20 Days of Gold Making - Day 6 - Most Prolific Market

This entry is part of a series of gold making posts answering the questions in the 20 Days of Gold Making Challenge started by Nev over at Auction House Addict.  If you also blog, then be sure to check out the gold blogging challenge for post topic ideas.

20 Days Of Gold Making (Day 6)

Which Market Has Made You The Most Gold Over The Years?

Looking at sheer volume of  items sold the clear winner would be Mysterious Fortune Cards, but since we are looking at the biggest gold making market by profit, the answer is easily the Glyph Market.  We've only had Mysterious Fortune Cards through 1 and half expansions, but I'm sure they will end up on top over time.  Overall though the biggest gold maker has been the Glyph market, and for a number of specific reasons.

• Maxed Inscription within a few days of it's addition to WoW.
• Early Research discoveries were very kind as I unlocked big sellers earlier than competition.
• First Horde Scribe on my server to get all recipes from Books of Glyph Mastery & researches.
• I made a killing on Glyphs long before everyone jumped on the Glyph bandwagon.

When Inscription was first added to WoW, I identified it as a huge money maker and pushed to maximum as my main priority.  This was a huge payoff as I did my research every day and was able to rake in the gold every single day as I was one of the very early trend setters on my server.  I was able to list and maintain a lot of the research learned Glyphs at 200-300 gold per.  Once we got the Books of Glyph Mastery added into the game in Wrath of the Lich King, I was able to sell glyphs for upwards of 500-600 gold each as everyone was frantically buying the new Glyphs for their classes.  I was the first on the Horde side to learn every single Glyph recipe in the game and had the gold to bully my way around the Books of Glyph Mastery market.  Even after learning all of the Glyphs I could, I was still buying up and relisting all of the BoGM for crazy prices just to thwart my competition from finding regularly priced books to learn the Glyphs that would compete with my own.

I made a ton of gold selling Glyphs at crazy high prices deep into Wrath before the Glyph market became so popular with all of the wanna-be gold makers.  After the crazy influx of new competition into the Glyph market, it's now one of my most hated markets that I barely even dabble in anymore.  I've been working to unload existing stock without even crafting any new Glyphs for quite some time because I just am not willing to babysit and camp the auction house to make gold.  I've got better things to do with my time than to even worry about competing with unemployed all day walling idiotic undercutters that are willing to bleed their fingers to the bone milling and crafting for a few gold profits.  No thanks!

I preferred the early days of listing high priced glyphs with little to no competition and having 50-75% of the stock sell every single night.  Nowadays its a few gold profits per sale and 99% of the Glyphs get returned as unsold. 

I guess you could say I made out like a bandit while the market was fresh and now all of the copycats can fight over the scraps.  More power to you Kobolds fighting over the scraps.

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Kite Pets - Not Just WoW TCG Loot Anymore

WoW Kite Pets
Not Just From WoW TCG Loot Codes Anymore


Dragon Kite

The Dragon Kite and the Tuskarr Kite are just a sample of  the WoW companion pets obtained from loot codes from the WoW Trading Card Game.  Until the launch of Mists of Pandaria, these were the only 2 available Kite type companion pets in the World of Warcraft.  The Dragon Kite from the WoW loot code has always been quite popular and quite expensive as well.  The value and price of the Dragon Kite is sure to continue to climb as the WoW Patch 5.1 PTR Notes are listing that the Dragon Kite is going to become useable as a WoW Battle Pet after the new patch drops.  The Dragon Kite should become a rare battle pet, like all of the other WoW TCG companion pets that turn to rare battle pets.  So if you are lucky enough to find a Dragon Kite on your Black Market Auction House (BMAH), keep that in mind, as the value and re-sellability should vastly increase post Patch 5.1.



Tuskarr Kite

Enter The New Scribe Crafted Kites In MoP

In addition to the Tuskarr Kite and the Dragon Kite, we now have a new pair of Kite companion pets to add to our collection of companion pets.  Note, I didn't say battle pets, because neither of the new Kites are useable in Pet Battles.  The inability to be used in pet battles definately hurts their perceived value as they are only desired for their aesthetic value as non-combat battle pets.  Since the Dragon Kite is being added to the Battle Pet ranks, we can only hope the new MoP Inscription crafted Kites get similar treatment, which would greatly increase their value in the eyes of players.  Regardless, the new Kites do still sell.


Chi-ji Kite

Yu'lon Kite

Chi-ji Kite & Yu'lon Kite

The two new Scribe crafted Kite companion pets are the Chi-ji Kite and the Yu'lon Kite.  Both of these require just a single common parchament and 4 Ink of Dreams to craft.  They are made by Mists of Pandaria trained Scribes and require an Inscription level of 600 (max).  The recipe is learned from the Inscription trainer, so no special farming, grinding, or reputation is needed to start crafting these new MoP Kite pets. 

Keep an eye out for new patch notes, in case the Yu'lon and Chi-ji Kites are to become Battle Pets as well.  If they are so lucky, then you may be able to snatch up a few for cheap to flip for a higher price once they become battle pets as well.

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Dust of Disappearance Still Selling Strong! LOL

Dust of Disappearance Still Making Me WoW Gold

It's no secret to most of us WoW gold making goblins that Dust of Disappearance is easily purchased from the vendors of Azeroth, but please don't tell my customers! 

Scribes are able to use their Inscription profession to craft 3 Dust of Disappearance for the lowly cost of 1 Blackfallow Ink.  While we can still craft the Dusts, it isn't recommended as a profitable strategy.  It used to be a very profitable option for Scribes looking for a better use of Blackfallow Inks.  Hell, on my home server it was often more profitable to craft and sell Dust of Disappearance over crafting Glyphs of any kind thanks to the invasion of kobolds into the Glyph market.  Now it isn't recommended at all to craft the Dusts for selling. 

Why?  Because as of the MoP expansion Pre-patch (WoW Patch 5.0.4), the vendor price got nerfed and more vendors are selling them.  A single Dust of Disappearance now only costs 45 silver (before applying faction discounts) from the in game vendors and there are 196 vendors that currently sell the Dusts! 

Prior to the Patch 5.0.4 that nerfed the vendor price of the Dusts into the ground, crafting Dusts and selling them for under the vendor costs was quite profitable.  I was a major proponent of also barking the Dusts of Disappearance in the trade channel to increase awareness that players could find them cheaper on the auction house.  Players weren't stuck paying the vendor prices, which at the time were 7+ gold each, depending on the players' reputation with the vendor.  Barking helped to increase awareness and urged players to save gold by purchasing from the WoW auction house.  This Dust of Disappearance Barking Strategy made me thousands of gold and allowed me to rival the good days of glyph sales, with only crafting and selling Dusts and MFCs and leaving the Glyphs to the Kobolds and White Knights.

