for other ideas on the glyph market and other general tips see the free Croda's Inscription Gold Guide
Just recently i have started selling a lot more of the Scribe scrolls – notably Scroll of Agility IX and Scroll of Intellect IX.
Unlike many other items a scribe can produce, these scrolls can be substituted by other items – either a spell or a flask, for example.
These scrolls give the users an increase in the relevant ability by 100 for 30 minutes and counts as a battle elixir or gives some other stat increase and counts as a guardian elixir.
Hence, an increase in sales of these Scribe’s scrolls would indicate that there is demand and that the substitutes are not available or only available at a higher price.
I suspect during these slow times ahead of the Mists of Pandaria there are players levelling their toons at a time when the flask equivalents are not available.
These Scrolls of level IX all cost 1 blackfallow ink and 2 resilient parchment to craft 5 at a time. Given herbs are now selling for 2 gold each (40 gold a stack) that equates to each five scrolls costing c7 gold (each stack of herbs produces c6 inks) and therefore each scroll costing 1.4 gold.
I sell them with a threshold of 10 gold each and a maximum price of 15 gold each making a hefty profit.
I set the threshold price at 10 gold so that if someone else starts posting lower i don’t start a price war and take the price all the way down to 1 gold – which is perfectly possible given these scrolls have competition from other items such as flasks.
I post 10 single scrolls at a time and they all sell at once.
At the moment i am the only seller and therefore i am selling each scroll for 15 gold.
Thursday, 12 July 2012
Tuesday, 10 July 2012
The Flipping Market
for other ideas on the glyph market and other general tips see the free Croda's Inscription Gold Guide
The Flipping Market can develop into a business of its own.
It gives lumpy income but develop this broadly enough and the lumpiness starts to blend and provide a nice steady high level of earnings.
For me this is becoming one of my major income streams and is starting to challenge Enchanting as my number two earner.
Flipping, quite simply, is buying items off the Auction House and reposting them at a higher price.
My strategy here is to look for items that are priced way below the fair price, buy them and then repost at a good level below the fair price.
Therefore i am targeting 2 markets - those that want to use the item and those that want to flip again.
I am aim to buy for 5 gold and sell for 500 gold, or buy for 2000 gold and sell for 6000 gold, or buy for 4000 gold and sell for 10000 gold. Not buy for 30 and sell for 100 or buy for 500 and sell for 800. I want a few big winners not many small gains with this strategy.
The reason is that I will occasionally make a mistake and so will use up storage space for a while before I either make that sale or cut my losses and post at a very low price.
I don't have to buy every time i check the Auction House. Indeed i don't even buy every day.
What is my method?
I use the Undermine Journal to scan for items that are priced substantially below their mean price.
Step 1:
I look at the Undermine Journal Deals Page – it scans the Auction House every 70 minutes. It lists items under various categories showing the item, number available, lowest price on the Auction House, Mean Price and Standard Deviation.
What i am looking for are items that have a high mean price and are posted more than 2 standard deviations below the mean price. These are the items that are likely posted on the Auction House too low and can be flipped.
Graphically, the Undermine Journal shows this with the gray horizontal like representing the mean price plus or minus two standard deviations with the black blob representing the current quoted price within this range.
Step 2:
When i find an item that looks interesting (=high mean price and current price more than two standard deviations below the mean price) then i investigate further my clicking on the item.
This opens a new Undermine Journal page that shows me the recent history and additional data on the item across other realms.
What i am checking for here is to make sure the item has not recently spiked in price (i.e. the price has not been manipulated higher to give a false high mean price) and that the mean price is also high in other realms (so further proof of the item’s value).
Step 3:
I also click on the item on this second Undermine Journal page to take a look at the WoWhead page.
What i am looking for here are to firstly make sure the item cannot be bought from a vendor and secondly to read the comments made to determine if this is a rare drop and not made out of date by a more recent item.
Step 4:
If i am satisfied by the prior steps then i buy the item and repost it at the stated mean less 1 standard deviation. I post the item for 48 hours using Auctionator.
in this example the item sold within 24 hours:
So far, as a rule of thumb, the higher the mean price the quicker it sells.
The Flipping Market can develop into a business of its own.
It gives lumpy income but develop this broadly enough and the lumpiness starts to blend and provide a nice steady high level of earnings.
For me this is becoming one of my major income streams and is starting to challenge Enchanting as my number two earner.
Flipping, quite simply, is buying items off the Auction House and reposting them at a higher price.
My strategy here is to look for items that are priced way below the fair price, buy them and then repost at a good level below the fair price.
Therefore i am targeting 2 markets - those that want to use the item and those that want to flip again.
