Sunday, May 8, 2011

Use Gold Knowledge In The Real World

Sorry for my free daily gold tip being late today.  I actually fell asleep last night and forgot to queue up my draft before I crashed from a long hard day at work.  So again, sorry it's late. 50 Lashings for me!

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Expand Your Skills

Today I am going to deviate a bit from the usual coarse of discussing Gold Making Tips and Tactics within the World of Warcraft gaming community and look outside of the game itself.  Some of what you have learned from dealing within trade chat or the auction house markets can assist you in making profits in the real world as well.  I previously wrote on how my old eBay record flipping tactics directly taught me skills that I constantly use on the Azeroth Auction Houses of World of Warcraft.  Be sure to check that post out as it still is one of my favorite older posts, but today I wanna discuss thinking the opposite direction.

How Can You Use WoW In Game Knowledge?

So if you have been reading my site at Cold's Gold Factory and have been listening to the Auction House Junkies | WoW Gold Making Podcast, then you have probably have absorbed at least a little bit of knowledge on some of the principles of economics, sales, and marketing.  How can you apply that knowledge to the real world? 

Look For Underpriced Goods

We are always on the hunt for underpriced goods on the auction house.  They are underpriced as in relation to their actual value.  We are quick to jump on an 18 gold stack of Obsidium Ore in WoW, but walk by horribly underpriced goods every day.  Keep your eyes scanning and your brain thinking when out and about.  Here's an example of a way I have profitted in the real world using WoW auction house thinking.

Bath & Body Works

Bath & Body Works is a store that sells smelly stuff, mainly Lotions, Oils, Body Washes, Sprays, etc.  They can be found in most malls, or at least most shopping malls around here in the Midwest USA.  Twice a year, Bath & Body Works has a big sale that clears out the last of the old season's products that were either a)  seasonal or b) discontinued.  They may be dropping a certain scent of lotion.  Since it is a clearance sale you could find crazy sale prices on some of these soon to be discontinued lotions, washes, soaps, etc.  Buy 1, Get 3 Free types of sales to move the soon to be out of season or discontinued products. 

Flipping

Most people would see the discontinued products as sale items because "nobody wants that crap anymore" or "it didn't sell, so they got rid of it."  Well, folks we as WoW commodity traders should know better.  No one may want this $12 Cranberry-Holly lotion now in the Spring, but I'm sure demand will return next Christmas.  Think farther though...what if they don't bring this scent back in the new Christmas line?  Cha-ching!  Profit.  Someone on eBay loves this scent and will be sad to see it gone from the new line-up and will gladly pay you $15 or more to get their favorite holiday scent.  The item says $12 normally, but at this sale you can buy 4 for that price.  It may not be worth waiting that long for the amount of profit though.

Looking at the discontinued items that are not seasonal is where the quicker return on investment would come.  They once discontinued everything in the Lemongrass-Sage scent line, which I was able to snatch up and flip for nice profits while there was a shortage of listings on eBay.  Just like we learn in the auction house in Azeroth, post when there are fewer sellers to get a higher listing and sale price.  I sold the lemongrass sage lotions for over the original sticker price for like $16 each because it was a popular scent in other areas of the country. 

Are you able to use any of your WoW gold making knowledge to making a profit in the real world?


Readers:  Today your assignment is to try and find something to flip for a profit in the real world and report back here.  You don't have to buy the item or do it, but find something that has potential value built into the current price.

Bloggers:  Any of you have a certain story or scenario that draws to mind?  Feel free to do a post and link it to us in the comments.

6 comments:

  1. Really like this post. I'll go.more in-depth when i get home. Good stuff!

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  2. The best example here is trade chat. You need to keep a close watch on it to sometimes get some amazing resale deals. Yesterday i had a guy selling maelstrom crystals for 40% of the currently lowest auction house values which were already really cheap. This can be a gold mine in real life and in the virtual economies but you need to get experience in doing it and know what you can sell easily for a profit. It all depends on knowing the supply and demand. As soon as you get the hang of it you can get a nice monthly pocket money from doing only a small amount work.

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  3. I actually came across something similar to this, I found (via an out of date auctionator search list :-P ) that people were dumping stacks of Wrath epic gems on my server for crazy cheap, and that I could cut them for a profit. It's definitely something for people to consider since the Icy Prism CD is gone, and levelers love these gems.

    http://phatlewtsgold.blogspot.com/2011/05/wrath-gems-still-profitable.html

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  4. Your house must smell like heaven.

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  5. Very cool - I love the challenge! I have a little eBay side business where I put together phono stage kits (that's the doo-hickey that goes between your record player and your stereo). I get the boards made in quantity (cheap), get the capacitors from Russia and Ukraine (cheap), and assemble everything into a kit in a little ziplock bag (low time investment). Then I sell them to audiophiles and DIYers for a nice profit.

    Niche market and being knowledgeable about your product is the key - as you point out in your record collecting post.

    The cool thing is that everyone has a niche. I bet just about everyone could find a way to "buy low sell normal" or to "craft" and sell something on ebay.

    An inspiring book about this sort of thing in The Four Hour Workweek, where the author talks about "muse businesses" which can start small, but grow large. He has lots and lots of ideas for automation and time management (both core WOW gold skills).

    Yay for more WOW Gold/IRL Money posts! :)

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  6. I really enjoyed reading Markco for this same reason, his posts often work for making money online as well as in wow. I actually just bought his gold guide through your link recently so thank you for recommending him.

    Keep it up!

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