My main Dust bark was:

"[Dust of Disappearance] is cheaper in the AH than on the vendor. Swap Those Glyphs & Save Some Gold Too!"

Then the vendor change came in Patch 5.0.4 and the sales of Dusts on the auction house died along with the cheaper vendor prices, right?  NOPE!  Although, I have quit using my Dust barking strategy, because that would be lieing, the sales continue to roll in.  Not only do I still make a nice profit off of selling Dusts of Disappearance, I no longer have to craft them myself.  I just buy stacks off of the vendor for the dirt cheap prices and sell them on the auction house for the same prices that I used to charge pre-patch, making even more profit per sale with each transaction.

How can I do this?  It's pretty simple.  By barking that they were available for cheaper than the vendor cost for so long prior to the expansion and the pre-patch changes, I've trained my server to first look on the auction house for their Dusts of Disappearance.  I bet many of the players on my server are unaware that the price has even dropped at the vendor, at least my buyers must be full unaware.  Why else would they be paying be 7+ gold per single Dust, when 7 gold would have bought them more than 14 for the same price as what I charge for a single one? 

Remember, those markets that you expect to be dead, can be quite profitable when others expect them to be dead too and vacate your market.  Sure, this can't go on forever because most players should eventually learn that I have been overcharging them on the auction house, but I'll keep making easy gold off of them until they wise up.

Anyone else still making gold off of Dust of Disappearance too?

**********

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Exchange Your Blackfallow Now! Ink Traders Change Tomorrow!



Ink Trader Warning - Short Notice


Inscription Ink Traders To Be Updated Tomorrow

That's right.  That's one hell of a short notice!  According to a blue post, the Inscription Ink Vendors will finally be getting the previously expected Ink conversions update.  After tomorrow's down time on October 9th, 2012, the Inscription Ink Vendors will no longer be converting Blackfallow Ink into the other possible Inks used by Scribes.  The newest Mists of Pandaria expansion Inks, the Ink of Dreams, will become the new currency for swapping Inks to the other versions.  Starlight Ink is the new rare Ink from the MoP expansion and will also be available starting tomorrow from the same Inscription Ink vendors. 

Make Sure To Swap Out Any Blackfallow Inks Before Tommorrow!

You should swap out every Blackfallow Ink for the older Inks prior to tomorrow or you risk being stuck with them.  After the conversion tomorrow, the Blackfallow Ink will be next to worthless since they are only required for a single Glyph (Glyph of Colossal Smash).  They can always be used by Scribes to craft Forged Documents for easy gold, but with the daily cooldown on the Forged Documents you won't be unloading many very fast through that Inscription daily quest. 

The final option for using up any Blackfallow Inks you get stuck with would be to craft them into Mysterious Fortune Cards and / or Fortune Cookies.  Fortune Cookies probably aren't a good idea anymore, even as cheap leveling buff food since Pandaren quests and mobs award you more buff food than in previous expansions.  So the only good use of Blackfallow Inks will continue to be the Mysterious Fortune Cards, which continue to sell well on my server.  The crazy thing is that all of my competition in the MFC market has pretty much left out all together, which has left me being the sole seller since the launch of Mists of Pandaria.  I'm still firing off my MFC Barks while in town and the gold is still rolling in from MFC sales.  A new expansion always brings new players to WoW, which is just one of the times MFC cards are super easy gold making.  There is no new MFC equivalent in Mists of Pandaria either, so the MFC Mastery barking strategies are still very valid and continue to earn many of my disciples easy gold.  Mysterious Fortune Cards will never be obsolete!

Keep this in mind, if you happen to see players dumping loads of Blackfallow Inks after the maintenance tomorrow because they didn't know any better and got stuck with a bunch of Blackfallow Inks. 

You Have Been Warned - Trade Those Blackfallow Inks In Now!  Tomorrow Is Too Late!

**********

10-9 Update: MAYBE NOT - Blizzard screwed the pooch again and didn't get it patched as warned.  Looks like you have another week to go unless it gets hotfixed before next realm maintenance.

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Kobolds And White Knights - Reader Submission

The Trouble With Kobolds And White Knights


Attack of the Undercutting Kobolds

Here is a great email that I wanted to share with you.  My server isn't the only one infested with the Kobolds I talked about in my recent post:  Are you a true Goblin or just a lowly Kobold?  This reader has problems with a special breed of Kobold, the "White Knight".  She also submitted the above screenshot of her TSM posting page for Glyphs.  Yuck!

Hey Cold,

After reading your rant on kobolds last week, I thought you'd get a
kick out of this screenshot I took this morning.

The kobolds on our server are rampant... and they seem to be breeding.
We have people who think their time spent farming means the herbs are
free. We have "white knights" who think no one should have to pay
more than 20g for a glyph, and post accordingly. These "white
knights" also proclaim loudly and frequently in trade that they've
just posted "a bunch of glyphs for cheap - because I'm not a horrible
person". It's mind-boggling.

This is just the first page of the auctions that were below my
threshold, which, admittedly, is pretty low at 30g.

I've been trying to push them out. With the advent of CRZ, the supply
of herbs has been drying up, so I've been hovering over it buying up
herbs and trying to make sure that you can't create any glyph for less
than 6g per ink. It doesn't matter; they craft and post them at these
prices anyway. I've been buying up these low-priced glyphs and
resetting the prices - at least 5 different glyphs per day, but
sometimes 10. The price reset only lasts until the next kobold or
white knight gets online. They'll see a glyph posted at 200g and post
theirs for 30g. /facedesk

I've tried communicating with them, trying to explain how farmed herbs
aren't free; how you don't have to undercut someone by 30g just to
have your glyph sell next... all to no avail. I've been told I'm a
horrible person, I'm an idiot, I'm greedy; I was even told that I'm
the reason that jobs are being outsourced out of this country. Yes,
seriously.

So, anyway - thought this screenshot would give you a good laugh.

Sincerely,
(Name withheld by request) on Bronzebeard US

"I Farmed It Myself, So It Is Free!"

The flawed logic of "I farmed it, so it's free" is perhaps the most adopted and most foolish of all auction house gold making strategies in WoW.  Any activity, including farming, requires a time investment.  That time could be spent elsewhere making gold or performing other activities that reward more gold per hour.  So farming is not truely free as it takes up time that you could be using to make gold directly.  Anyone can make gold on the auction houses, but new gold makers often don't understand where to start making gold on the WoW auction house.