I am aim to buy for 5 gold and sell for 500 gold, or buy for 2000 gold and sell for 6000 gold, or buy for 4000 gold and sell for 10000 gold. Not buy for 30 and sell for 100 or buy for 500 and sell for 800. I want a few big winners not many small gains with this strategy.
The reason is that I will occasionally make a mistake and so will use up storage space for a while before I either make that sale or cut my losses and post at a very low price.
I don't have to buy every time i check the Auction House. Indeed i don't even buy every day.
What is my method?
I use the Undermine Journal to scan for items that are priced substantially below their mean price.
Step 1:
I look at the Undermine Journal Deals Page – it scans the Auction House every 70 minutes. It lists items under various categories showing the item, number available, lowest price on the Auction House, Mean Price and Standard Deviation.
What i am looking for are items that have a high mean price and are posted more than 2 standard deviations below the mean price. These are the items that are likely posted on the Auction House too low and can be flipped.
Graphically, the Undermine Journal shows this with the gray horizontal like representing the mean price plus or minus two standard deviations with the black blob representing the current quoted price within this range.
Step 2:
When i find an item that looks interesting (=high mean price and current price more than two standard deviations below the mean price) then i investigate further my clicking on the item.
This opens a new Undermine Journal page that shows me the recent history and additional data on the item across other realms.
What i am checking for here is to make sure the item has not recently spiked in price (i.e. the price has not been manipulated higher to give a false high mean price) and that the mean price is also high in other realms (so further proof of the item’s value).
Step 3:
I also click on the item on this second Undermine Journal page to take a look at the WoWhead page.
What i am looking for here are to firstly make sure the item cannot be bought from a vendor and secondly to read the comments made to determine if this is a rare drop and not made out of date by a more recent item.
Step 4:
If i am satisfied by the prior steps then i buy the item and repost it at the stated mean less 1 standard deviation. I post the item for 48 hours using Auctionator.
in this example the item sold within 24 hours:
So far, as a rule of thumb, the higher the mean price the quicker it sells.
Sunday, 8 July 2012
Setting up a Guild Bank
for other ideas on the glyph market please follow the link to the free Croda's Inscription Gold Guide
If you are entering a crafting market or markets in a serious fashion then storage space is a key resource. The ability to store raw materials as you buy them at low prices on the Auction House is an absolute requirement. The Bank and its bag slots are unlikely to prove sufficient and shuffling materials between alts will prove cumbersome. To resolve this, owning a guild and being the sole member will give you an additional 588 storage slots.
In the Guild, each tab has 98 item slots and tabs are purchased much like bag slots in Banks. The first tab costs 100 gold, the next 250 gold, then 500 gold and so on. To buy all 6 tabs you would spend 9350 gold.
Technically, you can get 8 guild tabs but your guild needs to reach at least level 5 and, lets face it, a guild of one person used for crafting is not going to advance.
Setting up a Guild Bank.
The good news is that setting up a guild bank is very easy, quick and has a low cost (easily under 100 gold).
1) Talk to the Guild Master NPC in a major city to purchase the Charter for 10 silver (see below for the names and locations – but asking a City Guard will give you the location).
2) You need three other players to agree to be members of your guild to get it up and running. So, go to the starter area and ask players to sign the Charter in exchange for 10 gold. All starter players, and even new alts, will be willing to do this. Don’t be deceiving, explain that you only need their signatures and that they will be kicked from the guild when it is started. So whisper the question first, if the answer is yes then present the charter to be signed.
3) Once you have the three signatures get back to the Guild Master NPC to register the guild and start it up
4) Kick the signatory players and there you have your Guild.
Be aware that the players that signed your Charter can delete their character or sign another Charter and so remove their signatures from your Charter. So don’t hang around once you have your four signatures. Also, be aware that it is one signature per player – so a player’s alt cannot sign the charter.
The whole process should take less than half an hour.
The Downsides to having a Guild Bank.
1) That character can not belong to another guild –so say goodbye to raiding for that character.
2) It is hard to pass a guild bank to another alt –you will need a trusted friend online to allow you to pass the guild bank to them and then log on the alt to receive the guild bank.
