Inscription Forged Documents

Forged Documents

The Inscription profession has an interesting craftable for Cataclysm scribes.  Forged Documents are crafted with 1 Resilient Parchament and 3 Blackfallow Inks.  The crafted item gives the Forged Documents Quest of the same name.  The quest is rather simple.  You create the forged documents then start the quest.  All you have to do is turn them into fasle documents and delivery them to one of multiple guards, trainers, or vendors in either Ogrimmar or Stormwind City.  Completing the quest awards you with a Bulging Sack of Coins.  The Forged Documents are bind on pickup so only a scribe can start and complete this quest.  The Forged Documents can only be crafted once per day.

Bulging Sack of Coins

Bulging Sack of Coins is a nice reward as it awards on average 20-25g.  At the current herb prices it isn't worth crafting for profit.  You would be much better off using those 3 Blackfallow Inks in the crafting and barking of Mysterious Fortune Cards as you can easily get 25g each for them. 

The Forged Documents are a good item to craft for 1 skill point per day, which may be a cheaper option than the other items in the same skill range.  They are crafted at Inscription skill level 500 and turn yellow at 510, then green at 522.  So you can't profit as a scribe with this recipe unless the herb prices drop significantly.  You can use this recipe to save you gold, if you are patient and not in a rush to max your skill.  If you like to increase your skill as efficiently as possible, then this is a nice recipe to continue to craft on a daily basis.

Neutral Auction House: What Sells?

What Sells on The Neutral Auction House?


This is a very common question that I am routinely asked in emails.  "What should I sell on the Neutral Auction House?"  Basically you can sell anything that has a great difference in value on the other faction of your server.  It is usually in your best interests to transfer your items to a character on the other faction by using two WoW accounts.  Always be smart and quick when transferring items via the neutral auction house.  You don't wanna have your goods snatched up by someone waiting to steal under-priced goods.

Here are some lists detailing what some of the reliable sellers are on the neutral auction house.  You should start off your neutral auction house business with the vendor items that are not available to the other faction.  Since they can't buy them from a vendor they must either buy them from the neutral auction house or from a player that transferred them to the other faction server.

Sterling from the Consortium.stormspire.net had already compiled a neutral auction house selling list so I am using his list here with some modifications.  Alliance only items are to be sold to the Horde and Horde only ones to the Alliance.  Some of the quests that awarded these items may be removed, but you can still grab some existing patterns to flip to the opposing faction.

Alliance Only

Quest Reward Recipes
[Pattern: Moonglow Vest]
[Plans: Golden Scale Gauntlets]
[Plans: Heavy Copper Longsword]
[Plans: Ironforge Breastplate]
[Recipe: Kaldorei Spider Kabob]
[Recipe: Roasted Moongraze Tenderloin]
[Recipe: Tasty Lion Steak]

Vendor Recipes
[Recipe: Beer Basted Boar Ribs]
[Recipe: Blood Sausage]
[Recipe: Clam Chowder]
[Recipe: Crocolisk Gumbo]
[Recipe: Crocolisk Steak]
[Recipe: Fillet of Frenzy]
[Recipe: Gooey Spider Cake]
[Recipe: Goretusk Liver Pie]
[Recipe: Loch Frenzy Delight]
[Recipe: Murloc Fin Soup]
[Recipe: Redridge Goulash]
[Recipe: Seasoned Wolf Kabob]
[Recipe: Westfall Stew]
[Pattern: Black Whelp Cloak]
[Pattern: Black Whelp Tunic]
[Pattern: Herbalist's Gloves]
[Pattern: Raptor Hide Belt]
[Pattern: Red Whelp Gloves]
[Pattern: Bright Yellow Shirt]
[Schematic: Blue Firework]

Vendor Pets
[Cat Carrier (Bombay)]
[Cat Carrier (Cornish Rex)]
[Cat Carrier (Orange Tabby)]
[Cat Carrier (Silver Tabby)]
[Cat Carrier (White Kitten)]
[Great Horned Owl]
[Hawk Owl]
[Rabbit Crate (Snowshoe)]
[Blue Moth Egg]
[White Moth Egg]
[Yellow Moth Egg]
All the Argent Tournament Pets
Horde Only

Quest Reward Recipes
[Pattern: Kodo Hide Bag]
[Recipe: Discolored Healing Potion]
[Plans: Barbaric Iron Boots]
[Plans: Barbaric Iron Breastplate]
[Plans: Barbaric Iron Gloves]
[Plans: Barbaric Iron Helm]
[Plans: Barbaric Iron Shoulders]


Vendor Recipes
[Formula: Enchant Chest - Lesser Mana]
[Pattern: Raptor Hide Harness]
[Recipe: Bat Bites]
[Recipe: Crispy Bat Wing]
[Recipe: Crispy Lizard Tail]
[Recipe: Heavy Crocolisk Stew]
[Recipe: Lynx Steak]
[Recipe: Roasted Kodo Meat]
[Recipe: Scorpid Surprise]
[Schematic: Red Firework]

Vendor Pets
[Brown Snake]
[Black Kingsnake]
[Prairie Dog Whistle]
[Golden Dragonhawk Hatchling]
[Red Dragonhawk Hatchling]
[Silver Dragonhawk Hatchling]
All the Argent Tournament Pets


Sinshroud of the Consortium also has a great post about the neutral auction house and sniping tactics that you would be well advised to also read.  Now get that shopping list in order and get to selling on the neutral auction houses of Azeroth in World of Warcraft!

JMTC Blogging Carnival: How Are You Making Gold In Cataclysm?

JMTC Blogging Carnival: How Are You Making Gold In Cataclysm?

The current topic for the January 2nd Just My Two Copper Gold Blogging Carnival asks us "How Are You Making Gold In Cataclysm?"

Mysterious Fortune Cards

Anyone who is a regular reader here at Cold's Gold Factory probably already knows what my favorite Cataclysm market is in World of Warcraft.  It's no secret that I having been heavily into the Mysterious Fortune Card market.  Right now these Mysterious Fortune Cards are selling like crazy for me.  This isn't a post it and forget about it kind of market.  Sales of Mysterious Fortune Cards are highly dependant on using good Fortune Card Barking Strategies.