Another common problem with the "I farmed it, so it is free" philosophy is that these believers often post crafted items for below the price of the materials on the auction house.  This leads to the opportunity to snatch up these poorly priced goods, as this reader also mentioned, but when the volume of items posted gets too vast, you may have a hard time buying them up before the next kobold comes along and does the same thing.  Granted, you can continue to stock up on cheap items to flip, but storage space can start to become an issue.  If the undercutting and posting for dirt cheap problem continues for too long without a price rebound, then you could be stuck with a large volume of inventory to hang onto while you pray for a market price rebound.  If they do decide to bring in Cross Realm Auction Houses, then it's only going to get even worse than it is now. 

************

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Inscription Vendor Mats In Demand Again

Making WoW Gold With Inscription Vendor Mats (Again)

The demand has returned for the Inscription vendor purchasable crafting materials that are only available from the Inscription vendors out in Twilight Highlands.  You remember Casandra Downs and Una Kobuna, right?  These Inscription vendors were the only ones spared from the Twilight Highlands vendor nerf that hit every other profession vendor in Patch 4.1. 

Prior to Patch 4.1, your crafters were locked behind a gated wall that required being level 84 minimum and quest chain completion to unlock the vendors in your faction's city in Twilight Highlands.  The Inscription vendors are STILL locked behind this gate, but the items they sell are still BoE.  So you can take a higher level character out to shop for your Inscription materials and send them to your Scribe via the mail.  You can also sell these same recipe required items back on your local auction house for a nice mark up.  You targeted buyers are Scribes who haven't completed the quest chain, players not high enough level to get them themselves with an alt, the ignorant and clueless, as well as the downright lazy. 

The Inscription Vendor Materials Sold Only In Twilight Highlands:

• Bleached Jawbone - NOW JUNK!
• Deathwing Scale Fragment - Used in new staff recipe.
• Preserved Ogre Eye - Used in new staff recipe.
• Scavenged Dragon Horn - NOW JUNK!
• Silver Charm Bracelet - Used in new staff recipe.

These materials are increasing in demand as they are also required for many of the new Inscription staff recipes that have been added in WoW Patch 5.0.4.  I've already been selling the 6g purchased Deathwing Scale Fragments for an easy 125 gold pieces each since the Patch 5.0.4 dropped.  These new blue staffs are great options for getting a nice 3-5 point increase when leveling your Inscription profession.  And with the crazy prices on many servers for glyphs, we can expect to see more fledgling Scribes rushing to level their Inscription profession up too.  Make it easy on them and sell them these materials for crazy mark ups like I do. 

Plain Wooden Staff

Plain Wooden Staff is now a new reagant required for most staffs as well, including the blue staffs that are pre-cursors to the epic MoP staffs craftable with the Inscription profession. The Plain Wooden Staff is a vendor purchased item available from many vendors throughout the world.  This is another BoE crafting material that can be sold on the auction house.


The New Blue Staffs Using Inscription Vendor Mats
Rosethorn Staff - Plain Wooden Staff, Inferno Ink x12, Volatile Life x36, Volatile Water x12, Preserved Ogre Eye

Silver Inlaid Staff - Plain Wooden Staff, Inferno Ink x12, Volatile Life x36, Volatile Air x12, Silver Charmed Bracelet

Runed Staff - Plain Wooden Staff, Inferno Ink x8, Volatile Life x24, Volatile Fire x6, Deathwing Scale Fragment

And another positive benefit of most of the new craftable Staffs is that we finally have another use for Inferno Inks, so hopefully we can sell off a few more of these darn things.  I know many of you are still swimming in Inferno Inks too.



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Tarot Deck Strategy For MoP Monks, Rerolls, & Alts

My Tarot Deck Strategy

Monks, Pandas & Other New Characters

You don't have to be a mind reader to know when to sell certain items to make gold in WoW.  It's no secret that with the next World of Warcraft expansion we will be seeing a major influx of new pandarian characters, new monks, re-rolls, fresh alts, and brand new players altogether.  This creates a myriad of options for profiting off of these new players and characters.  Even the brand new players will be targets for making gold. 

You may think that brand new players aren't worth targeting, because they won't have much gold to spend anyway.  Wrong!  Many players these days join a specific server because they know some on that server in real life.  Those brand new players are often the recipient of a nice chunk of gold to get them started.  So you will have brand new players with a nice chunk of gold burning a whole in their pocket.  That's where we goblins come in, to help provide the items that they are going to be wanting on the auction house.

I will be going into more detail in an upcoming post about what items to be looking for to snatch and flip for new players, but today I will be focusing on a strategy I have been working on.  I highly recommend getting started on this same strategy ASAP, if you are interested, because as soon as the new pre-MoP Patch 5.04 drops, it will be much harder to find the required herbs at cheap prices. 

Patch 5.04 brings the Inscription Ink Vendor change, which will increase the demand and prices for the older inks, so get stocked up now!

Every time we have an influx of new players and new characters, I turn to profitting off of the various Tarot Decks as once of my methods of making gold in WoW.  This startegy works well when there are new players entering the game.  The top 3 times to sell these items for leveling characters are:

1. New Expansion Releases
2. Christmas Break (Christmas Noobs)
3. Schools Out For Summer

Tarot Decks And What They Make

Tarot decks are created by Scribes (don't let any fool convince you they are called Inscriptionists or Scribblers) with the Inscription Profession.  There are 4 different Tarot Decks and they are each created from combining the required Tarot Cards.  Why target these Tarot cards and decks for new players?  Because you get some killer gear that you can sell for a nice profit when you turn in the completed Tarot Decks.  Every expansion I always run short on these items, even though I try to stock up and make as many as I can.  The demand is just too great to meet the spike brought on by the new player influx. 

The Cards for the Tarot Decks are created using the rare inks that are obtained while milling.  This is one of the reasons I don't just convert Blackfallow Ink or the current top level ink at the Inscription ink trader.  If you aren't milling the low level herbs, then you won't be getting any of the rare pigments.  You can find the rare inks and pigments listed on the auction house sometimes, probably from Scribes that don't understand their value. 

There are 4 types of Tarot Cards and Decks

1. Mysterious Tarot (of Rogues) - Crafted with Hunter's Ink (Verdant Pigment)
2. Strange Tarot (of Swords) - Crafted with Dawnstar Ink (Burnt Pigment)
3. Arcane Tarot (of Mages) - Crafted with Royal Ink (Indigo Pigment)
4. Shadowy Tarot (of Demons) - Crafted with Fiery Ink (Ruby Pigment)

Mysterious Tarot / Deck of Rogues - These are an absolute goldmine!  Once you turn in the deck (at anytime - the Darkmoon Faire is not required for any of these 4 Tarot Decks), you have the choice of 3 items.  You pick which reward you would like, the Robe (cloth), Vest (leather), or Chain Shirt (mail).  These are wearable at level 15 and rival gear much higher level.  These chest peices are favorites of low level twinks and leveling characters alike.  These Darkmoon chest pieces can also be snatched up off of the auction house and sold for a nice chunk of gold.  I tend to sell them for 75 gold each.  The stats given to the pieces are random, so you will have some duds with a goofy stat combo, but those can still sell for an easy 25 gold.  The best stat combos can sell for over 100 gold each.