Names and locations of the Guild Masters:
· Guild master Lysheana at the Craftsmen's Terrace in Darnassus
· Guild master Jondor Steelbrow at The Commons in Ironforge
· Guild master Aldwin Laughin at the Trade District in Stormwind
· Guild master Funaam at Trader's Tier in the Exodar
· Guild master Andrew Matthews at Dalaran Visitor Center in Dalaran
· Guild master Urtrun Clanbringer at the Valley of Strength in Orgrimmar
· Guild master Krumn in Lower Rise in Thunder Bluff
· Guild master Christopher Drakul at The Trade Quarter in Undercity
· Guild master Tandrine at the Walk of the Elders in Silvermoon
If you are entering a crafting market or markets in a serious fashion then storage space is a key resource. The ability to store raw materials as you buy them at low prices on the Auction House is an absolute requirement. The Bank and its bag slots are unlikely to prove sufficient and shuffling materials between alts will prove cumbersome. To resolve this, owning a guild and being the sole member will give you an additional 588 storage slots.
In the Guild, each tab has 98 item slots and tabs are purchased much like bag slots in Banks. The first tab costs 100 gold, the next 250 gold, then 500 gold and so on. To buy all 6 tabs you would spend 9350 gold.
Technically, you can get 8 guild tabs but your guild needs to reach at least level 5 and, lets face it, a guild of one person used for crafting is not going to advance.
Setting up a Guild Bank.
The good news is that setting up a guild bank is very easy, quick and has a low cost (easily under 100 gold).
1) Talk to the Guild Master NPC in a major city to purchase the Charter for 10 silver (see below for the names and locations – but asking a City Guard will give you the location).
2) You need three other players to agree to be members of your guild to get it up and running. So, go to the starter area and ask players to sign the Charter in exchange for 10 gold. All starter players, and even new alts, will be willing to do this. Don’t be deceiving, explain that you only need their signatures and that they will be kicked from the guild when it is started. So whisper the question first, if the answer is yes then present the charter to be signed.
3) Once you have the three signatures get back to the Guild Master NPC to register the guild and start it up
4) Kick the signatory players and there you have your Guild.
Be aware that the players that signed your Charter can delete their character or sign another Charter and so remove their signatures from your Charter. So don’t hang around once you have your four signatures. Also, be aware that it is one signature per player – so a player’s alt cannot sign the charter.
The whole process should take less than half an hour.
The Downsides to having a Guild Bank.
1) That character can not belong to another guild –so say goodbye to raiding for that character.
2) It is hard to pass a guild bank to another alt –you will need a trusted friend online to allow you to pass the guild bank to them and then log on the alt to receive the guild bank.
Names and locations of the Guild Masters:
· Guild master Lysheana at the Craftsmen's Terrace in Darnassus
· Guild master Jondor Steelbrow at The Commons in Ironforge
· Guild master Aldwin Laughin at the Trade District in Stormwind
· Guild master Funaam at Trader's Tier in the Exodar
· Guild master Andrew Matthews at Dalaran Visitor Center in Dalaran
· Guild master Urtrun Clanbringer at the Valley of Strength in Orgrimmar
· Guild master Krumn in Lower Rise in Thunder Bluff
· Guild master Christopher Drakul at The Trade Quarter in Undercity
· Guild master Tandrine at the Walk of the Elders in Silvermoon
Friday, 6 July 2012
The Holiday Battlers are back!
for other ideas on the glyph market please follow the link to the free Croda's Inscription Gold Guide
The Holiday Battlers are back on my server, and they are in a hurry.
These are the intrepid players that come back to World of Warcraft during the (school) holidays. Their aim is to level up and gear up - and to that end they need the gold. And their time is limited - they need to do this fast. No doubt they can see Mists of Pandaria on the horizon and want to be prepared for that as well.
They run and dungeons, do the raids and hit the quests. From all that exhausting efforts they have items to sell.
They know about the Auction House but they don't know the true value of what they post - especially rare drops where pricing data is limited. They want to make a quick sell.
To that end, i am scanning the Auction House for good deals more often using the Undermine Journal quick deals page and my Snatch Lists.
I plan to write a post in my Flipping Business in the near future which is expanding fast - no doubt helped by these Holiday Battlers during this time.
The Holiday Battlers are back on my server, and they are in a hurry.
These are the intrepid players that come back to World of Warcraft during the (school) holidays. Their aim is to level up and gear up - and to that end they need the gold. And their time is limited - they need to do this fast. No doubt they can see Mists of Pandaria on the horizon and want to be prepared for that as well.
They run and dungeons, do the raids and hit the quests. From all that exhausting efforts they have items to sell.
They know about the Auction House but they don't know the true value of what they post - especially rare drops where pricing data is limited. They want to make a quick sell.
To that end, i am scanning the Auction House for good deals more often using the Undermine Journal quick deals page and my Snatch Lists.
I plan to write a post in my Flipping Business in the near future which is expanding fast - no doubt helped by these Holiday Battlers during this time.