I sell my Mysterious Fortune Cards for base prices of 35 gold each, 3 for 100, 10 for 310, or 20 for 600 gold.  These prices do go up if there aren't many undercutters and I can bark the prices up by barking to sell out the low priced cards.  I also snatch up low prices cards to relist, because they will sell if you bark.  If you don't bark, they will sit there with an occasional repeat buyer sale. 

Trade chat sales are great too!  I have commonly sold stacks of 20, 40, and 60 to single players making batch purchases.

Greens Gone Blue

Remember that post I did back in September on Nine Level 10-19 Greens That Turn Blue In Cataclsym?  I hope you stocked up too because these things have been selling well and for an insane return on investment.  Any Bind-On-Equip items that change color (and move up the color scale) will instantly gain value on the auction houses of Azeroth.  All of these items had stat upgrades on top of their color change.  Some players will level their alts in uber gear to help speed the leveling process.  Other times twinks are buying these excellent items as are players leveling through the battlegrounds.

Goblin Mail Leggings - I paid 3-8 gold for when they were green and had half the stats of the new version.  Selling now for 225g per pair.  Only 1 left in stock.

Woodworking Gloves - Paid under 3 gold and selling for 75g each sold 7 of 8 so far.  Baby Boomkins!

Metalworking Gloves - Paid under 3g (as little as 20 silver for the green) now selling for 75-120g

Stonemason Cloak - Bought 30+ for less than 1 gold each.  Sold for 35g each week one, then raised to 80g.  Maybe 5 remaining.  Gotta love turning 80 silver into 80 gold!

Foreman's Leggings - Only found one for 8 gold.  Sold for 325 gold day one of Cataclysm.

Blackened Defias Gloves - Bought for under 5g each and selling tons at 65-80g each.

Blackened Defias Belt - Bought tons for under 10 gold and sold over 20+ for 75-125g each.

Blackened Defias Leggings - Only found 3 to snatch.  Sold all 3 for 275g each in the first week.

Blackened Defias Boots - Paid 5g or less, sold out at 80-120g each.

As you can tell, this tip was highly profitable for anyone that took my advice.  I stocked up over a full bank tab of these green goodies only to log in after Cataclysm to see the full guild tab now holding all blues.

Any other blogger out there give you a Cataclysm speculation tip with a comparable return on investment?

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If you a fan of blogging carnivals, be sure to check back on January 11th, when Cold's Gold Factory Blogging Carnivals first edition releases.  Follow up every 11th day of each month for the new monthly gold blogging carnivals.

Bloggers be sure to check out the orginal Cold's Gold Blogging Carnival Announcement for the topic and rules.  Anyone interested can also review the blogging carnival benefits on my other site designed to help out other new bloggers.

What To Do With Small Egg Extras

Winter Veil Coming To An End

The World of Warcraft in game holiday, The Feast of Winter Veil, will soon be coming to an end.  Hopefully you were able to take full advantage of the auction house holiday and made out with piles of gold.   Stocking up on Small Eggs is always a great way to make some easy gold from auction house sales.  This year the Winter Veil start time changed and may have impacted your sales.


Small Egg Surplus

Some players have been making great sales from Winter Veil and selling small eggs.  Others have had their sales slowed thanks to the Azerothian holiday starting at 8am instead of 3am.  This cut deep into my own profits as I usually made 75% of my sales before most people knew the holiday had even started.  With the later start time, prices tended to be lower as there was more competition.

Buy Cheap Eggs And Save Them

Competition was more fierce and most players have completed their achievements and quests that require Small Eggs.  Now is a good time to find cheap single and stacks of small eggs on the auction house.  Why would we want to buy more small egg?  Children's week is another great time to use and sell Small Eggs.

Starting to stock up for Children's Week now, while the prices are low on Small Eggs, could net you a nice profit when everyone will need them for Delicious Chocolate Cakes in May.  Being a successful auctioneer is partly about planning ahead for the future.  You may also want to add Mageroyal to your snatch list to flip during Children's Week as well.

Cold's Advice Put To Practice

For a testimonial by Bishops on selling small eggs with the neutral auction house, be sure to check out his new blog, The Noob's Corner.  Glad to see some auction house wisdom being put to work.  Good luck with the blog Bishops!

Ghosts Of Auction House Past GUEST POST by Loronar

A Guest Post From the 2010 Blog Azeroth Secret Santa Program

Ghosts of Auction House Past

Two years ago at this time, interest in Wrath content was at its prime, and players began moving from Outland to Northrend in droves. This time around, Cataclysm is in full swing, and they are once again learning how to reap the profits from new content and how to navigate the new market and adjust to the new demands.

Although I've never been much of an auction house regular, I can admit that I am often a customer. In this game, there is a handful of players who navigate the world without any acquaintances and do not have access to guildmates or friends who will lend them money or items out of kindness. As with every new expansion, there are new players who have never played World of Warcraft before and will go through all content for the first time, and many of the people I found in the random dungeon were unguilded.

As they are going through content for the first time (or nth time without heirlooms), they are always looking out for gear. If you are looking to help out these players and make some money out of it, I recommend that you craft or collect items from old content. For example, most players first encounter socketing gear in Outland content and are looking to find an immediate way to use gems, often times through the auction house.

I would think that people would still be making some old gems, but to my surprise, I could barely find any that fit my needs in the auction house just yesterday. You might be busy looking for customers who will buy in bulk and earn you large numbers in a short time, but remember that business is not always about hitting it big time.

If you have an older toon with a decent gathering or crafting profession, earn a few gold by making these older items available for newer players. Legacy items still have some value to them. (Remember when [Dirge] was a sensation in Burning Crusade Trade Chat?) I'm under the impression that gems and enchants are two things that will always remain in high demand even through leveling. Who wouldn't want to make their own leveling process go faster through improved gear?

