A.B.C. (Alterac Brings Capital)

A quick trip to the Alterac Mountains can often bring in a fairly hefty sum of gold if you know where to look and what to do while you’re there. Here are the sights and NPCs to visit if you want to know how to conduct a profitable trip to the mountains. We’re willing to bet that you haven’t heard of all of these…

Frost Oil

Deep in the Alterac Mountains, just beyond the Hillsbrad Foothills, high atop a wall guarded by once mighty ogres (seriously, they used to be elite) sits Bro’kin. Bro’kin, a Boooty Bay aligned goblin, is an otherwise unremarkable Alchemy vendor with the exception that he is the only NPC that sells the Frost Oil Recipe. This oil, while fairly outdated by current standards, is still highly profitable due to the fact that it is a required turn-in for an old leveling quest, Coolant Heads Prevail. This quest line is still completed by alts and veteran players alike because part of the chain awards a fairly unique trinket, the Nifty Stopwatch. This old trinket still has use for running long distances when you can’t mount. PVPers will like it for running flags; Bankers will like it for the occasional speedy mailbox/bank/AH run. The oil is also used, albeit a lot less frequently, for the old Dire Maul Tribute run.

The point is that you’ve got a fairly steady demand and a limited supply which means a good potential for profits. Pick up a few copies of this recipe from Bro’kin for less than a gold each and learn one (if you’re an alchemist) and sell the others for as much as you can in the AH. We typically wait until no one else has one posted to post ours and then we price it in the area of 30g each, one at a time.

Note that you’ll have to wait a few minutes before purchasing the recipe again as it is a limited supply item. So what do you do while you wait? Well we’re glad you asked…

Nodes

There are various ore and herb nodes appropriate to the level of the quests and mobs in the zone but the standout winner here is a key component of Frost Oil, Wintersbite. This herb can be picked by herbalists of requisite level and is found only in the snowy mountainous areas of this zone. The nice thing about this herb is that this is the ONLY area in which it grows, so if you have extras after crafting your own Frost Oils they can be sold for pretty high prices.

If you’re an alchemist/herbalist (or are friendly with one) you are now in the business of selling the Frost Oil recipe, the oil itself and the requisite herbs for crafting of the oil. You, essentially, control this tiny market. Savvy traders will even take steps to ensure that the price of the herbs remains formidably high such that even if other players buy the recipe from you they find it unprofitable to craft a bunch of the oils to compete with you. Muhaaaahaaaahaaaaa!

A Bonus Rare Engineering Schematic

But wait, there’s more… Did you notice the little guy in the cage during your Alterac Travels? Rizz Loosebolt is another obscure Alterac vendor, this time of the engineering variety. Like Bro’kin, he is friendly to both factions and sells various trade items but has one recipe in limited supply. This time it is the Ice Deflector Schematic which is a bit of a harder sell (there’s no quest associated with the crafted item) but it does sell to completionist Engineers (many haven’t even heard of this schematic). While you’re talking to Rizz, you might also want to buy out his supply of Gyrochronatoms which usually sell at a hefty markup in the AH to lazy players that don’t bother finding them elsewhere for less.

In an interesting example of WoW synergy, it is worth noting that Frost Oil is a required crafting component of the Ice Deflector and one of the Gyrochronatoms are required for completion of the afore mentioned Nifty Stopwatch quest line.

Something Else to Think About

Did you do your Alterac Valley quests? There are a whole slew of them available in your race’s AV cavern. Quest givers are located about half way down each tunnel. Both factions’ tunnels are located symmetrically on opposite sides of a path between the mountains that make up the border of the Hillsbrad Foothills and the Alterac Mountains. An informal poll amongst friends and family showed that most players, particularly those that started playing within the last two years, have never even heard of these quests. They are easy to do and are often completed along the course of attempting to win the AV battle. In fact, the hardest thing about completing these quests is simply finding the quest givers. So what are you waiting for? That’s some easy XP/gold right there? These quests might prove particularly lucrative to those players attempting to level with PVP as it just becomes an added bonus to what they are already doing.