Wednesday, 4 July 2012
Real Life Value of in game Gold
for other ideas on the glyph market please follow the link to the free Croda's Inscription Gold Guide
We now have a method to track this – via the “Guardian cub”
For 10 euros (or £8) any player can buy the Guardian Cub and then sell them to other players via the Auction House.
On my server there are about 2 to 3 on the Auction House at any one time and they are currently going for 4000 gold and move between 4000 gold and 5000 gold. Hence, on my server each euro is worth 400 to 500 gold.
Within the EU, they typically sell for about 12000 on the Alliance side indicating that each euro is worth 1200 gold.
Those that buy the pet for euros to post on the Auction House are legitimately buying gold with the risk that the amount of gold is uncertain when the 10 euros are paid.
I don’t participate in this market but i do keep an eye on this price. For me, it indicates the general health of the server and therefore the economy.
Guardian Cubs used to sell at 6500 gold and now have slipped back to 4000 to 5000gold. Given the volumes on sale it is unlikely that natural demand is satisfied. It is more likely that the server is merely becoming less active over time relative to other EU servers.
There is not much i can do about that unless i am offered a free transfer (with all my gold – and that is key) to another server – in which case i would need to do some fast and indepth research into the Inscription market on that server.
We now have a method to track this – via the “Guardian cub”
For 10 euros (or £8) any player can buy the Guardian Cub and then sell them to other players via the Auction House.
On my server there are about 2 to 3 on the Auction House at any one time and they are currently going for 4000 gold and move between 4000 gold and 5000 gold. Hence, on my server each euro is worth 400 to 500 gold.
Within the EU, they typically sell for about 12000 on the Alliance side indicating that each euro is worth 1200 gold.
Those that buy the pet for euros to post on the Auction House are legitimately buying gold with the risk that the amount of gold is uncertain when the 10 euros are paid.
I don’t participate in this market but i do keep an eye on this price. For me, it indicates the general health of the server and therefore the economy.
Guardian Cubs used to sell at 6500 gold and now have slipped back to 4000 to 5000gold. Given the volumes on sale it is unlikely that natural demand is satisfied. It is more likely that the server is merely becoming less active over time relative to other EU servers.
There is not much i can do about that unless i am offered a free transfer (with all my gold – and that is key) to another server – in which case i would need to do some fast and indepth research into the Inscription market on that server.
Tuesday, 3 July 2012
Selling more of Rituals of the New Moon
for other ideas on the glyph market please follow the link to the free Croda's Inscription Gold Guide
This is another item i am selling more of recently.
A scribe can produce a random book called Rituals of the New Moon with 5 Ink of Sea + 3 Eternal Shadow + 10 Resilient Parchment. On my server that costs about 120gold (it used to be 85gold but costs are rising as the supply of Eternal Shadows falls). The book created is either red, white, black or grey.
The acquirer of the book is able to transform into a giant wolf for 2 minutes. The colour of the wolf is determined by which book they buy: red; white; black; or grey. When transformed the user is pacified and silenced though they are able to, still do things like using or creating items.
The Rituals of the New Moon can only be crafted by a Scribe. It does not drop from a mob nor can it be bought from a vendor. Scribes therefore are the sole supplier.
Furthermore, few Scribes bother to post these - making the supply very low.
Clearly, it is an item that serves no purpose other than aesthetics and yet there is demand. There is very little competition on my server reflecting the low demand – though i now sell one a day.
I used to differentiate between the books given grey is the most common but now i just sell them all for 500 gold.
This is another item i am selling more of recently.
A scribe can produce a random book called Rituals of the New Moon with 5 Ink of Sea + 3 Eternal Shadow + 10 Resilient Parchment. On my server that costs about 120gold (it used to be 85gold but costs are rising as the supply of Eternal Shadows falls). The book created is either red, white, black or grey.
The acquirer of the book is able to transform into a giant wolf for 2 minutes. The colour of the wolf is determined by which book they buy: red; white; black; or grey. When transformed the user is pacified and silenced though they are able to, still do things like using or creating items.
The Rituals of the New Moon can only be crafted by a Scribe. It does not drop from a mob nor can it be bought from a vendor. Scribes therefore are the sole supplier.
Furthermore, few Scribes bother to post these - making the supply very low.
Clearly, it is an item that serves no purpose other than aesthetics and yet there is demand. There is very little competition on my server reflecting the low demand – though i now sell one a day.
I used to differentiate between the books given grey is the most common but now i just sell them all for 500 gold.
Sunday, 1 July 2012
Required return per hour spent
for other ideas on the glyph market please follow the link to the free Croda's Inscription Gold Guide
There is no concept in World of Warcraft for how to measure what level of profit you should make to cover the risk you are taking. For the record, in the real world it is about 2% (10 year US Treasury yields).