Finally, utilize Trade Chat. It is there for a reason, notwithstanding the amount of trolling that happens there. Be open to helping lower level players enchant and socket their gears and any other thing that might help you earn a little more without much additional effort.

On a slightly off topic note, as a hunter, it bothers me that the Auction House still has the categories for ammunition related items in there when these things have become obsolete in game.

I hope you have a merry Winter Veil, and may the new year bring you prosperity!
--

Loronar, PvE Marksmanship Hunter, US-Eredar
http://35yards.wordpress.com/

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Again, this Guest Post was brought to you by Loronar, Author at 35 yards via the 2010 Blog Azeroth Secret Santa Program.  Excellently written post.  A Merry Christmas and Prosperous New Year to you as well, Loronar.  Thanks for the guest post.

Take Care,
Cold

Adventurer's Journal and Cataclysm Scribes

Old Pic - Mats have changed (see below)

Cataclysm Scribes

With the inclusion of new recipes from Cataclysm, scribes have been given some great items to sell on the auction houses of Azeroth.  The World of Warcraft community is all buzzing over the creation of my hottest inscription seller, Mysterious Fortune Cards.  This was a much needed boost to profiting with the inscription profession outside of the glyph market. 

Adventurer's Journal

In addition to the new WoW crack-like gambling cards, Cataclysm has added a new consumable in the Adventurer's Journal.  This journal is a consumable and is powerful enough that only one can be used every 4 hours.  Consuming (reading) this book gives a temporary 1 hour buff, which is good for leveling - hopefully.  Just like the fortune cards, there is a bit of gambling involved with the adventurer's journals.  The buff that you receive when used is random.  The possible 1 hour buffs are:

• Quest experience increased by 10%
• Damage against beasts increased by 15%
• Damage against undead increased by 15%
• Damage against humanoids increased by 15%
• Damage against giants increased by 15%
• Damage against elementals increased by 15%
• Damage against dragonkin increased by 15%
• Movement speed increased by 15%
• You have a chance to heal yourself when dealing damage to an enemy.

So buying one and using it is a bit of a gamble as you are likely to get a buff that isn't useful for your current plans.  Both times I used an Adventurer's Journal I got the undead damage buff in zones with no undead mobs.  On the other hand though, these can earn you a nice profit for your scribe.

Selling Adventurer's Journals

Just like the Mysterious Fortune Cards, the Adventurer's Journal sells much better with good barking techniques.  Crafting the journals requires 4 Resilient Parchament and only 1 Blackfallow Ink.  I am currently selling 5 to 10 of these on the auction house every day.  At 45-50 gold each the bring in a nice return on investment.  These are also excellent items to craft and either sell or use yourself, while leveling up your inscription profession. 

My typical bark looks something like:

"1 Hour Buffs so UBER you can only have 1 every 4 hours.  Adventurer's Journal on the AH now!  What UBER buff will you get?  +10% exp, +15% damage, etc.  Speed up that leveling process now!"

These will sell a few without advertising, but barking can really increase the sale of Adventurer's Journal.  So this is another easily crafted and profitable item to add to your scribe's list of items to stock on the auction house in World of Warcraft.

Pink Pigtail Inn's List of 2010 Nominations

Wishing You All A Happy Holiday On This Christmas Day!

As we say goodbye to The Undermine Journal and get ready to welcome all the Christmas Noobs into the World of Warcraft, we wonder what lies ahead in the new year and the dawn of the new Cataclysm expansion.  As a gift for this holiday, I give to you my nominations for The Pink Pigtail Inn's List of 2010.
Previous winners are listed as well.  Remember, Cataclysm is not to be included until next year's list.  My nominations for this year will be:

1. Best raid instance - Icecrown Citadel
2009: Ulduar
2008: Zul Aman

2. Least successful raid instance - Naxx

2009: Eye of Eternity
2008: Sunwell

3. Most longed for instance - The Coliseum

2009: Ulduar
2008: Magisters Terrace

4. Silliest gold sink - Dalaran Porting Rings

2009: The Dun Niffelem Mammoths
2008: Gold Eterium Band

5. Biggest addition to the game  - New Race / Class Combos

2009: Dual spec
2008: Achievements

6. Best quest - The Shadowmourn Chain

2009:The Quel'delar chain
2008: The Wrathgate quest chain

7. Ugliest tabard - Tabard of the Lightbringer
2009:Wyrmrest Accord
2008: Competitor’s Tabard

8. Favorite non combat pet - Captured Firefly

2009: Onyxia Whelpling
2008: The Phoenix Hatchling

9. Biggest community controversy - GTFOOTF Vs. Markco's Blogging Carnival
Comment: Renamed from "Most juicy guild drama". I decided to make the category wider. Please not that there's a special category for the hottest blog topic.

2009: The Martin Fury incident
2008: The merging of SK Gaming and Nihilum into Ensidia

10. Most charming Blizzard employee -  No idea

2009: Patric Beja
2008: Ghostcrawler

11. Best podcast - Castaclysm

2009: Blue Plz!
2008: Twisted Nether

12. Biggest blog facelift - Cold's Gold Factory :)

2009: Righteous Orbs
2008: World of Matticus

13. Most memorable blog post - http://phase3profit.net/2010/03/are-we-all-just-playing-for-second-place/

2009: Archetypes of the Female Gamer, revisited
2008: Noob world reorder

14. Most noticed blogger breakthrough - JMTC

2009: Greedy Goblin
2008: Chick GM

15. Most solid content provider - Why Cold of Cold's Gold Factory of course!

2009: Welcome to Spinksville
2008: Tobold’s

16. Most hugged blogger  - Miss Mediocre

2009: Phaelia and BRK
2008: Big Bear Butt

17. Hottest blogosphere topic - Markco vs. Gevlon
Comment: The category is renamed from "Blog drama of the year" to make it a little wider.

2009: The Ferraro debacle
2008: N/A
18. Best writer - Inkobah of Twinkinfo.com

2009: Tamarind at Righteous Orbs
2008: N/A

Archaeology: How To Make Gold - A Guest Post By Zoxy

There’s Gold In Them Hills – How To Make Gold With Archaeology

A Guest By Zoxy of Trading With Zoxy

I need to start this post by saying unless you are an alchemist you won't be making thousands of gold from this new profession . It is a long grind to 525 and archaeology is focused on pets, mounts and BOA items for you.