Strange Tarot / Deck of Swords - My favorite of all the decks because of the speed at which the awarded gear flies off of the auction house.  These Swords Decks award level 20 blue shoulders.  Low level shoulders are great items to sell because many low level players won't fill their shoulder gear slot by questing alone.  You have 3 choices of awards again: Azure Shoulderguards (Mail), Cloaked Shoulderpads (Leather), and Darkcloth Shoulders (Cloth).  Again the stats are random, but the combinations are pretty good and the great stat combinations can sell for hefty prices to twinks and levelers.

Arcane Tarot / Deck of Mages - These decks award the choice of 1 of two neck pieces that are equipable at level 30.  The Darkmoon Necklace has +5 Sta / +8 Int / +5 Crit, while the Darkmoon Pendant has +6 Agi / +11 Sta.  With the onslaught of incoming Monks, I will be stocking up on the Pendants to sell to the Monks, Rogues, Druids, & Hunters.

Shadowy Tarot / Deck of Demons - These are excellent items to use to make gold as well.  Equipable at level 40, you can choose from 3 different weapon rewards to sell on the auction house.  There is a +Agility Dagger, a +Intellect Staff, and a +Attack Power 2 handed Axe.  I have had the most success selling the Dagger and the Staff, with little success with the Attack Power Axe.

What Herbs To Look Out For For Tarot Decks

Here is a quick reference list of which herbs will have a chance to create the required rare inks when milled by a Scribe, as well as which Pigments to search for.

Hunter's Ink for Rogues Decks

• Bruiseweed
• Stranglekelp
• Briarthorn
• Mageroyal
• Swiftthistle
• (Verdant Pigment)

Dawnstar Ink for Swords Decks

• Kingsblood
• Liferoot
• Grave Moss
• Wild Steelbloom
• (Burnt Pigment)

Royal Ink For Mages Decks

• Khadgar's Whisker
• Dragon's Teeth
• Goldthorn
• Fadeleaf
• (Indigo Pigment)

Fiery Ink For Demons Decks

• Ghost Mushroom
• Gromsblood
• Blindweed
• Arthas' Tears
• Firebloom
• Sungrass
• Purple Lotus
• (Ruby Pigment)

So don't forget to stock up on these raw low level Vanilla WoW Herbs prior to the big Mists of Pandaria pre-patch 5.04.  These will become much harder to find and much more expensive as unprepared Scribes will be forced to turn to milling the lower level herbs for the proper inks, once the vendor won't accept Blackfallow trading anymore.

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Why Buy Low, Sell Normal Is A Joke

Buy Low, Sell Normal

vs

Buy Low, Sell High

Everyone has heard the common economics standard of Buy Low, Sell High.  However, there are some auctioneers in WoW and Diablo 3 that will tell you that the time tested fundamental economic principle of Buying Lowing & Selling High is a farce that doesn't work.  Well, it's been the standard of basic profiteering for centuries.  So I'm calling bullshit on your Buy Low, Sell Normal mantra, when you claim it is better than Buy Low, Sell High.

All basic money making can be simplified to Buy For X, and Sell For More Than X.  That sale will turn you a profit.  All you need to do is sell the item for more than you paid for it.  That's what Buy Low, Sell High means.  Selling for higher than the lower price you bought it for, regardless of the market price for that item. 

So What Is Buy Low, Sell Normal?

Buy Low, Sell Normal is supposed to be "the best way to operate as an auctioneer" as the followers of this belief tell you to "Sell at normal value, no higher than what the item usually goes for."  These Buy Low, Sell Normal types, think you will make more profits by selling more items at a lower cost.  The basic backbone of any discussion about this comparison references that is how Walmart operates, by Buying Low & Selling Normal.

Sure, Walmart has lots of sales and cheap prices too, but as gold and money makers in Diablo 3 and World of Warcraft, we aren't Walmart.  We don't have a huge staff working under us.  We are just 1 person trying to turn a profit on an in-game auction house.  Walmart makes their money by coming into and forcing out all of the smaller companies that can't compete with their prices.  Some of their items they actually sell below their cost, so others have no chance to compete.  This serves to limit their competition and force others out of the market, but how profitable of a strategy is selling at a loss or for minimal profits in an online virtual environment?

So you bought or crafted an item at a low price, how much do you want to sell it for?

Well, I am a member of Generation X and I tend to go by the typical Gen-X mantra of "Getting the most money, for the least amount of work."  See that's the problem with the Buy Low, Sell Normal philosophy.  By selling at minimal profits, you may get more sales, but are those minimal profits worth your time and effort?  I'd rather sell less items for more profit per item, which results in less time recrafting, recollecting, and reposting.

Sell Normal Or Sell High In The Glyph Market?

The WoW Glyph Market has a polarizing effect on most of the sellers within that market.  Either they are willing to dance or they aren't.  But because of the foolish teachings of some bloggers who've preach about Buying Low and Selling Normal, the Glyph market can be an absolute nightmare for some sellers as we've been discussing on some episodes of The Eviscerated Gaming Podcast.

A good example is between the 2 main strategies of Glyph sellers.

• Option 1 - Craft & Sell as many Glyphs as possible (market blanketing), all for a bare minimum profit, to keep competition away.  Often using heavy undercutting (another foolish strategy in my opinion) and walling of low priced items in hopes of driving out competition.  This is often referred to as the Walmart Glyph Model. - Sell Normal

• Option 2 - Craft & Sell only Glyphs when they reach a nice threshold worth your time and effort.  Nev of Auction House Addict was the first to discuss this philosophy on the PW:Gold Podcast.  Don't even bother with a glyph unless it is selling for 100 gold or more.  - Sell High

With Nev's Glyph Strategy, you still make plenty of gold and have far much less work to do to restock and relist.  And you are free of the headache of massive dog fight wars of undercutting, glyph walling, and other time inefficient strategies.  Often times, you will still makes sales because not everyone has all glyph recipes and there are times when all of the low priced ones will be gone.  If I can sell glyphs for 250 gold, why the hell would I waste time fighting to sell them for 12 gold each to make a few gold per sale? 

Why Buy Low, Sell Normal?

So why would someone even want to create a Buy Low, Sell Normal idea?  It was a blogger who coined the notion and even refers to it as his "catch phrase".  The entire notion is based on foolish logic and trying to disprove a time weathered basic principal of economic theory.  The whole Buy Low, Sell Normal idea was nothing more than an online marketing ploy created by an internet salesmen trying to stir up his own "catch phrase" to discuss and quote on various blogs and podcasts all to drive traffic to his sites.  Then people want to hear how Buy Low, Sell Normal is so much better than Buy Low, Sell High and they head to his sites, where he tries to sell them his latest Secret Gold Guides.  In all reality Buy Low, Sell Normal is nothing more than a hype generating gimmick of an internet con-man.  It's nothing more than a tagline and sales gimmick.