However, in World of Warcraft i am able to determine what level of profit you should make for each hour of time spent.
i do this with reference to gathering herbs. Though it is not without its flaws.
I can gather 20 stacks of whiptail in an hour. I can sell those at present for 40 gold a stack (2 gold a herb) over a 24 hour posting on the auction house. Therefore, for each hour of gathering i can earn 800 gold.
Therefore, i determine that my gold making activities must make more than 800 gold per hour else i am better off gathering.
Following this through a bit more. At present, the supply of herbs is low, hence i believe i could gather for 2 hours a day and therefore sell 40 stacks of whiptail each day at 40 gold a stack for 7 days (i.e. 2 hours gathering every day).
That gives me 11200 gold per week.
Therefore, i determine that if i spend 2 hours a day on gold making activities then i must make over 11200 gold per week – else i should revert to gathering.
Though markets are slow, my Inscription profession is earning me over 11200 gold per week at present before i add in the profits from Enchanting and flipping.
There is no concept in World of Warcraft for how to measure what level of profit you should make to cover the risk you are taking. For the record, in the real world it is about 2% (10 year US Treasury yields).
However, in World of Warcraft i am able to determine what level of profit you should make for each hour of time spent.
i do this with reference to gathering herbs. Though it is not without its flaws.
I can gather 20 stacks of whiptail in an hour. I can sell those at present for 40 gold a stack (2 gold a herb) over a 24 hour posting on the auction house. Therefore, for each hour of gathering i can earn 800 gold.
Therefore, i determine that my gold making activities must make more than 800 gold per hour else i am better off gathering.
Following this through a bit more. At present, the supply of herbs is low, hence i believe i could gather for 2 hours a day and therefore sell 40 stacks of whiptail each day at 40 gold a stack for 7 days (i.e. 2 hours gathering every day).
That gives me 11200 gold per week.
Therefore, i determine that if i spend 2 hours a day on gold making activities then i must make over 11200 gold per week – else i should revert to gathering.
Though markets are slow, my Inscription profession is earning me over 11200 gold per week at present before i add in the profits from Enchanting and flipping.
Friday, 29 June 2012
Croda's Inscription Gold Guide - Paid Version
I am soft
launching my paid for version of the Croda’s Inscription Gold Guide.
I have two Guides available. One free, and one which can be purchased from gumroad.com - Croda's Inscription Gold Guide.
The paid version Guide has more sections, graphics and can be purchased as a pdf. See the Paid Guide FAQ
It has 100 pages with graphic illustrations to enhance the text and additional information such as a review of the Off Hand market i deal in, looking at how to minimise the cost of glyph manufacturing, how to prepare for new patches, what to do when coming back from a break, and additional general tips.
and only for $5.
The Full Contents Are:
1. DESCRIPTION OF INSCRIPTION
2. GOLD MAKING POTENTIAL
3. ANALYSIS OF THE MARKET
4. What changed the prices of glyphs after Patch 4.0.1?
5. LEVELLING
6. HOW I OPERATE IN THE INSCRIPTION MARKET
6a. My use of addons
6b. How i am set up
6c. What do i stock?
6d. When do i mill and craft?
6e. How i price my items – glyphs
6f. How i price my items – scrolls
6g. How i price my items – Runescrolls
6h. How i price my items – Certificates of Ownership
6i. How i price my items – Darkmoon Cards
6j. How i price my items – off hands
6k. My routine – for glyphs, darkmoon cards, scrolls, runescrolls and certificates of ownership
6l. My routine – for off hands
6m. My routine – for surplus inks
6n. Other items which i tend not to deal in
6o. How I compete
6p. How I deal with a serious new entrant:
6q. How i deal with an existing competitor that turns aggressive
6r. What i have on my snatch list for inscription
7. ADVANCED STRATEGIES
7a. The starting point
7b. The Glyph Wall –what is it and what is its purpose?
7c. The Glyph Wall –how to combat it
7d. The Auction House Camper - what is it and what is its purpose?
7e. The Auction House Camper – how to combat it?
7f. The Pricing Trap strategy – what is it and what is its purpose?
7g. The Pricing Trap strategy – how to combat it
7h. Hello there stranger!- what is it and what is its purpose?
7i. Hello there stranger!- how to combat this
7j. Who are my Competitors Secret Alts?
