Professions making you gold...

As I mentioned last week, I started learning to earn gold in World of Warcraft from a word mentioned by a friend who had lots of gold: Professions.  Over the past few years, I have crafted thousands of items, but it is only the past year have I discovered the value of the items.  Every item you craft has a certain value in the marketplace, even the one that you cannot sell on the Auction House.  There are several factors for determining the relative value of an item that is crafted (using Ebonsteel Belt Buckle as an example has an average AH value of 249 g on my server):

1.  The first factor includes the materials utilized in the cost of the item...  Ebonsteel Belt Buckles require 4 Volatile Earth (17 gold each), 4 Elementium Bars (7 gold each), and 4 Pyrium Bars (28 gold each) in order to craft.  The total cost of buying the materials directly from the auction house would total 208 gold.  This leaves you with an average of 41 gold profit.  The cost of the materials on the auction house may set the price for the Ebonsteel Belt Buckle, but you may find ways to increase the profit margin on your crafted material.

2.  Second factor is the demand and supply of the item you are trying to sell.  This can change daily for the item and can even drastically change with the introduction of new patches.  The Ebonsteel Belt Buckle is used to enhance belt statistics for every class by adding an additional free socket to the belt for a gem.  The materials are in good supply and the current demand for the buckle is relatively good on raid nights and the weekend when people gain new belts through raiding and pvp.  The supply may be greater on the weekends with more crafters on, which will drive the price of the buckle down and eat into your profits from crafting them.  The Ebonsteel Belt Buckle is in high demand mainly because its predecessor, the Eternal Belt Buckle, will not work on the item level 300 or greater, ie raid and pvp gear for end game content.

3.  The final concept that alot of people seem to not grasp is the price versus the value of the item for sale.  Just because the average price of an item is what YOU think it is, that price is not necessarily what people are willing to pay for it.  Lets say that you had to pay more to craft the Ebonsteel Belt Buckle, whether it cost you 250 gold for materials on the auction house or your time to gather materials for crafting it.  As a result, you decide that you want to price it at 300 gold to make similar profit for the cost of the material.  People may look at that price and decide it is too much to buy it for 300 gold.  When people go shopping for items, it is not the price of the item, but rather the value of the item they seek.  One person who does not value the buckle at 300 gold, might value getting the materials to craft one because they have the time to shop/gather the materials themselves.  Another person may have value their time more and see the price of the buckle at 300 gold a value to them simply because they need it now and can save time from having to go shopping for it.

Next time you go to craft an item for sale, take a few moments to study the prices of the item and its materials.  Then take a quick evaluation of the time it might save someone.  Doing this might give you some insight on why the item is selling alot or not at all.

What items do you like to sell for great profit to you and good value to others?

Thank you for checking in today.

Time to go check on animal pictures for a science project....