So be smart and get the most from each and every sale.  Why leave money on the table?

I think @dollada06 said it best on twitter:

"Buy Low / Sell Normal is an idiotic ideology which basically says sell your items before they yield maximum profits."

Read more about how Buy Low, Sell Normal is a bad idea in Diablo 3 at:

Free Diablo 3 Guide

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Enjoy The Posts Here at Cold's Gold Factory? Check Out Cold's Mysterious Fortune Card Mastery Gold Making Guide. Also Check Out My New Favorite All Around WoW Gold Making Guide and J!inx - Clothing For Gamers And Geeks.

Scribes Rejoice - MoP Changes To Head & Shoulder Enchants

Another Gold Making Option For Scribes

Today there was some pretty big news released by Ghostcrawler in a blue post, regarding some major changes coming in the World of Warcraft expansion, Mists of Pandaria.  Blizzard is removing head enchants from the game and is also changing how shoulder enchants are acquired for your gear. 


Ghostcrawler Explains Head & Shoulder Enchant Changes In MoP

We will no longer be having to grind reputation for either head or shoulder enchants in Mists of Pandaria.  Head Enchants are being removed completely and the Shoulder Enchants are going to remain in the game, but will now be made by the Inscription profession.  Scribes everywhere are already rejoicing as this will be an additional way to make gold with your Scribe in Mists of Pandaria.  Every single character will be wanting to purchase and use the Shoulder Enchants. 

Think of these new Inscription crafted Shoulder Enchants just like the Leatherworking & Tailoring crafted Leg Armor Enchants.  Almost every character uses Leg Armor Enchants and they have historically been great markets for gold making due to the constant demand.  Shoulder Enchants potentially could be just as profitable, but I do have one fear.  The Inscription Glyph market has been the most cut-throat market on damn near every server.  I hope those undercutting philosophies don't spill over into the Shoulder Enchant market as well. 

This could be the last bit of encouragement you need to dust off that mid level Scribe and get that Inscription skill maxed and ready for Mists of Pandaria gold making. 

Do you see this change as another benefit for Scribes or a hassle for consumers?

Enjoy The Posts Here at Cold's Gold Factory? Check Out Cold's Mysterious Fortune Card Mastery Gold Making Guide. Also Check Out My Favorite All Around WoW Gold Making Guide and J!inx - Clothing For Gamers And Geeks.

My Scribe's Favorite WoW Gold Making Spot

Troll Area In New Orgrimmar

February Entry For Cold's Gold Blogging Carnival

The Cold's Gold Factory Blogging Carnival chosen topic for the month of February has been decided.  I've asked everyone to reveal one of their secret or favorite crafting / business / auctioneering / farming hot spots within the World of Warcraft universe.  Today I will explain one of the prime locations for one of my main gold makers in WoW, my scribe.  By now, most WoW Horde WoW players know that the Tauren area in Orgrimmar is a nice spot for conduction auction house business for making gold in WoW.  That area is ideal for any crafters that need use of a forge, anvil, or tailoring materials.  If you are a crafter of another profession, there may be a better suited location for you to conduct your business.  Hopefully, this month's carnival entries will shed some light on some nice efficient areas for operating your gold making alts.  Every ideal alt needs to find their own ideal crafting location.

The Ogrimmar Troll Area - A Horde Scribe's Ideal Location

As a Scribe that makes a lot of gold off of the Inscription profession, I am in need of an efficient area for conducting my auction house gold making business.  The best area I have found for a Horde Scribe is the Troll area in Northwestern Orgrimmar in The Valley Of Spirits.  The perfect location would be a spot that I could access my Inscription vendor, a mailbox, my guild and personal banks, and the auction house without having to move one bit.  Sadly, this perfect area does not exist.  However in the troll area, I can have access to 3 of the 5 without moving, with the other 2 close by.  Let's dig a little deeper.

The Bank & Auction House Hut

The main area of operation in the Troll area in Orgrimmar is the Auction House and Banking Combo Hut.  Located at the top of a troll tribal hut is the Auction House auctioneer.  This troll area auctioneer is housed in the same building as the banks.  This means that you can have access to your bank or guild bank and the auction house at the same time.  This is a plus for any gold makers that tends to use their bank or guild bank for storage.  Being able to store glyphs in my guild bank as a scribe, has been a great time saver in itself.

The Mail Box

Next we need a close mail box location and the Org Troll area has just that.  From within the Troll area bank / auction hut you can look down below (remember you are on the 2nd story of the hut) and see a mail box just a few yards away on the Troll side of the tunnel that leads from The Valley Of Wisdom into The Valley of Spirits.  So it is just a quick jump down, which is super fast and easy with any flying mount.  This is about the typical distance for a mailbox to auctioneer run, but this mailbox very rarely sees any activity.  That is a good thing, because less activity means less lag and less chance of some idiot blocking your access to the mailbox.

The Inscription Vendor

Last but not least, we come to the Inscription vendor.  As a scribe, I purchase a ton of crafting materials off of the Inscription supplies vendors.  Selling Glyphs and Mysterious Fortune Cards means I blow through a TON of parchiment paper.  Having access to a nearby vendor is also a must for any ideal crafting location.  Lucky enough, the Inscription supplies vendor is in the next hut over (to the South).  The Inscription vendor is also located on the top floor of the neighboring hut.  This means a quick mount up and 3 second flight will having you hopping from the vendor hut and the auctioneer / bank hut in no time.

With the Auction House and Banks housed in 1 hut, the Inscription supply vendor in the Troll hut next door, and the bank a short distance on the ground below, you have most everything a Scribe would need all layed out in a nice triangular formation.  This is where Primerib does all of his business, including barking MFCs while I work on glyphs and other Inscription markets.

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If you have a secret spot you would like to share, don't forget that anyone can participate in the blogging carnivals.  Check out the 2012 February carnival topic post for the information on posting, as well as a couple of great sites that are willing to host your entries.


Enjoy The Posts Here at Cold's Gold Factory? Check Out Cold's Mysterious Fortune Card Mastery Gold Making Guide. Also Check Out My New Favorite All Around WoW Gold Making Guide and J!inx - Clothing For Gamers And Geeks.

Wasn't Northrend Inscription Research Supposed To Replace Books Of Glyph Mastery in WoW Patch 4.2?

Confused About Inscription Research?