7k. Getting the Drop on your Competitors
7l. Never Buyout items to reset the price
8. THE OFF HAND MARKET
8a. An Overview of the Off Hand Market
8b. Book of Blood
8c. Lord Rottington's Pressed Wisp Book
8d. Faces of Doom
8e. Iron-Bound Tome
8f. Twilight Tome
8g. Rituals of the New Moon
9. MINIMISING THE COST OF THE MANUFACTURING PROCESS
9a. Lowering the cost of glyphs – looking at the manufacturing process
9b. Herb Prices for Scribes
9c. Ink prices for Scribes
10. MARKET OBSERVATIONS
10a. Forcing a competitor to leave the market
10b. Stable markets is what every scribe wants.
10c. Sales on a sustainable basis
10d. Who is the Market Leader?
10e. Sunk Costs
10f. Cash Margins vs Profit Margins
10g. Measuring Gold per Hour
10h. All counter strategies lower profits for a while
10i. By what amount to undercut
10j. Why have a high fallback price
10k. Do i worry if my competitors know my minimum posting price?
10l. Some Glyphs are being undercut, some are not!
11. PREPARATION FOR NEW PATCHES
11a. What to do before Patches and New Content
11b. Better safe than sorry – have backup Addons
11c. Loading out of date addons.
12. COMING BACK AFTER A BREAK
13. GENERAL TIPS FOR SCRIBES
13a. Books of Glyph Mastery - a form of insurance
13b. Casandra Downs in the Twilight Highlands
13c. Dust of Disappearance
13d. Alt posting location
13e. Setting up a Guild Bank
13f. Checking for Recipes on the Auction House
13g. Checking to see what recipes you still have to collect
13h. Podcasts i listen to
13i. Post Patch work –reset your Auction House data
13j. Better safe than sorry
13k. Skipping items to post
13l. Loading out of date addons.
13m. Let Sleeping Dogs Lie (have a backup market)
14 REFERENCE DATA
14a. Herbs to Glyph Conversion
15 SCIBE'S GLOSSARY
16 BLOGS I READ (which have been updated in the last 3 months)
APPENDIX
A A bit about myself
B Why did i start gold making in World of Warcraft?
C Guide FAQs
What are the differences to the Free Guide?
there are graphics to give added clarity to the text. For example, graphics showing what i enter into Tradeskillmaster to price my glyphs.
added new sections on:
8. THE OFF HAND MARKET
8a. An Overview of the Off Hand Market
8b. Book of Blood
8c. Lord Rottington's Pressed Wisp Book
8d. Faces of Doom
8e. Iron-Bound Tome
8f. Twilight Tome
8g. Rituals of the New Moon
9. MINIMISING THE COST OF THE MANUFACTURING PROCESS
9a. Lowering the cost of glyphs – looking at the manufacturing process
9b. Herb Prices for Scribes
9c. Ink prices for Scribes
11. PREPARATION FOR NEW PATCHES
11a. What to do before Patches and New Content
11b. Better safe than sorry – have backup Addons
11c. Loading out of date addons.
12. COMING BACK AFTER A BREAK
16 BLOGS I READ (which have been updated in the last 3 months)
and some additional information in:
7. ADVANCED STRATEGIES
7j. Who are my Competitors Secret Alts?
7k. Getting the Drop on your Competitors
7l. Never Buyout items to reset the price
10. MARKET OBSERVATIONS
10h. All counter strategies lower profits for a while
10i. By what amount to undercut
10j. Why have a high fallback price
10k. Do i worry if my competitors know my minimum posting price?
10l. Some Glyphs are being undercut, some are not!
and some additional General tips
and its a nice pdf to print out.
I have two Guides available. One free, and one which can be purchased from gumroad.com - Croda's Inscription Gold Guide.
The paid version Guide has more sections, graphics and can be purchased as a pdf. See the Paid Guide FAQ
It has 100 pages with graphic illustrations to enhance the text and additional information such as a review of the Off Hand market i deal in, looking at how to minimise the cost of glyph manufacturing, how to prepare for new patches, what to do when coming back from a break, and additional general tips.
and only for $5.
The Full Contents Are:
1. DESCRIPTION OF INSCRIPTION
2. GOLD MAKING POTENTIAL
3. ANALYSIS OF THE MARKET
4. What changed the prices of glyphs after Patch 4.0.1?
5. LEVELLING
6. HOW I OPERATE IN THE INSCRIPTION MARKET
6a. My use of addons
6b. How i am set up
6c. What do i stock?
6d. When do i mill and craft?