So where is the gold?

 1. Vial of the Sands ( Alchemist only )

 2. Key Stones

 3. Vendors

Vial of the Sands: Are you an alchemist? Well if you are an alchemist, there is the big money maker Vial of the Sands. The cost to make one is around the 30k mark with most most of that in vendor mats but 12 of it in truegold. This is a mount the transforms you into a dragon that can carry an ally on your back. These should hopefully sell for a 10k or 20k profit depending on your server.

How Do You Get One?

First you need 525 in archaeology. Once you have reached that skill level the recipe for this mount can only be acquired by opening a Canopic Jar, but only has about a 5% drop rate. These can also only be found by doing digs in Uldum so its a long grind to get it, but worth it when u finally get there.

Key Stones

 They are not BOP so these can be sold . These count as 12 fragments for the different projects:

• Troll Tablet - Troll
• Highborne Scroll - Night Elf
• Dwarf Rune Stone - Dwarf
• Orc Blood Text - Orc
• Draenei Tome - Draenei
• Nerubian Obelisk - Nerubian
• Vrykul Rune Stick - Vrykul
• Tol'vir Hieroglyphic - Tol'vir

On my server these sell from 100 - 1000 gold depending on race. These are a random find while digging so if your looking to make some extra gold keep hold of them and sell them at the AH.

Those are the only two direct ways of making gold from the profession. You will make the easiest gold while working on your archaeology if you take advantage of all the flying around it will take to max your skill.

Vendor Recipes

On my main bank alt, I have two guild banks full of vendor recipes and make between 200g to 500g a day in these recipes. So it is not a massive amount of money, but the profit is amazing. Many of the vendor recipes are under a gold so if you can buy 10 recipes for 10g and sell for 200 gold it is a great profit .

With dig sites so far apart it requires a lot of flying and this offers you a great chance to stop off at all the vendors and pick up the limited spawn recipes and other flippable recipes from the vendor.

Summary

Unless your an alchemist you will never make thousands of gold from the profession. If you can get into the mindset of visiting ever vendor on the way to dig sites and keeping an eye out for the rare mobs as your going over an area, then you can turn a slow profession to a great source of easy passive income.

Zoxy of the Trading With Zoxy Blog

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Thanks for the post on archaeology, Zoxy!  I haven't even trained it on any of my ten characters yet.  Zoxy and I have been having some great discussions via twitter regarding the barking and selling of fortune cards.  Come follow us both on twitter and join in the discussion.

@SSmith0911  :Cold

@EUZoxy    :Zoxy

Winners Announced For Cold's Win A Pet Code Contest

CONTEST WINNERS

Congratulations to the following 2 Win A Pet Code Contest Winners:

• Winner #1:  Bishops (You may recognize the name as he as submitted topics for Reader Submissions)
• Winner #2:  Zoxy of Trading With Zoxy.  Stop by and check out his gold blog.

Thanks for all who entered and a big thanks for all of the wonderful comments you guys left about the site.  I appreciate all of the great feedback.

Random Drawn with the My Hat Freeware

Cold's Gold Blogging Carnival

Bloggers:  Remember to get your entries in for the January 11th First Monthly Edition of Cold's Gold Blogging Carnival.  Get your entries in ahead of time as they will be listed in the order they are received.  A higher listing means you will get more traffic and page views each time someone comes to the carnival page.  Godspeed to you!   Cold's Gold Blogging Carnival is just one of the new things coming from Cold's Gold Factory.  Be sure to check out my new site to help out beginning bloggers.  Blogging Vitals can be found at bloggingvitals.blogspot.com.

Look for more great new things out of Cold's Gold Factory in 2011!

Mysterious Fortune Card Bait and Switch

First One Is On The House

Mysterious Fortune Card Bait


Yesterday I went over my Tips for Barking for Fortune Card Sales. Originally I had been posting my Mysterious Fortune Cards for 25 gold each, but that was on the weekend when I could get stacks of Cataclysm herbs for 30-40g per full stack of herbs.  25g is an excellent introductory price to start letting players get a taste of the gambling process involved with flipping these Mysterious Fortune Cards.  My first two days of barking and selling these on the auction house netted me thousands of gold, even at 25g per card.  Other gold bloggers I communicate with on twitter (@ssmith0911) have been reporting selling these for 60g, 75g, even 100g each.  I feel that 25g is a much better price to get players buying them at first.  Let them get hooked and then raise the prices on them.

The Pricing Switch


After my initial couple of days of barking and selling the cards at 25g per Mysterious Fortune Card, I had quickly dried the auction house of all herbs available at reasonable prices.  I definately recommend stockpiling any good priced herbs and buying all you can.  If you get your barking tactics down, you will sell out of the cards every time.  The profit margins are great and the time commitment is easily done afk once the milling component is complete.

Now I am currently selling them for 60 gold each.  Even with an increased cost in herbs off the auction house I am continuing to make a nice profit per sale.  Once you get your server hooked on gambling with these cards, you can milk the players of even more gold.  Even after raising the prices, they continue to sell well.  I have had single players buy as many as 80 cards, but it's not all at once.  They buy 7-8 off the auction house, then whisper me for more.  I then sell them 10 and they come back and get 20 more.  Then they come back and get 40 more all in the same 15 minute window.  So the mysterious fortune cards are like crack for some players.  They just can't get enough.  I have sold hundreds of the mysterious fortune cards, but have yet to see a winner over 20g.

If you get undercutters, its not easy to just bark and move through their stack as well.  If you are doing a good job barking then you will be moving tons of volume of cards.  Any competitor that isn't online while you are barking, isn't going to be able to compete with you.  If you get undercutters, just start posting in multiple stack sizes and advertise those new quanitity stacks.  Players will skip the undercutters and go straight to yours to save time with buying larger stacks.