Northrend Inscription Research Vs. Books Of Glyph Mastery

There seems to be a lot of confusion surrounding the ways that new scribes must learn recipes for their Inscription Profession.  I have been fielding multiple questions via Twitter and email asking what is up with Northrend Inscription Research.  This has become a common question lately, so I took some time to look it up.  I seem to remember and expected the same changes in Patch 4.2 that these players are now stumped over. 

Wasn't Patch 4.2 Supposed To Allow For All Glyphs To Be Discovered With Research Only?
Is Northrend Inscription Research Bugged?
Why Is Inscription Research Not Awarding New Glyph Recipes?

Wait, Hold Up!  REWIND!

The confusion is coming from this statement released by Blizzard during the Professions Dev Q&A. 

Quote:

Will you provide a way to speed up the acquiring of glyphs usually acquired through research and glyph books? Glyph books (Book of Glyph Mastery) are hard to come by now that people spend so little time in WotLK content.


Yes. We will be changing the discovery spells so they can teach all possible glyphs, and the books will simply provide a no-cooldown method to do the same thing.

The confusion is coming from the fact that many of us assumed that this change would be coming in Patch 4.2, since the Developer's Q & A on Professions took place before the release of WoW Patch 4.2.  Then WoWInsider warned us to sell off our Books of Glyph Mastery because the Inscription Research change was "coming soon."  This just further led to the assumption that Patch 4.2 would bring the Inscription Changes.

The change would allow a newer character leveling Inscription to bypass the need for Books of Glyph Mastery, which are very expensive on most WoW servers.  When this Inscription Research (Discovery) change is implemented, the goal will be to allow Scribes to learn all glyphs from Northrend Inscription Research or Minor Inscription Research and not be limited by the fact that a ton of the good selling glyphs are only available from purchasing the expensive Books of Glyph Mastery. 

The problem is that they never said it was going to be added in Patch 4.2.  As of now it will still be added at a later date, if the plan continues as originally stated.  These Inscription Research changes never made it into the Patch 4.2 patch notes either.  So it never happened.  You currently are limited by the number of Books of Glyph Mastery that you are able to purchase.  The value of the Books of Glyph Mastery also has remained high on most WoW servers since they are still a requirement for learning some Glyph recipes.
Hope this helps to clear up the confusion that some of you are experiencing.



Enjoy The Posts Here at Cold's Gold Factory? Check Out Cold's Mysterious Fortune Card Mastery Gold Making Guide To Get You Started. Also Check Out The Teenager's Gold Guide To Get Started With Learning The Auction House As A Younger Player.

WoW Scribe Tricks - Dust of Disappearance Barking

Get Your Dust Of Disappearance Here!

Dust of Disappearance

Dust of Disappearance is a great item for making gold on the WoW auction house.  The Dust of Disappearance is crafted by WoW Scribes using the Inscription profession.  Dust of Disappearance is required by players of all types to remove and rearrange glyphs once that player reaches level 81.  The market for Dust of Disappearance targets players level 81 or higher that are going to move glyphs in their chosen glyph combination.  This may be a player returning to the game, a new level 81, or a raider that swaps his glyphs around during the various raid boss encounters. 

Dust of Disappearance vs. Mysterious Fortune Card

The Dust of Disappearance is an extremely inexpensive market to enter, especially if you are already selling Mysterious Fortune Cards.  One Blackfallow Ink creates 3 Dust of Disappearance, so selling Dust of Disappearance goes hand in hand with the Mysterious Fortune Card Barking Business.  It's as easy as buying Cataclysm herbs,milling them into Blackfallow Inks, then crafting the Blackfallow Inks into Dust of Disappearance. 

Dust of Disappearance Barking

The key to making larger numbers of sales is Barking.  Just as Mysterious Fortune Cards sell much better when properly barked, the Dust of Disappearance works the same way.  This time you are educating your server that the Dust of Disappearance is available from the auction house, not just the Inscription Vendor.  Many players do not even realize that you can get the Dust of Disappearance from the auction house and that it is usually cheaper than buying the Dust of Disappearance from the vendor.  Even at the below vendor pricing, 3 Dust of Disappearance sells for more than a single Mysterious Fortune Card.

I use the following Dust of Disappearance bark in my barking rotation:

"Dust of Disappearance is Cheaper on the Auction House than from the Vendor.  Swap those Glyphs and Save Some Gold!  Check the AH now!"

From my own personal experience, I have seen the Dust of Disappearance barking technique work best on the weekends when there are more players on.  Players also tend to play alt characters over the weekend as well.  I continually use the Dust of Disappearance bark within my barking rotation.  Barking isn't only helpful for selling Mysterious Fortune Cards and Dust of Disappearance.

What items have you found that sell better when barked?

Enjoy The Posts Here at Cold's Gold Factory? Check Out Cold's Mysterious Fortune Card Mastery Gold Making Guide To Get You Started. This Guide Can Be Applied To Multiple Markets Not Just Barking MFCs.

How To Use Your Inferno Inks Post Patch 4.2

Reader Questions on Inferno Ink

I received a couple of questions via email from a pair of readers here at Cold's Gold Factory.  Both questions came on the same day and oddly enough, they are both regarding the same topic:  How To Use Inferno Ink these days.

Cold!!!  Help!!!  I don't know what to do with my Inferno Ink anymore since the Trinkets/Decks aren't worth much.  Do i keep making them and hoping for sales?  Do I just put them up on the AH?  They aren't selling well.  I am at a loss.  I'm still milling to make glyphs, although to be honest slowly.  I'm still mildly intimidated by the glyph market.  I'm making money on most everything I do except these darn Inferno Inks.  Feel free to make this a post if you like.  Love the blog, I'm email subscribed and have it in my reader.  Any help you can provide would be awesome.    -Fristy

Thanks for writing in Fristy.  It seems that Hilsen is having the same dilemna as you regarding Inferno Inks and Darkmoon Decks / Trinkets.

I'm one of those Auction House Junkies fans out there. And since I listen to AHJ I know that you too like to make gold on Fortune Cards.
- On to my question...

I make a ton of Fortune Cards. Before 4.2, I was able to use the Burning Embers for Inferno Inks (and then Darkmoon Cards). Darkmoon Cards don't sell anymore and neither does any other item where I can use Inferno Ink's ... so what's your angle?
- Stock up on Inferno Inks (maybe keep them as Burning Embers?)
- Sell them at a low price? (about 12g each for Inferno Inks on my server this second)

Hope you've had the little thought I seem to miss :)      -Hilsen

Inferno Inks and Darkmoon Cards, Decks, Trinkets

The prices have been dropping on Darkmoon Cards and Darkmoon Decks, as well as the respective Trinkets you can collect from the Darkmoon Faire.  I myself had stopped making the Darkmoon Cards and Decks a couple of months ago and have been selling off the last of my single Darkmoon Cards to other Scribes and players completing the Darkmoon Deck sets for the trinkets. 