• You can learn more about the AV quests from the WoWWiki page on the battleground, look towards the bottom of the page under ‘Personal Quests’.
• If you need some help finding your way around AV try referring to this annotated map.
• If you are new to the concept of AV, Gnomeaggedon’s got a nice write up of what it takes to win.

You’ve now got yourself a little, agreeably unusual but highly profitable, farming circuit from the old world. It may seem counterintuitive to spend time visiting these old areas but we would argue otherwise, because who knows what the availability of these items, vendors, quests and even zones will be after the Cataclysm hits? May as well head out there now while you still can.

Long Term Value of the Haunted Memento

One of the more unique items we’ve come across in WoW is the Haunted Memento. This item, a fairly common drop from certain mobs during the scourge invasion event leading up to the release of the Wrath of the Lich King expansion, allows for your character to be followed around by a shadowy phantom.

The Haunted Memento can be traded with other players and even thrown to others (thereby haunting someone else). It is in this tradable nature of the item that we begin to see the WoWenomic value of holding on to these Mementos long term. Assuming that there are no future opportunities to attain one, they can only go up in value. Already they are regularly selling in the Auction House for 800 or more whereas they sold for less than 200 during the actual event. Should you decide to pick a few of these up for resale at some point in the future (perhaps, for example, well into the release of Cataclysm) they should fetch a hefty sum on the market. Of course, as we mentioned, buying and holding these also assumes Blizzard will not make them more readily available at another time so trade at your own risk.

If you’re going to get into the Haunted Memento market you will want to be aware that it is a unique item. If you are storing them long term, you’ll have to get creative in how you do so. One suggestion is to mail them between characters and, if necessary, even level one alts as there is no level requirement to having one.

At any rate, conduct a few scans for this item on your server’s AH and see if you can’t pick a couple up at a reasonable price and store them away for sale some point in the future. Currently, we try to purchase them at prices lower than 400 gold and resell them in the realm of 1,000. The best deal we’ve found was 100 gold but such deals are rare. You might also try your luck advertising for these items in the /trade channel but do so sparingly as the market is fairly small and a savvy trader will want to steer clear of any otherwise avoidable competition.

Shuffling Decks

We’ve previously examined the effect that the arrival of the Darkmoon Faire has on other markets but with it being back in town at present it is perhaps time to share another small yet profitable tip. As we’ve already mentioned, there is profit to be made by timing your purchases and sales around the price spikes created by the faire, but there is also a significant amount of gold to be made by simply turning in completed decks during the faire and then selling the resulting BoE trinkets at the midway point.

The fact that the higher-end decks can only be turned in for one week a month creates an artificial demand spike for the resulting trinkets during the period between fairs. If you are clever enough to catch the decks (or cards if that’s your thing) at low points in price, you can turn them in yourself, hold on to the trinkets for a couple of weeks and then sell the trinkets for a hefty profit when most of the competition is back to selling decks. All it takes is a short ride over to the fair’s location that month. By simply making a play on the patience of other players (or, more specifically, the lack thereof) you can generate a few hundred extra gold every month.

The best part of this strategy is that, not only can you make more gold from the decks, but you also get to keep the faction reputation gain for yourself which is helpful if you’re edging towards insanity.

Abyssal Shatter

The Enchanting ability, Abyssal Shatter, was hotfixed onto EU servers this morning.  This ability allows for conversion of Abyss Crystals into either Infinite Dust or Greater Cosmic Essence.  If the spell results are left unchanged, there will be significant economic impact.

• Abyss Crystals will rise in price.
• Infinite Dust will drop in price.
• Greater Cosmic Essence will drop in price.

Shattering crystals requires an enchanting skill of 445 and can reportedly yield as many as 18 dusts or 4 essences.

Prices are already starting to move on EU servers to reflect the above stated changes.  Players on US servers have somewhat of an advantage here in that, since they did not yet receive the hotfix, they have an early warning of the impending change.  US early adapters will be able to play a bit of insider trading and move the markets before they move themselves.

It is worth noting that there will also be some trickle down consequences on related enchantment materials markets such as enchanted vellums and other items that require these materials but this change may require more time to take effect. 