The Bait And Switch Strategy

You can try this multiple ways, but the basic concept is the same.  Bait them with a good deal or a good offer, then switch the price up for more profits once they have a taste and are hooked.  I have had multiple players whisper me when I run out of cards on the auction house, because they want more and they want them now!  You also can post a bunch at higher prices with an alt of yours, then log back onto your barker and sell them at your normal prices.  Then instead of posting all your stock at once, post maybe 10-20 at a time and bark away!  Some players will get to the auction house as they are selling out and will be tempted to go ahead and try some of the higher priced fortune cards.

You can also post some of the already flipped cards at the exact same bring as your unflipped cards and see, if you get anyone to take the bait.  Do this on an alt though, not on your barking scribe.  Selling these cards really makes me feel like an evil goblin.  The strategy of selling gambling cards in World of Warcraft may not be for everyone.  I admit that I do feel a little dirty from swindling so much gold away from other players by getting them hooked on in game gambling.  If it wasn't the plan, then why were they created by Blizzard anyway?  It's been a ton of fun barking and selling these in trade chat.  Best thing is we finally have something to do while crafting and relisting our glyphs.

Continue on to Part 4 of the series:  Dealing With Mysterious Fortune Card Undercutters

Image Credit: http://t3.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:Q4KrZAIJYY-KYM:http://www.goinsurancerates.com/system/wp/blogs/goinsurancerates/bait-and-switch-10-01-21.jpg&t=1


Got any other strategies to share about barking or selling Mysterious Fortune Cards?

Mysterious Fortune Card Barking Tips

Selling Faster Than Poppers At A Circuit Party!

Mysterious Fortune Cards

As predicted in my original post on Fortune Cards and Fortune Cookies, the Mysterious Fortune Cards have been selling like hotcakes.  These are legit in game gambling introduced into the game by Blizzarrd.  If you are selling these in World of Warcraft, be prepared to field a lot of questions regarding these items.  Also be prepared to deflect any claims of "this is a scam" in trade chat while you are barking.  The key to selling these is proper explanations when needed and using enticing barking pitches. 

I sold hundreds of these last Saturday night.  I chose a Saturday night to give it a shot while I was relisting tons of glyphs anyways.  Saturday late night is a great time to bark for these as a reader comment on the original post recommended late nights when people are already drunk and stoned and more willing to unload their gold.  My strategy was so good that I couldn't keep my stock filled and I would get messages telling me that I'm sold out and please post more! 

I would buy any Cataclysm herbs below 50g a stack, Blackfallow Ink below 250g a stack (for 20), mill my herbs, make all the cards I can, then post them in various size stacks.  Then it was time to start the creative barking and watch them fly off of the auction house.  I really could not craft them fast enough.

Fortune Card Barking

Here a few of the barks I use:

"Are you feeling lucky, punk?  Mysterious Fortune Card just 25g for a chance at 500, 1000, 5000 gold!  Available on the Auction House now!"

"Mysterious Fortune Card - In game LEGAL Gambling created by BLIZZ.  Will you be tonight's first 5k winner?  Only 25g to See If You Are The Big Winner!"

"The AH is fully stocked on Mysterious Fortune Cards.  Your chance at 5000 gold awaits you for just 25g on the AH.  Available in stacks of 5, 10, and 20 for your HIGH ROLLERS."

"The Perfect Christmas Gift for Friends and Guildees.  Mysterious Fortune Card can be mailed to anyone.  Gift the gift we all want this Winter Veil - a chance at 5000 gold!"

"How many 1000 and 5000 gold winners are on the Auction House RIGHT NOW?  Just 25g gets you a chance at the BIG WINNINGS.  Grab a Mysterious Fortune Card before they are all sold out."

And finally before logging off for the night...

"Last Batch of Mysterious Fortune Cards posted.  FINAL BATCH POSTED...LAST CHANCE to win 5000 gold tonight.  When they are GONE they are GONE!  Goodnight and Good Luck!"

So have fun with it and be creative and you will sell out hand over fist like I did.  25g seemed to be an excellent price to both peek curiosity and to drive high numbers of sales in hopes of someone actually winning and linking a nice jackpot in trade chat.  Now that I have players hooked, I may be posting for higher prices on an alt, but continue to bark and sell on my scribe.

Continue on to Part 3 of this series:  Mysterious Fortune Card Bait N Switch Pricing
or
Jump to the Mysterious Fortune Card Barking Part 2 for New Bark Ideas

Who else has been using some creative pitches for barking for these fortune cards?   Leave your Best Barks in the comments.

Check out Cold's Mysterious Fortune Card Mastery Guide

Cold's Gold Factory Turns One Year Old!

Ding!

DING!

Many thanks to the many readers and fans I have gained during the first year at Cold's Gold Factory.

Your comments and support are much appreciated.  Looking forward to many years to come!

Send a Birthday News Flash Message To All Your Social Media Friends!

Thanks Gang!

Cold's Win A Pet Code Contest Final Chance

Lil Raggy

Contest Ending Soon

Contest entries for Cold's Win A Pet Code Contest will Cease at 12:00 Midnight Eastern Time on December 21st.  If you have forgot to enter, then this is your last reminder.  If you are a blogger that linked to me for the extra entry make sure that you have emailed me the link as proof.  Only those that have emailed their links prior to the cutoff time will be considered. 

Cold's Gold Blogging Carnival

Remember to submit your links prior to January 10th for inclusion into the first monthly gold blogging carnival here at Cold's Gold Factory.  The monthly carnival will have it's first release on January 11th, 2011. 


Thought for discussion:

Anyone seeing excellent sales or has the new Winter Veil start time got your markets undercut down to nothing too?

Potion of Deepholm & Mage Bubble Hearth

Portals and Potions

With the removal of portals from both Shattrath and Dalaran, mages are still making easy gold off of players that still were parked in either of those cities.  People are returning to the game and are paying upwards of 30g for a portal out to main cities.  Others are simply logging in an alt for the first time only to discover them trapped within Dalaran and looking for a quick way out.  Portals aren't the only travel mode these days.  Scribes have their option, but alchemists now have a way to profit off of other player's travel.