What To Do With Inferno Inks Then?

Here is a list of the markets that require Inferno Ink as a crafting component.

• New PvP Relics Since Patch 4.2
• Leveling Relics
• Leveling Off-Hands (Books and Tomes)
• Darkmoon Cards and Decks
• Runescroll of Fortitude II
• Royal Scribe's Satchel (Unlocked from Firelands Invasion Vendors)

So there are not a lot of options overall to utilize your Inferno Inks.  The best advice I can give is to stop crafting the Darkmoon cards and start selling off all of your single Darkmoon Cards that you have already crafted.  The new PvP relics have been selling decent for me and they each require 5 Inferno Inks, which can help deplete your stock.  Another great option is to craft the new Inscription Profession bag, the Royal Scribe's Satchel.  You must learn this recipe from the phased and locked vendors that require multiple daily quests to unlock.  These are just starting to unlock for a lot of players, so listing some Inferno Inks on the auction house (as singles and stacks of 3) may see some sales to leatherworkers crafting the new Inscription glyph holding bags. 

I unloaded a ton of my own Inferno Inks as Runescroll of Fortitude II.  I found a player looking for these buff scrolls and he placed a massive order with me and I am free to craft more and send them to him COD.  This has been an excellent way to dump my extra Inferno Inks.  The Runescrolls sell ok on the auction house, but the sales are sporadic, so have patience when listing.  A little barking can go a long way towards getting these sold.  Another option is to find another scribe that needs Inferno Inks and offer to trade some of them for Blackfallow Inks or other Inks that they have.  Then you can use those inks to continue crafting Glyphs or Mysterious Fortune Cards.  There is always a possibility of the introduction of a new item that will require Inferno Inks, but that is a long shot, and I wouldn't want to speculate on that just yet.  Even if another item is added, you can always get more Inferno Inks from milling more Cataclysm herbs, so I wouldn't save or stockpile any Inferno Inks (ever) unless an herb shortage starts to occur.

Ideal Alts Series - The Collector

Ideal Alts Series Continues

Today we have another installment in the series on Ideal Alt World of Warcraft Characters.  This series is geared to give you some ideas on various types of alternate characters to add to your World of Warcraft gold making arsenal, or the Gold Factory as I call it.  Here we are taking a look at some of the roles that your alts may perform.  We are looking to maximize the benefits of each specific type of these Ideal Alts to get the most out of each individual character slot, since we are limited to 10 characters per server (per account).  Yesterday I discussed the Ideal Alt - The Dungeon Farmer and today we will be looking into another Ideal Alt - The Collector.

Ideal Alts - The Collector

Role:  The collector is an important alt character in many gold making line-ups.  The collector is an alt that has the sole duty of traveling around and collecting items to sell on the auction house.  This ideal alt is not a farmer.  The collector is strictly a buyer.  He is a buyer of vendor sold goods.  He collects items from npc vendors to flip on the auction house for a nice profitable mark-up.

Class:  This one is a no brainer.  Which class is the most portable (No pun intended)?  The Mage class is far superior to any other option.  Mages can port to the major cities in a few seconds, thus making them the absolute ideal class for your Collector Alt.

Race:  Horde:  Goblin - Alliance: Any would work fine, but I lean towards Worgen for their Darkflight racial ability, which would assist in running to and from various vendors.  Goblins are an easy choice as they get the Best Deals Anywhere (20% off all reputation linked items) and Pack Hobgoblin (1 minute of bank access every 30 minutes) racial bonuses.  Pack Hobgoblin is a great help when out purchasing large quantities of items in remote locations with no mailbox access.

Professions:  Engineering and Inscription.  Engineering is an awesome addition to a mage's portal library as being an Engineer is sorta like being a ghetto mage.  Mages can teleport to many cities, but an Engineer can port himself to a lot of wilderness locations in Northrend via the Dimensional Ripper.  Depending on your engineering specialization choice, you can also use an engineering transport to get to Toshley's Station and Gadgetzan (if Gnomish Engineer) or Area 52 and Everlook (if Goblin Engineer).  Since your main role is to travel around and grab items to flip and some of those items are in remote locations, having a Mage who is also an Engineer is by far the most mobile of all character options.  And while you are in those remote locations you can use your Zappthrottle Mote Extractor while in Outlands and Northrend for free primals and eternals.

Any of the other professions would work alongside Engineering, but I chose Inscription as the best 2nd profession for The Collector Ideal Alt.  Why?  Because your main job as The Collector is to gather items to flip for profit then post on the auction house.  This means you will be spending a great deal of time within cities, so barking is a great secondary income source.  You're going to be in a lot of cities, so you can bark Mysterious Fortune Cards and make a killing like I do. 

So we have came up with the best combination for a Collector type of Ideal Alt, whose main role is to travel around and collect items to buy from vendors and sell for a profit.  This character would be ideal for getting into recipe flipping, selling vanity pets (like Winterspring Cub), sporregar cooking recipes, and tons more!  The engineering choice is excellent as a goblin spec engineer can port to Area 52, look for Adamantite Frames and Khorium Power Cores on the engineer vendor, then can fly to Stormspire to pick up companion pets.  The Engineer also gets quick and easy access to the Scholazar Basin Oracles' Egg for hatching your way to easy gold.

Ideal Alts - The Collector

• Goblin
• Mage
• Engineer
• Scribe
• Mage Portals and Engineering Portals - Most mobile of all characters
• Forged Documents Daily
• Mysterious Fortune Card Barker
• Pet Seller
• Recipe Flipper
• Glowcap Investor
• Zapthrottle's Mote Extrator for free primals and eternals while traveling
• Dimensional Portal chance for access to the rare undergound vendor in Dalaran
• Glyph Seller
• Engineering Pet Crafter
• Fast Access to a Neutral AH (to buy and sell cross faction pets)
• 20% off reputation linked vendors
• Goblin banking every 30 minutes
• Engineering access to mailbox, vendors, and bank access in the wild
• Plenty of ways to profit with The Collector Ideal Alt

Anyone have a better combination?

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Ideal Alts Series

• Ideal Alts Series Intro | Wes’s Building A Better Bank Alt
• The Dungeon Farmer – An Ideal Heroic Farming Alt
• The Collector – An Ideal Vendor Flipping and Pet Selling Alt
• The Herder – An Ideal AoE Farmer Alt
• The Low Level Dungeon Farmer – An Ideal Alt For Farming Low Level Instances
• The Solo Raider and World Boss Killer

Profiting From Cheap Cataclysm Herbs

Cheap Cataclysm Herbs

The prices on Cataclysm herbs have been falling as the herb and ore markets have been in flux since the change to uncommon Cataclysm gems has altered the targets of farmers and botters.  Many botters have started farming more Cata herbs and flooding the auction house has lead to reduced prices of these herbs. 