Over the long haul, it would be our expectation that the prices of Infinite Dust, Greater Cosmic Essence and Abyss Crystals will all normalize such that the price of 1 Abyss Crystal, 15-18 Infinite Dust, and 2-3 Greater Cosmic Essence all equal about the same amount.  Until this happens, however, there will be ample opportunity to take advantage of price disparity.

Raw Epic Gems on the Rise

Uncut epic gems are showing increases in price on every server we tested. This is occurring even as the prices of many cut epic gems are decreasing in price. The reasons for this pricing anomaly are simple.

Demand is Up

Uncut (or raw) epic gems gain value as demand increases. We are currently seeing a demand increase because many jewelcrafters now each have several learned patterns and are increasingly gaining more. As jewelcrafters learn more patters, and seek to cut more gems, the demand for raw gems increases. Demand for cut gems is also on the rise due to the new Arena Season, new PVP gear and additional PVP content but the cut demand is not increasing as fast as the uncut demand… for now. It is reasonable to expect that cut gem demand will equalize with, or possibly even overcome, uncut gem demand as more players gain new gear and as players develop a coherent strategy as to how they wish to gem their gear with epic cuts. Of course, any increase in cut gem demand will also increase demand for uncut equivalents but the opposite relationship is not necessarily true.

Supply is Down

Again, with the release of new PVP gear, many players are back to spending their honor points on attaining this gear as opposed to purchasing gems for resale. Further, most players are reporting their experiences with prospecting Titanium Ore to be unprofitable and are thus not pursuing this avenue of gem creation either. This leaves a significant dent in the supply of raw epic gems and a market ripe for exploitation by the savvy WoW trader.

Conclusions

If you have excess uncut epic gems keep an eye out for opportunities to sell them at a premium. The servers we tested each showed at least 3 out of 6 possible colors of epic gems to have at least some cut gems that were selling lower than the price of uncut gems. One server showed at least one cut gem in each gem color category to be selling cheaper than their raw counterparts.

The signs of a good selling opportunity include (but are by no means limited to):

• A very low (perhaps < 5) amount of uncut epics available
• Multiple cut gems selling for less than their uncut counterparts
• A sharp rise in prices of a popular cut gem(s)

The market is moving, make sure you are moving accordingly. In put it in PVE terms, don’t stand in the purple AH fire.

WTS Titansteel Cooldown

For several weeks now, every server tested is showing the price of Titansteel Bars to be higher than the price of the materials required to create them. The bars are hovering at a consistently higher price while the more volatile Titanium Ore and Titanium Bars fluctuate wildly. Whilst a miner can only create one bar daily, this is a fast and easy means to profit provided you purchase or farm the materials inexpensively.

Even if you cannot find the materials at a price that makes the bars worth crafting there is still an opportunity to profit by selling your cooldown to another player with the materials. The thing to remember here is that, with the bars as profitable as they are currently and many new patterns circulating in the game, the price of that cooldown should be adjusted upwards instead of the decline that we were previously seeing. Let this message serve as your reminder to stop selling your cooldowns for pre-3.2 price levels and readjust at prices that reflect the new profitability of Titansteel and the loss of income that you experience by not crafting the bar yourself. When you are selling a cooldown, you are not selling the item but rather the opportunity cost of the item. It costs you gold to not craft your daily bars and it is for that loss of income that you should be compensated.

Along those same lines, if you’re an alchemist, even if you’re not transmute specced, be sure to transmute titanium bars on days when you are not transmuting epic gems. Ideally you’ve found plenty of opportunities with the overpriced epic gem market at present but on those few occasions when you either don’t have the mats or cannot attain them inexpensively don’t waste the opportunity that is your daily cooldown by ignoring this skill. Again, at the bare minimum, sell your cooldown to another player and profit from that.

Finally, with the price of Titanium and Titansteel bars being elevated, and the cooldown sales becoming more expensive, this is a fine time to reevaluate your pricing of secondary market Titanium-based goods as well.