Deepholm

Another common question I've been seeing in trade chat is "How do I get back to Deepholm?"  Anytime I see this asked, I reply back with, "Use a Potion of Deepholm!"  This most always results in an instant sale on the auction house for the alchemist dabbling in that market.  The reply is usually followed with a "Thanks, I just got one!" 

Potion of Deepholm

This teleports the drinker to Deepholm.  The potion of deepholm requires 5 Heartblossom and 1 crystal vial.  The drinking player must be level 82, but you had to be level 82 to start the quest to allow entry into Deepholm anyway.  The potion requires a skill level of 525 Alchemy to craft. 

Mage Bubble Hearth

Some players use these potions to return to Deepholm, but others use them as an extra hearth because they return you near a portal to your capital city.  These are also the only way to accomplish the new bubble-hearth trick, but only for mages!  This potion isn't usable in combat so a mage can cast Invisibility and drink this instant cast potion while invisible.  It's the new mage bubble hearth so sales may be higher on Warcraft PvP servers.

Leveling Enchanters Need These Profitable Items

Making Gold Off Enchanters


Blacksmithing is one of the professions that can easily profit off of another profession.  Blacksmiths have been making golden profits off of enchanters since the beginnings of World of Warcraft as far back as Vanilla WoW.  Anyone leveling enchanting or providing enchants to players must have the appropriate enchanting rods.  These rods have long been some of my best selling blacksmithing items.  Not only do they sell frequently, but the return on investment is usually excellent as well.

Blacksmithing rods are an excellent example of a common commodity.  Your blacksmith may also be supplying these rods to enchanters, but the rod itself is only 1 of the materials required to craft the runed enchanting rods.  Have you forgotten to play the markets of the other required materials? The rods the enchanters must craft for their enchants are bind on pick-up, which means that each enchanter must also purchase the other materials in addition to the blacksmithing crafted rods.  Have you skipped this golden opportunity?

Enchanting Rods And Materials

The bind on pick-up enchanting rods require the blacksmithing rods, but also require various pearls, gems, and enchanting materials.  Not all enchanters are going to be efficient enough to create there own dusts, shards, and essenses.  Therefore, all of these materials can be profitable by simply selling them on the auction house.  If you are already selling enchanting materials, be sure to post a few in the stack sizes listed below.


In addition to the blacksmithing rod the runed rods require the following materials:
Note:  Copper Rod is a vendor item and is not made by blacksmiths.  That doesn't mean people won't pay up to 30g for one off the auction house.

Runed Copper Rod: 1 Strange Dust, 1 Lesser Magic Essense
Runed Silver Rod: 6 Strange Dust, 3 Greater Magic Essense
Runed Golden Rod: 2 Soul Dust, 2 Greater Astral Essense, 1 Iridescent Pearl
Runed Truesilver Rod: 2 Vision Dust, 2 Greater Mystic Essense, 1 Black Pearl
Runed Arcanite Rod: 10 Illusion Dust, 4 Greater Eternal Essense, 2 Large Brilliant Shard
Runed Fel Iron Rod: 4 Greater Eternal Essense, 4 Large Brilliant Shard
Runed Adamantite Rod: 8 Greater Planar Essense, 8 Large Prismatic Shard, 1 Primal Might
Runed Eternium Rod: 6 Arcane Dust, 6 Greater Planar Essense
Runed Titanium Rod: 40 Infinite Dust, 12 Greater Cosmic Essense, 8 Dream Shards
Runed Elementium Rod: 10 Hypnotic Dust, 6 Greater Celestial Essence, 6 Heavenly Shards

Efficient enchanters will create their own enchanting material components.  Removing the materials available from disenchanting items, there still are some major items that should be selling well to anyone leveling their enchanting skill.

• Iridescent Pearl
• Black Pearl
• Primal Might

Have you been capitalizing on the new re-roll enchanters?

Tranquil Mechanical Yeti Unlearnable Or Learnable?

Simply Abominable

Mechanical Yeti Pattern Is Obsolete

Tranquil Mechanical Yeti is no longer available to engineers that haven't already learned it prior to Cataclysm.  The recipe was formerly learned from completing a quest chain in Everlook, Winterspring.  Any engineer that completed the quest chain would be automatically rewarded with the ability to craft the Tranquil Mechanical Yeti vanity pet.  This is simply not possible anymore and has been confirmed via an in-game GM.

EDIT:  Apparently BLIZZ has GMs verifying incorrect information as the recipe is still learnable.  See the comments below for how to learn it.  I apologize for the mis-informed post.  We all make mistakes and this is my first one on the blog.  Thanks for the comments and corrective responses.  Again, I apologize.

Older Engineers Rejoice

This is good news for engineers that already have the ability to craft the Yeti vanity pet.  Any new engineers will be unable to learn this, which creates a great item to sell for the older engineers.  This limits the number of competitors able to craft these, which makes the Tranquil Mechanical Yeti an excellent item to sell on the auction house.  

Engineering Craftable Vanity Pets List 

The current roster of craftable engineering vanity pets is:

1. Mechanical Squirrel Box
2. Tranquil Mechanical Yeti (Pre-Cataclysm Learnable Only)
3. Lil' Smokey
4. Pet Bombling
5. Lifelike Mechanical Toad
6. Personal World Destroyer (Goblin Engineering Only)
7. De-Weaponized Mechanical Companion (Gnomish Engineering Only)

Hope you weren't slacking in your ability to learn and craft the Tranquil Mechanical Yeti.

Image Credit:  Wowhead.com

Cold's Gold Blogging Carnival Announcement

Cold's Gold Factory Blogging Carnival

Cold's Gold Factory will be hosting a monthly blogging carnival here on the blog.  These blogging carnivals are excellent resources for our readers to get some excellent nuggets of knowledge all in one place.  They are also excellent tools for bloggers to get recognized and start to drive traffic from our sites to yours.  I highly recommend participating in these blogging carnivals as your submission's will tend to be some of the most visited content on your site.  Be sure to read about the benefits of blogging carnivals, if you are undecided about participating in Cold's Blogging Carnival.

