now then it is when 4.2 drops because people will have an increased need. However, if you look at the same thing a month or so after 4.2 air will probably be cheaper than it is now. The reason? A spike in supply because of a spike in price. "Volatile Air is 35g each!?! I'll go farm some!" That mentality leads to a short lived reward, but an overall drop in the price and a market flood.

The TL;DR version is this: Be smart about when you're buying. Stockpiling isn't always right, and sometimes it pays just as well to buy as needed as it does to have a bomb-shelter in your bank.

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Goldgrub's Goblin Academy!

You may have seen a few tweets about it.You may have seen a post or two about it. You may have heard a teaser for it on Auction House Junkies or maybe from my friend Cold over at Cold's Gold Factory if not, I'm here to let you in on the newest site in the blogosphere. It's Goldgrub's Goblin Academy. Goldgrub's is a World of Warcraft teaching site that caters to the questions of new players and gold makers. I've been honored with the opportunity to join a cast of other fantastic gold bloggers, podcasters, and gold makers to bring readers the best information any new gold maker could ask for.

On a weekly basis, I'll posting at Goldgrub's. I'll cover a wide variety of topics that cater to new players. The e-mails I receive most often from players focus around on the basics. I'm happy to now have a platform to answer some of those questions for you guys.

I'll still be posting here on a daily (or as close to daily as possible) so there will be no shortage of content for you to dive into. But please check out Goldgrub's for a mixture of content form all over the gold making blogosphere!

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Can You Really Flood a Market?

Oh Experiments! How I love you! I've been working on a little something in my off time. I wanted to see if a single person can flood a market. So far, I'm not having much luck. But perhaps, that's a good thing. Over the course of the two weeks or so, I've been dominating all of the the Inferno Ruby sells on my server. By combining the Lazy Obsidium Shuffle and Alchemy's Transmute Spec, I've been able to produce tons of inferno rubies. Cutting them into various cuts and putting them up on the Auction House.

At first, I was listing about 10 of each cut that sold on a daily basis. They would sell, but I would always get undercut. I tried resetting the prices for awhile, but I was always get undercut. Then I got a great idea. I'll flood the market just for grins. So instead of posting 10 a day, I would list 40 of each cut. At whatever the market price was. Holy crap did that work out well.

I went form selling 10 a day to moving closer to 40 gems total a day. I stopped caring about how many I posted, and just threw them all on the Auction House. Some days the price was 140 a gem, other days, like today they are 70 to 80.

However, I had a monumental shift in thinking. Because I had an unlimited supply of these because I was I was using the proper manufacturing methods, as long as I made money, it really didn't matter what I was selling them for. I had about 22g in each gem so while it was better to move them at 140 rather then 70 it really didn't matter. I was supplying everything the market could support and they were selling.

This kept me processing and lead to a higher overall profit. What do you guys think? Have you had any experience with this? I thought it was an interesting way to go into things. Let me know what you think.

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