The Profit Potential of Powder

We’ve previously explained our reluctance to write about already hyped up WoWenomic trends but our resident Jewelcrafter has recently weighed in to point out that he is just killin’ it these days with Titanium Powder.

Titanium Powder is the residue remnants of prospecting Titanium Ore. Ten of these powders can be turned in to Tiffany Cartier, the Dalaran Jewelcrafting supplier, for a single Dalaran Jewelcrafter’s Token. These tokens are then used to purchase various items and recipes of value to Jewelcrafters. Most recently, four tokens can be turned in for an epic gem recipe introduced in patch 3.2. The fact that these recipes are still so new to the game and the source material, Titanium Ore, is so high in price, creates an elevated demand for Titanium Powder.

Pricing, Prospecting and Powder

Our associate informs that he is generating huge profits by purchasing any Titanium Ore that falls below his bid level and immediately prospecting it and selling the proceeds. He claims to receive approximately one stack of 10 powder per 30 ore prospected. A rate that is roughly in line with the listed results on WoWhead.com. All told, he claims profits in excess of 150 gold per stack of titanium that he purchases. Provided he can gather or purchase enough ore below his bid level, this allows for an unbelievable amount of income in a very short time so we asked for his specifics. And he provided…

Bid level on stack of 20 Titanium Ore: equal to or under 300 gold
Sell price for single Titanium Powder: approximately 50 gold
Sell price for stack of 10 Titanium Powder: approximately 475 gold

The Big Money

So if he gets a stack of 10 powder (which he sells for 475-500) from approximately 30 Titanium Ore (at a maximum cost of 450 gold) we are left questioning where these ridiculous profits are coming from as this is only 25 to 50 gold. Still nice for zero effort but where’s the big money? That’s when he dropped the bomb… Titanium Powder is only a small part of the prospecting results. In addition to the powder, he regularly gets at least one epic gem per 20 ore prospected as well as 3-4 rare gems and 4-5 uncommon gems. As he’s a Jewelcrafter by trade (and not just an ore destroyer) he also cuts any gems that he has cuts for prior to listing in the AH. He sets his ask level for these items as follows (based on market conditions):

Uncommon gems: 1-5 gold
Rare gems: 5-12 gold (up to 50 for Scarlet Rubies)
Epic gems: 130-160 gold
Cut Epics: 190-380 gold

Let’s take the most modest of all those numbers (price and prospecting results): Assuming only 3 rare gems (and no rubies), 4 uncommon gems and a single epic per stack (not even counting cut epic gems) of titanium ore, all priced at the bottom of the chart above, we’re talking about an additional 148 gold. But wait, that math only accounts for a single stack of Titanium Ore but our previous numbers to reach 10 powder were based on prospecting 30 ore. This brings the total gem proceeds up to 222 gold. That’s 222 gold on top of the already 25-50 he’s bringing in from the powder (since we paid for the ore with our powder in this equation). Hot damn… those are some nice numbers.

Overall Strategy Tips

There are a few tips to making this strategy work for you.

• We advise only selling the powder in stacks of ten or singles. The ten stacks are the perfect amount for someone just trying to get an additional token quickly and the singles are the perfect increment for players that just need a few more powders for their next token.
• Don’t flood the AH with the dust or gems. Doing so will only cause the prices to drop faster.
• Speaking of which, this is a “limited time only” strategy. Eventually the prices of powder and epic gems will deflate or the market will otherwise normalize. Act now if you intend to cash in.
• Just like a drug (or junk bond) dealer, never get high from your own supply. Be patient and get your own tokens from the daily quest system. Don’t use your own powder for tokens since it sells for so much right now. Later, as prices of powder go down, you can use it in this fashion.
• Have patience; sometimes the powder or gems won’t sell during a posting cycle. Other times it will all sell out, at any price. People get desperate or greedy but it can be cyclic. Play the long game.
• Don’t try this on a single stack and expect exactly the same results. Our Jewelcrafting expert actually came up with these numbers based on spreadsheets that he uses to record his results and profits. Yes, he’s *that guy*. Anyway, he prospects hundreds of ore daily and the numbers he shared are based on his averages. In short, YMMV.
• This strategy assumes an understanding of, and strict adherence to, a solid bid/ask strategy the development of which requires some amount of common sense. We make no assumptions about the common sense level of the average WoW player. Consider this a disclaimer.
• The prices on your server may differ from those described above but the ratios and relative values are probably similar. Thus, use the above as a guideline but not exact price points. Do some homework and develop your own bid ask levels that work for your unique profit goals.