What Is a Blogging Carnival?

A blogging carnival is a compilation of blog posts all created around one specific topic, which is chosen by the host site.  Entries into the carnival are submitted to the host.  The host then organizes the posts into one big post with links back to the original articles on the participating author's sites.

Rules for Cold's Gold Factory Blogging Carnivals

• Create the entire post on your own site.
• Send me an email with a link to your post.  SSmith0911 (at) live (dot) com
• Submissions must be in by the 10th of each month.
• All carnivals will go live on Cold's Gold Factory on the 11th of each month.
• All World of Warcraft bloggers are invited to participate.  You don't have to author a gold blog, but you need to follow the set topic.
• Each post written for the carnival should begin with a link with the anchor text "Cold's Gold Blogging Carnival" and link to http://coldsgoldfactory.blogspot.com/p/colds-gold-blogging-carnivals.html

Learn more about the importance of proper anchor text here.  Linking to the above page with the proper anchor text in each carnival entry will help to drive traffic to the gold blogging carnival and in turn drive more traffic to your entries.


January 11th Topic:  What is one of your favorite farming spots in Cataclsym?

Hacked! - A Guide To World of Warcraft Account Security

Hacked!

This article was brought to you by The Warcraft Journal Magazine
Account Security

Mysterious things can occur in World of Warcraft, as many players can attest to. Trying to log into your game only to be kicked out moments later. You think to yourself, the servers must be having problems. You log in again, only to have the same thing happen to you. Eventually, you come to find out that you password has changed.
Then you start to panic.
There are even players that don't have the luck to catch them in the act. Some are forced to endure the aftermath and the realization that everything has been stolen.
Hackers. Everyone has heard of them. Most people have probably been told horror stories involving hacked accounts. Perhaps one of your family members, or even you have been subjected to the activities of a hacker.
Account security should be the utmost concern for players. Not only are your characters, items and gold at risk, but your personal information can be recorded and used in a number of ways not intended by you.
There are certain preemptive measures you can undergo to protect yourself from most hackers. Additionally, those who have already been hacked will find this information useful as well.

Never give your password away.

This is a given, and is advised everywhere even on non-gaming sites.
A lot can happen in a relationship where tempers can flare and vindictive things are done. Many players have been burned after giving their account information to a significant other or close friend, only to find out that they stole everything or deleted characters in a fit of rage.
Keep your account information to yourself.
Even if you are giving the password away to someone who is completely trustworthy, they can unknowingly pick up a keylogger virus on various sites around the internet. This virus records keypresses to determine both account name and password. Your friend or family member can transmit this date to hackers who can, in turn, steal your account.
Another good tip is to change your password relatively often such as once a month. This can further prevent hackers from invading your account.

Avoid questionable websites.

It has been said time and time again by Blizzard to avoid World of Warcraft service sites such as gold selling, power leveling or gearing your character. First of all, most of these sites require your account information in order to log in and perform the service. Additionally, a lot of these sites have keylogger viruses embedded into them and can easily steal your password or other information.

Virus scan often.

As mentioned before, viruses can make their way into your computer without you even knowing. Certain viruses can steal your information or transmit data to other parties.
Keep your virus scanner up to date and scan often (once a day or every other day). There are plenty of free virus scanners for those short on cash. Virus scanners are essential for computers, not just for World of Warcraft account securty.

Get an Authenticator.

As of now, there is really no excuse not to have an Blizzard Authenticator attached to your World of Warcraft account(s).
The Authenticator provides a nearly impenetrable defense of your account. Once an Authenticator has been attached to your account, a random string of numbers will be required to access your account (or account information). These numbers are provided to you on your Authenticator. They reset every few seconds and are unique to each login.
If you find you do not have an Authenticator, you have a few options:
- Order the Authenticator from the official Blizzard store (complete with Core Hound graphic!). It costs $6.50 and can take up to 15 business days to arrive.
- Download the Mobile Authenticator for use with iPhone, iPod Touch and Android phones. It is FREE!
Keep in mind the Authenticator is not perfect and while your account is very unlikely to be hacked, it is still possible.
As if total account security wasn't enough, you also get a Core Hound vanity pet when you associate an Authenticator with your account!

Being Hacked?

There are several tell-tale signs of being hacked, or that someone else is being hacked.

- Constant log-ins and outs.
- No or strange responses from the hackee (hacker).
- Constant disconnects.
- Password changed after constant disconnects.
- Missing currency, items or even characters.
- Stripped characters.
- Sudden guild bank dump.
- Emails from Blizzard stating anything from Character Transfer, password change, etc.

If you even think you are being hacked, immediately change your password through the Account Management page on the official World of Warcraft site. Do this while also logging into your account constantly to keep the hacker off for as long as possible.

What to do if it happens to you.

Even if you have followed every one of these tips, there is still a possibility that you can get hacked. Or if you have already been hacked, this information is exceptionally necessary for you.
If you do not have control of your account:

- Immediately reset your password by going to Account Management and then clicking Forgot Password. Click the Battle.net password recovery graphic. Put in your name, and email address that is associated with the Battle.net account. You will also need to know your Secret Answer which you chose when you created your account.

- Investigate your account. Follow the steps below.

If you have control of your account:
- On a different computer, change your password via the Account Management page. Your initial computer could still have a virus, so it is highly recommended that you use a different computer.
- Login to the game and go to the Help Request icon on the micro menu (contains icons for Character, Spellbook, Talents, etc). It is a red question mark. If you can't see it, more than likely one of your mods has overridden the menu. Disabling addons is recommended.
- At the bottom of the menu is "Talk to GM" and "Report a Problem" buttons. You can do either, but choosing "Talk to GM" most of the time gets you faster replies.
- A text box will open asking you to describe your issue.
- You can also email the GM Department at wowgm@blizzard.com.

Include the following information with as much detail as possible either in the GM box or the email.

