WoW Bay: Profession Gold Making Tips

The WoW gold making community is vast and everyone has their own ideas for what the best way to amass a fortune is. Some players get lucky and find a gold train and ride it until it’s spent, such as the Great Obsidium Shuffle of early Cataclysm. For others the route to gold capped is long, arduous and seemingly never-ending. I get bored with the mundane processes such as the obsidium shuffle so I tend to stick to the more thought-provoking or what I consider “fun” gold making ventures.

First and foremost you need to establish a baseline. Find your niche, a steady income that involves little work day-to-day on your part. I have had pretty good luck all of Cataclysm selling pets that are easily obtainable from vendors. Four that have been especially valuable are the Winterspring Cub from Everlook and then three from Breanni thevendor in Dalaran: the Obsidian Hatchling, Albino Snake and Cat Carrier (Calico Cat). On any given day I can sell three of each for easily double what I paid if not more, at times I’ve sold the cub for 250G. I also don’t have much competition either, which is always good for business. If I do happen to see someone else in the market I simply back off for a few days and then return rather than undercut and screw with my margins.

Professions  are where I make the real money. There are little tips and tricks that day-to-day can add up to a hefty chunk of income. I stick to the crafting and enhancement professions again, simply because I hate the mundane work involved with farming. However, it is worth noting that with the current ore prices (I’m seeing Elementium Ore sell for 15G) farming ore can be rather lucrative. Here is a breakdown of the professions that have strong potential for gold making and what I do with them.

• Alchemy: I’ve had the best luck with transmute mastery. During 4.2 I was making bank on Transmute: Truegold, they would sell easily for 1200G however demand is really poor right now so I’ve switched products. Volatile prices are at rock bottom now, all except Volatile Air. So I’ve been buying up Volatile Life whenever it’s below 4G and using Transmute: Living Elements on cooldown in Uldum so I can guarantee I get Volatile Air.
• Blacksmithing: Belt buckles are always in demand and with the rate players are getting new gear this patch, you’re safe to assume you can easily sell these faster than you can make them. Farm the mats if you wish, I choose to buy them up when ore prices dip and then stockpile my supply for the week.
• Enchanting: This is my second largest income generator, on two aspects. Firstly, enchanting vellums and selling them. Again, the Undermine Journal is an invaluable resource here. Learn what sells frequently on your server, keep an eye on your competition and have patience. Enchants have skyrocketed due to the price of Greater Celestial Essences. I tend to sell more weapon enchants than anything else. The second area I have high profit from is [Maelstrom Shatter]. If 2 Heavenly Shards are higher valued than 1 maelstrom then use the shatter and vice versa.
• Engineering: The most success I’ve had with engineering is making the scopes for hunters. They aren’t too difficult to make and sell easily for 1000G.
• Inscription: The glyph market is the most lucrative for me. Your success will depend completely on your individual market and how populated your server is. Your greatest resource is the Undermine Journal. Use it to search for trends and high demand glyphs on your market. For most this is a really hot market with a lot of players trying to get in and make gold so you have to stick with it. Learn when your competitors are posting and create your auctions around that for best results.
• Leatherworking: Again, due to the rapid gear procurement this patch players are always needing leg armor. All three sell relatively well, I can usually move one of each per day. I buy leathers on the AH (buy whatever is cheapest and then convert to heavies if needed) and then get the pristine hides from the vendor. The hides never reach a good selling price on my server, so I always find it more lucrative to make the leg armors and sell them. Again, the Undermine Journal is invaluable here.
• Tailoring: Dreamcloth is still soulbound as of the latest patch making it less valuable. If you have the current patterns than you can make good money otherwise you’re stuck with the spellthreads. Luckily, volatile prices have tanked so it’s fairly inexpensive to make and they still sell rather well (I’m seeing 500-600G).
• Jewelcrafting: Do the daily everyday and get your token. I see players in trade all day looking for an epic cut and if you have your tokens saved up you can buy whatever recipe for 5 tokens and can charge any price you want. I’ve been charging 500G per cut. Unless you’re farming your own ore, jewelcrafting profits are heavily dependent on current ore market prices. Inferno Rubies always sell great cut or uncut. I tend to, again, use the Undermine Journal to see what is selling the best.

Those are just a few tips and tricks on how to enhance your gold making experience. Of course with the crafting professions you can always sell the armor and other goods you make via the auction house or chat. Being courteous and helpful to your sellers will often get you a nice tip as well if you go the trade channel route. If you don’t have every profession, go with the ones you do have and work on them. Each one has great potential for gold making, some just require a little more work than others. Aka’Magosh. FOR THE HORDE!