The Only Downside

Our Jewelcrafter asked me not to post the exact details under threat of incineration. His fear, and reasonably so, is that if this strategy becomes too popular then prices will drop faster and it won’t work any longer. I was actually hesitant to post this because he was pretty clear about his mortal threat to me but then I remembered that he plays a mage so I just LOL’d and posted it anyway. Of course, this assumes he was talking about in-game death. Perhaps I should have clarified…

The Bronze Age

Bronze Bars present an interesting value proposition to students of WoWenomics in that they benefit from having both a relatively high demand and a limited supply. Due to this combination of factors, and the fact that this material is often overlooked or forgotten about by maximum-level players, the bars can be an otherwise neglected market from which to profit. Bronze Bars will frequently sell out completely from the AH. In fact, we tested 14 auction houses at different times over the past week and found that approximately half the time the metal was sold out. In the occasions that the bars were in stock, the prices varied wildly suggesting that the bars go through lulls with no buyers and then peak when someone is power leveling an alt or switching the profession of their main. This presents a further opportunity for the astute WoW trader. Put another way, the majority of the prices we observed were on par or higher than those of Saronite Bars.

Demand

Bronze Bars are an essential part of the leveling process for Blacksmiths, Jewelcrafters and Engineers. For several of these professions the bars are integral to not only direct crafting of goods but also the crafting of component goods that go into other items so the metal has the somewhat unique position of being necessary for a higher than average part of the leveling process. This causes additional demand and is a key part of the reason that the bars will often sell out in bulk, regardless of price.

Supply

Unlike most other metals in WoW, Bronze cannot be made directly from an ore. As with the real world, no such raw ore exists. Bronze is made from mixing two metals, tin and copper. This slightly more complex process leads to a lower supply of the bars themselves. Many ore farmers just dump their supplies of the farmed ores into the AH without giving a thought to the possibility of making more gold by combining the two cheaper metals. Indeed, our favorite way to profit from the bronze trade is to find the two cheaper metals in the auction house and combine them, reselling the produced bronze for a hefty mark up.

Watch the Bronze Bar market yourself and see if you can’t identify some opportunities for profit that would otherwise be overlooked.

Here’s an interesting side note for you: Every student that has ever completed an elementary history course understands that the Bronze Age proceeded the Iron Age. What most people do not know is that the iron remained the inferior alloy at the time, with bronze being both stronger and more resistant to corrosion than the more popular and accessible wrought iron. So instead of an evolutionary process leading to the adaptation of a new metal, disruptions in the historic supply chains of tin (a key component of bronze) caused the cultural shift to the less sturdy ore. Ultimately, as smelting techniques improved, humanity progressed wholly into the Iron Age. But, in an interesting correlation to the WoW valuation of bronze, the tight supply of tin caused the metal to retain the property of being a semi-precious metal throughout the ages and, to a significant degree, even today.

The Secondary Market of Titanium

As we discussed a few days ago, Titanium Ore prices are at an all time high. As a result, the going rate for Titanium Bars is also experiencing a surge.

The WoWenomics team was discussing this price spike the other night when the conversation took an interesting turn. Our resident enchanting expert mentioned that he is seeing some benefit from the Titanium rush as it has allowed him to double his normal price for the vellums of Enchant Cloak- Titanweave that he regularly sells. He usually stocked about 20 Titanium Bars of which the enchant only requires two so he is still working off his stock but even if he had to purchase the bars at the AH at today’s high prices he would still be reaping a hefty profit. He presumes that players are willing to pay the higher prices because they assume that his costs for materials must have skyrocketed so the premium must be fair. The high Titanium prices, he says, also have the additional benefit of driving away competing enchanters who are, apparently, hesitant to spend the gold on the inflated Titanium thus further allowing him to dominate the market.