6e. How i price my items – glyphs
6f. How i price my items – scrolls
6g. How i price my items – Runescrolls
6h. How i price my items – Certificates of Ownership
6i. How i price my items – Darkmoon Cards
6j. How i price my items – off hands
6k. My routine – for glyphs, darkmoon cards, scrolls, runescrolls and certificates of ownership
6l. My routine – for off hands
6m. My routine – for surplus inks
6n. Other items which i tend not to deal in
6o. How I compete
6p. How I deal with a serious new entrant:
6q. How i deal with an existing competitor that turns aggressive
6r. What i have on my snatch list for inscription
7. ADVANCED STRATEGIES
7a. The starting point
7b. The Glyph Wall –what is it and what is its purpose?
7c. The Glyph Wall –how to combat it
7d. The Auction House Camper - what is it and what is its purpose?
7e. The Auction House Camper – how to combat it?
7f. The Pricing Trap strategy – what is it and what is its purpose?
7g. The Pricing Trap strategy – how to combat it
7h. Hello there stranger!- what is it and what is its purpose?
7i. Hello there stranger!- how to combat this
7j. Who are my Competitors Secret Alts?
7k. Getting the Drop on your Competitors
7l. Never Buyout items to reset the price
8. THE OFF HAND MARKET
8a. An Overview of the Off Hand Market
8b. Book of Blood
8c. Lord Rottington's Pressed Wisp Book
8d. Faces of Doom
8e. Iron-Bound Tome
8f. Twilight Tome
8g. Rituals of the New Moon
9. MINIMISING THE COST OF THE MANUFACTURING PROCESS
9a. Lowering the cost of glyphs – looking at the manufacturing process
9b. Herb Prices for Scribes
9c. Ink prices for Scribes
10. MARKET OBSERVATIONS
10a. Forcing a competitor to leave the market
10b. Stable markets is what every scribe wants.
10c. Sales on a sustainable basis
10d. Who is the Market Leader?
10e. Sunk Costs
10f. Cash Margins vs Profit Margins
10g. Measuring Gold per Hour
10h. All counter strategies lower profits for a while
10i. By what amount to undercut
10j. Why have a high fallback price
10k. Do i worry if my competitors know my minimum posting price?
10l. Some Glyphs are being undercut, some are not!
11. PREPARATION FOR NEW PATCHES
11a. What to do before Patches and New Content
11b. Better safe than sorry – have backup Addons
11c. Loading out of date addons.
12. COMING BACK AFTER A BREAK
13. GENERAL TIPS FOR SCRIBES
13a. Books of Glyph Mastery - a form of insurance
13b. Casandra Downs in the Twilight Highlands
13c. Dust of Disappearance
13d. Alt posting location
13e. Setting up a Guild Bank
13f. Checking for Recipes on the Auction House
13g. Checking to see what recipes you still have to collect
13h. Podcasts i listen to
13i. Post Patch work –reset your Auction House data
13j. Better safe than sorry
13k. Skipping items to post
13l. Loading out of date addons.
13m. Let Sleeping Dogs Lie (have a backup market)
14 REFERENCE DATA
14a. Herbs to Glyph Conversion
15 SCIBE'S GLOSSARY
16 BLOGS I READ (which have been updated in the last 3 months)
APPENDIX
A A bit about myself
B Why did i start gold making in World of Warcraft?
C Guide FAQs
What are the differences to the Free Guide?
there are graphics to give added clarity to the text. For example, graphics showing what i enter into Tradeskillmaster to price my glyphs.
added new sections on:
8. THE OFF HAND MARKET
8a. An Overview of the Off Hand Market
8b. Book of Blood
8c. Lord Rottington's Pressed Wisp Book
8d. Faces of Doom
8e. Iron-Bound Tome
8f. Twilight Tome
8g. Rituals of the New Moon
9. MINIMISING THE COST OF THE MANUFACTURING PROCESS
9a. Lowering the cost of glyphs – looking at the manufacturing process
9b. Herb Prices for Scribes
9c. Ink prices for Scribes
11. PREPARATION FOR NEW PATCHES
11a. What to do before Patches and New Content
11b. Better safe than sorry – have backup Addons
11c. Loading out of date addons.
12. COMING BACK AFTER A BREAK
16 BLOGS I READ (which have been updated in the last 3 months)
and some additional information in:
7. ADVANCED STRATEGIES
7j. Who are my Competitors Secret Alts?
7k. Getting the Drop on your Competitors
7l. Never Buyout items to reset the price
10. MARKET OBSERVATIONS
10h. All counter strategies lower profits for a while
10i. By what amount to undercut
10j. Why have a high fallback price
10k. Do i worry if my competitors know my minimum posting price?
10l. Some Glyphs are being undercut, some are not!
and some additional General tips
and its a nice pdf to print out.
Wednesday, 27 June 2012
Selling more of Certificate of Ownership
for other ideas on the glyph market please follow the link to the free Croda's Inscription Gold Guide
I am selling more of these recently.