How can we take best advantage of this constant supply of lower priced Cataclysm herbs in World of Warcraft?

Options For Herbs

There are many routes that can be taken to turn the herbalism raw materials into profitable revenue avenues.  Let's explore the various options for each of the Cataclysm herbs.  Take a look at the products crafted by the various herbs and see if there is room for profit with these items on your server.  If you find some super cheap herbs, come back to this page and figure out the best way to use the specific herbs you can find for cheap.

Alchemy Options For Herbs
Azshara's Veil

Transmute: Ocean Sapphire - 3 Azshara's Veil + 3 Zephyrite
Elixir of the Cobra - 1 Azshara's Veil + 1 Cinderbloom
Elixir of the Naga - 1 Azshara's Veil + 1 Stormvine
Flask of the Draconic Mind - 8 Azshara's Veil + 8 Twilight Jasmine + 8 Volatile Life
Flask of the Winds - 8 Azshara's Veil + 8 Whiptail + 8 Volatile Life
Potion of Concentration - 2 Azshara's Veil
Potion of Illusion - 1 Azshara's Veil + 3 Volatile Life
Volcanic Potion - 1 Azshara's Veil + 1 Cinderbloom

Cinderbloom

Transmute: Ember Topaz - 3 Cinderbloom + 3 Hessonite
Draught of War - 1 Cinderbloom
Elixir of Impossible Accuracy - 1 Cinderbloom +1 Heartblossom
Elixir of the Cobra - 1 Cinderbloom + 1 Azshara's Veil
Flask of Steelskin - 8 Cinderbloom + 8 Twilight Jasmine + 8 Volatile Life
Ghost Elixir - 2 Cinderbloom
Mythical Mana Potion - 1 Cinderbloom + 2 Whiptail
Potion of Treasure Finding - 8 Cinderbloom + 4 Stormvine + 6 Heartblossom + 4 Whiptail
Prismatic Elixir - 1 Cinderbloom + 1 Whiptail
Volcanic Potion - 1 Cinderbloom + 1 Azshara's Veil

Heartblossom

Transmute: Inferno Ruby - 3 Heartblossom + 3 Carnelian
Elixir of Deep Armor - 2 Heartblossom
Elixir of Impossible Accuracy - 1 Heartblossom + 1 Cinderbloom
Elixir of the Master - 1 Heartblossom + 1 Twilight Jasmine
Flask of Flowing Water - 8 Heartblossom + 8 Stormvine + 8 Volatile Life
Golemblood Potion - 1 Heartblossom + 1 Volatile Life
Potion of Deepholme - 5 Heartblossom
Potion of Treasure Finding - 6 Heartblossom + 8 Cinderbloom + 4 Stormvine + 4 Whiptail

Stormvine

Transmute: Dream Emerald - 3 Stormvine + 3 Jasper
(2) Deathblood Venom - 2 Stormvine
Earthen Potion - 2 Stormvine
Elixir of Mighty Speed - 1 Stormvine + 1 Twilight Jasmine
Elixir of the Naga - 1 Stormvine + 1 Azshara's Veil
Flask of Flowing Water - 8 Stormvine + 8 Heartblossom + 8 Volatile Life
Potion of the Tol'Vir - 1 Stormvine  + 1 Whiptail
Potion of Treasure Finding - 4 Stormvine + 6 Heartblossom + 8 Cinderbloom + 4 Whiptail

Twilight Jasmine

Transmute: Demonseye - 3 Twilight Jasmine + 3 Nightstone
Elixir of Mighty Speed - 1 Twilight Jasmine + 1 Stormvine
Elixir of the Master - 1 Twilight Jasmine + 1 Heartblossom
Flask of Steelskin - 8 Twilight Jasmine + 8 Cinderbloom + 8 Volatile Life
Flask of the Draconic Mind - 8 Twilight Jasmine + 8 Azshara's Veil + 8 Volatile Life
Mythical Healing Potion - 2 Twilight Jasmine + 1 Volatile Life

Whiptail

Transmute: Amberjewel - 3 Whiptail + 3 Alicite
Flask of the Winds - 8 Whiptail + 8 Azshara's Veil + 8 Volatile Life
Flask of Titanic Strength - 8 Whiptail + 8 Cinderbloom + 8 Volatile Life
Mighty Rejuvenation Potion - 2 Whiptail
Mythical Mana Potion - 2 Whiptail + 1 Cinderbloom
Potion of Tol'vir - 1 Whiptail + 1 Stormvine
Potion of Treasure Finding - 4 Whiptail + 4 Stormvine + 6 Heartblossom + 8 Cinderbloom
Prismatic Elixir - 1 Whiptail + 1 Cinderbloom

Some of these recipes only require a single type of herb, but many require multiple types of Cataclysm herbs and / or Volatile Life.  The good thing is that the prices for Volatile Life are down along with the lowering herb prices, since the farmers get the Volatile Lifes from picking the Cataclysm herbs.  Check out my previous post on Alchemy - Making Potions for a guide to what potions I have been selling.



Inscription Options For Herbs

Milling these Cataclysm herbs will create Ashen Pigments and Burning Embers that can be crafted into Blackfallow Ink and Inferno Ink.  Scribes have some options other than just making glyphs for profit.

Scribe Options For Using Inks

• Glyphs, glyphs, and more glyphs (convert to whatever type of ink you need)
• Convert 10 Blackfallow Inks to 1 Inferno Ink.
• Craft and bark Mysterious Fortune Cards.
• Do the Forged Documents quest daily for easy profit.
• Craft and Bark Adventurer's Journals.
• If you need more Inks, then Undercut Jessica Sellers.
• Craft and sell Dust of Dissapearance, since 1 Ink now create 3 Dust.
• Darkmoon Faire Cards and Decks.
• Craft Relics and Off-hands.

Other Professions and Options

• Convert MFCs to Fortune Cookies if you have maxed Cooking skill.
• Transmuting gems is even more profitable when you send them to your Jewelcrafter to cut the gems and sell for a higher price.
• Flip some of the raw herbs when there is a price spike or auction house shortage.
• Save some herbs to unload within the few days after the next wave of bot banning.

So hopefully, this post will help you with ideas to profit off of all those cheap Cataclysm herbs that we are seeing on the World of Warcraft auction house.


Be sure to check out the Mysterious Fortune Card Mastery | WoW Gold Guide for the best strategies for profiting in the Mysterious Fortune Cards Market.  If no one is barking MFCs on your server, buy my guide and collect all the easy gold waiting for you.  If there are barkers on your server already, then the guide will help you set up tactics to steal sales away from your competitors and keep the buyers coming back to your MFCs.