- State that your Account has been compromised.
- Any information that you can provide such as the events leading up to the discovery of your compromised account, etc.
- The date (preferably time, too) of the hack.
- Whether or not items, characters, currency is missing (this doesn't have to be exact, but as much information as possible is recommended)
- If your guild bank was affected or not
- Anything else the hacker did such as Race Change, Character Re-customization, Server Transfer, Name Changes, or Faction Changes.

Alex
The Warcraft Journal Magazine
www.warcraftjournal.com

WARNING: Winter Veil Start Time Changed

Winter Veil New Start Time

The World of Warcraft in game holiday The Feast of Winter Veil will start tommorrow Wednesday December 15th at 6:00 AM California time for US servers, 8am on my server.  EU Servers have been reported to also have the 6:00AM start time.  Check your in game calendar to confirm what time the Winter Veil holiday will be starting on your server.  Why is this important?

Normally you should be posting the night before any patch or holiday event goes live.  The past years the Winter Veil holiday event went live at 3am, which was great for those of us that planned ahead, set the market prices the night before and made a killing on profits before other players caught on.  With the new start time of 8am, expect competition to be something crazy fierce.  We won't be able to get the jump on most of the players as there will be no overnight sales.  Every man and his monkey will be fighting over the prices of small eggs, cookies, milk, and winter clothes.  Get ready for a dog fight!  You have been warned.

Winter Veil Posts

Be sure to check out the other posts here at Cold's Gold Factory regarding Winter's Veil.  I have given you plenty of time and warning to prepare for this holiday.  Winter's Veil in World of Warcraft is one of the most profitable holidays of the year.


Here's a quick refresher in case you need to get up to speed on the Winter's Veil opportunities.

Selling Winter Clothing

Deeprock Salt Sales For Winter Veil

Profitable Winter Veil Materials

Selling Small Eggs For Winter's Veil

Making Gold From All The Holidays

Wishing you a profitable week of price gouging and holiday sales!

Cold

Snowfall Inks And Inscription Leveling

Do you have a ton of extra snowfall inks from your inscription business?

Snowfall Inks and Leveling Cataclysm Inscription

Cataclysm has been out almost a week now and leveling any profession in the new World of Warcraft is still quite expensive.  Many of us have a surplus of snowfall inks as a biproduct of milling herbs to craft all of the glyphs.  The value of snowfall inks has dropped greatly just like many of the Wrath of the Lich King crafting materials.  So what should you do with all of those snowfall inks?

Get easy and cheap skill-ups of course!

In case you didn't already notice, the crafting material requirements for Darkmoon Card of the North have changed.  The new recipe now only requires 1 Eternal Life.  These darkmoon cards previously required 3 Eternal Life.  Couple the lower quantity of eternals with the plummeting prices of Wrath materials and you have a cheap way to skill up your inscription profession.  Another option is crafting Runescroll of Fortitude, but those turn grey earlier than the darkmoon cards. 

Runescroll of Fortitude:  Turns Green at 442 and Grey at 460
Darkmoon Card of the North:  Turns Green at 462 and Grey at 475
Faces of Doom & Iron-Bound Tome:  Both Turn Grey at 450

Crafting Darkmoon Cards of the North until they turn grey is a perfect example of my Common Commodity Crafting Strategy.  The Darkmoon cards aren't selling for as much as they used to, but they can still be profitable.  The cheaper material requirements make this less costly to produce and these are probably a much cheaper way to skill up those first 25 points of inscription than buying the inflated priced new herbs of Cataclysm.  So if you haven't leveled your scribe yet, look into these options to get you started.

Don't Forget About The Insane Title

There are still players looking to complete their "The Insane" title.  Players that are still going for exhalted status with the darkmoon faire are willing to pay you just to turn in the completed decks.  They get the reputation with the fair for the turn in, you get your card to use or sell, and you also get a fee for the reputation they are rewarded.  If you can find a player that will pay for the turn ins for reputation, then you should be able to turn a nice profit after selling the cards off to alts and levelers. 

Image Credit:  wowconfidential.com

What did you do with all of your extra snowfall inks?

Battleground Bracket Changes and New Twink Markets

PvP Battleground Brackets Have Changed


In case you missed it, the brackets for the PvP battlegrounds have changed.  There are no more 10 level gaps for battleground characters.  This change will be great for those that are informed as we can snatch up gear off the auction house from the uninformed or ignorant players that will be posting Best-In-Slot level 13 and 14 items on the auction house.

Blue Post:  (Source)

The uneasy armistice between the Horde and Alliance is steadily cracking beneath the strain of Deathwing's devastating return and the Shattering of Azeroth, heralding a new era of bloody conflict.

The clash between the factions has also never been so hotly contested:  Battleground brackets now match up teams more evenly.  

The new brackets span five levels each, except the final bracket composed of level 85 players:

10-14               30-34               50-54               70-74

15-19               35-39               55-59               75-79

20-24               40-44               60-64               80-84

25-29               45-49               65-69               85

Fighters can also join the battle in Arathi Basin, Eye of the Storm, and Alterac Valley at an earlier level than ever before:

Level 10 - Arathi Basin and Warsong Gulch

Level 35 - Eye of the Storm

Level 45 - Alterac Valley

Level 65 - Strand of the Ancients

Level 75 - Isle of Conquest

Level 85 - Battle for Gilneas and Twin Peaks

These changes should offer players a more consistently competitive experience in the Battlegrounds as their characters level, as well as provide for more exciting PvP conflict than ever before.  Are you eager to try 35-39 Eye of the Storm?  How about 45-49 Alterac Valley?  Perhaps you'd like to cut your teeth on a 10-14 Arathi Basin.

New Twinking Markets


This change brings about a whole new option for flipping twink gear to level x4 characters.  Some research will need to be done to find what items are best-in-slot for the various classes at level 14, 24, 34, etc., but I am willing to bet that a lot of them aren't even blue items.  Many of them are probably green items.  So this is your heads up.  Get to researching gear and start off by buying up any cheaply priced level 14 blues.  I will report back later once I have a chance to get some research done.  Report back here, if you find any uber-items that end in level x4.