This revelation prompted our Blacksmith to speak up and say that he’s doubled the fee he requests for selling his Titansteel Bar cooldown to 30 gold. He told us that other blacksmiths will do it for less, and some potential customers balk at the higher price, but that he still sells the cooldown on any night he wishes to do so without too much effort. He is also making money from crafting and selling Titanium Rods and shield spikes at inflated prices and further reported a sharp decrease in the amount of competitors in both markets.

The engineer says his Titanium built items are also up in price although he didn’t have the foresight to stockpile the ore or bars so he only makes them from the mats he farms. But when he does the prices that he asks are higher and competition is also down.

Both of our jewelcrafters reported similar findings on Titanium related items in their markets.

Even our resident alchemist is reporting that he is once again finding it highly profitable to blow his twenty-hour cooldown on Transmute: Titanium instead of another transmute.

The point is that with the higher prices comes opportunity in many forms. Look for opportunities to profit off inflated Titanium prices in your own market and thus benefit even if you’re not a miner. If you’re unsure how Titanium might affect you take a look at the comprehensive crafted items list courtesy of WoWhead.

Hot Item of the Week- (Reluctantly) Titanium

We were initially hesitant to post a buy order on titanium for several reasons. First of all, we hate to be obvious. As many of our readers e-mailed and commented, the Titanium market is seeing enormous inflationary price movement based on the coming changes in patch 3.2 that will allow Jewelcrafters to prospect Titanium Ore for raw epic Gems. Further, there is the issue of mass speculation and the effect this sort of buying can have on the market.

Price Movements

It is certainly no secret amongst the WoW community that the price of Titanium Ore is on the rise as the patch 3.2 changes have been widely reported on. The result, at this point, is a significant price spike in the prices of not just Titanium Ore, but the related bars, Titansteel Bars, and even (to a somewhat lesser degree) many of the items crafted from Titansteel. Since we started specifically tracking the three metal versions of Titanium early last week each has shown a significant rise in price on every server we checked. Predictably, the increase in the prices of the ore was highest while prices of bars and Titansteel bars showed respectively more modest increases. These rises in related items are most likely driven by a smaller supply pool of raw ore as both literal and figurative prospectors snatch up ore at the best prices they can find. This theory seems to fit the varying level of price increases and is further reinforced by the more modest price gains found in items crafted from Titansteel.

Opportunities

As we mentioned, Titanium Ore and related metals have already increased significantly in price and had done so by the time we entered the market. We were thus very hesitant to invest further as we’re not big fans of buying high. Nevertheless, invest we did rationalizing by saying it was only for testing purposes. The results, however, were surprising. Rather than finding that the already inflated prices were at a peak we found that there was more room for price increase. Every day for the past week we have bought the lowest priced ore, bars and Titansteel and repriced them at higher prices with the result that every auction sold. Thus, we conclude that prices are still on the rise and have not yet peaked. Now, or very soon, would be the time to sell Titanium bars or Titansteel bars and goods that you may have stashed in inventory. We hesitate to sell the ore at this point, however, as we foresee a massive increase in the days immediately following the release of the patch. It may be best to ride that wave and cash in then in terms of the ore.

A Word of Caution

We mentioned initially that we were reluctant to feature Titanium (in any form) as it is so popular at present. The other reason for our reluctance is that we have some experience in presuming an item would increase in price post-patch only to find that the best opportunities to sell were actually while everyone was stocking up in anticipation prior to the actual release of the patch. We caution that we may be seeing more of the same here. If the vast majority of players are stocking up on titanium goods now it is certainly possible that prices will stabilize upon the release of patch 3.2 and drop soon after. That said, the difference in this case is the fact that this ore now has a greater use in the form of prospecting that it didn’t have prior to patch 3.2 so the price increase, at least over historical levels, should have some relative permanence and durability. All this is to say that prices of titanium ore, and thus the related metals, will be higher than what we were accustomed to a few weeks prior although they may drop from their highest levels a few days after the patch is released. Ultimately, It will be a long time before we see low prices on titanium related metals again.