Perhaps hunters are coming back before Mists of Pandaria to level up and at the same time choosing to change their pets name?
The Certificate of Ownership can only be crafted by a Scribe. It is the only thing that a Hunter can use to change their pet's name - it does not drop from a mob nor can it be bought from a vendor. Scribes therefore are the sole supplier.
Furthermore, few Scribes bother to post these - making the supply very low.
If a Hunter wants to change the name of their pet, they are unlikely to be put off by the price of this scroll. Therefore, the sales price need have no relevance to the cost price. The sales price merely need not be off putting.
To craft it costs 2 celestial inks plus 1 common parchment. On my server that is c10 gold per certificate. The 48 hour deposit fee at the Auction House is 15 silver.
I sell them for a maximum of 100 gold and a minimum of 20 gold. So my profits per certificate sold is 10 to 90 gold. I post 5 at a time in singles.
I am selling more of these recently.
Perhaps hunters are coming back before Mists of Pandaria to level up and at the same time choosing to change their pets name?
The Certificate of Ownership can only be crafted by a Scribe. It is the only thing that a Hunter can use to change their pet's name - it does not drop from a mob nor can it be bought from a vendor. Scribes therefore are the sole supplier.
Furthermore, few Scribes bother to post these - making the supply very low.
If a Hunter wants to change the name of their pet, they are unlikely to be put off by the price of this scroll. Therefore, the sales price need have no relevance to the cost price. The sales price merely need not be off putting.
To craft it costs 2 celestial inks plus 1 common parchment. On my server that is c10 gold per certificate. The 48 hour deposit fee at the Auction House is 15 silver.
I sell them for a maximum of 100 gold and a minimum of 20 gold. So my profits per certificate sold is 10 to 90 gold. I post 5 at a time in singles.
Monday, 25 June 2012
When to sell inks instead of glyphs
for other ideas on the glyph market please follow the link to the free Croda's Inscription Gold Guide
My minimum price for selling glyphs is 40gold. It takes 3 inks to make a glyph therefore i should be indifferent to sell inks at c14gold each.
However, i must consider the actions of me selling inks at this price.
Firstly, the only buyer of inks are other scribes and the only reason they would buy inks is to craft glyphs or other inscription items or to level.
I can’t slow down the levellers (the future competition) by restricting my sales of inks to Blackfallow Inks – they can merely buy those inks and convert them to their required inks. So, by selling inks i do provide the future competition with a route to levelling. But at least i pick up gold along the way.
The other Scribes will be buying my inks to produce items to post on the Auction House to compete with me.
Now, by selling inks at 14gold i am setting their floor price at c40gold per glyph. Given most of my competitors are willing to take glyph prices down to 15gold my actions of selling Inks at 14gold is forcing them to reset their prices upwards and therefore forcing discipline into the market.
Another way of looking at this is that for every 3 inks my competitors buy off me i therefore can claim 40gold of each glyph they sell (i am their cost price).
I can withdraw my sales at any time.
Therefore, i am happy to sell inks at 14gold each.
My cost price per Ink is 7 gold (it takes c3.33 Whiptail per Ink) therefore my profit per Ink is 7 gold (or 21 gold per 3 inks bought = the profit per glyph sold at my minimum price of 40gold).
My minimum price for selling glyphs is 40gold. It takes 3 inks to make a glyph therefore i should be indifferent to sell inks at c14gold each.
However, i must consider the actions of me selling inks at this price.
Firstly, the only buyer of inks are other scribes and the only reason they would buy inks is to craft glyphs or other inscription items or to level.
I can’t slow down the levellers (the future competition) by restricting my sales of inks to Blackfallow Inks – they can merely buy those inks and convert them to their required inks. So, by selling inks i do provide the future competition with a route to levelling. But at least i pick up gold along the way.
The other Scribes will be buying my inks to produce items to post on the Auction House to compete with me.
Now, by selling inks at 14gold i am setting their floor price at c40gold per glyph. Given most of my competitors are willing to take glyph prices down to 15gold my actions of selling Inks at 14gold is forcing them to reset their prices upwards and therefore forcing discipline into the market.
Another way of looking at this is that for every 3 inks my competitors buy off me i therefore can claim 40gold of each glyph they sell (i am their cost price).
I can withdraw my sales at any time.
Therefore, i am happy to sell inks at 14gold each.
My cost price per Ink is 7 gold (it takes c3.33 Whiptail per Ink) therefore my profit per Ink is 7 gold (or 21 gold per 3 inks bought = the profit per glyph sold at my minimum price of 40gold).
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)