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 This oil, while fairly outdated by current standards, is still highly profitable due to the fact that it is a required turn-in for an old leveling quest, Coolant Heads Prevail.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.

Dragonfin Dishes Now More Tasty Than Ever

About a week ago an article was published on WoW.com advising readers of the financial benefits of farming a certain highly profitable fish. While we’ve also previously advised that WoW traders focus on fishing and cooking Dragonfin, we do not have quite the same community reach as WoW.com.

One Fish

The result over the past week has been, as you might have predicted, a sharp drop in the going rate of uncooked Dragonfin Angelfish. Generally, the price of raw Dragonfin stays higher than the prices of equivalent Northrend fish not only because the demand for the cooked fish is so high but also because the supply is diminished by not being connected at all to any fishing daily quests. The currently lower price, however, presents a fantastic opportunity for in-game chefs to turn a quick gold by simply purchasing the price-depressed fish, cooking and selling at a hefty mark-up. The key to this, and really any high-end cooking-for-profit, strategy is in attaining the Northern Spices inexpensively. One idea is to purchase Dragonfin Angelfish for less than 50 gold, the spices for less than one gold and then sell the stacks of cooked product for 100 gold or more. This nets a nice 30 gold per stack minimum profit and the time investment is minimal because we know you’ve already got your Chef’s Hat right?

Two Fish

Be sure to consider both types of cooked Dragonfin for the most profitable variety. Both Dragonfin Filet and Blackened Dragonfin can sell profitably but our experience is that there is usually higher demand for the Filet variety. The profitability of the Blackened fish, however, was increased with the patch 3.2 changes that reduced the amount of raw fish required to cook the item.

Bad Fish

The irony to this easy tip is that the author of the post over at WoW.com quite correctly advises readers not to sell the fish when the market is flooded and to examine the entire value chain to determine whether it is best to sell the raw or cooked fish. Naturally, these key points seem to be lost on the community and the result has been a mass influx of uncooked Dragonfin onto the market. If, indeed, the uptick in raw fish on the market is attributable to this article, it can also be expected that the over supply period will end and prices will return to normal levels as the more casual players exit the market. In the mean time, we’re scooping up all the cheap fish we can find.

More Fish

• El’s Extreme Anglin’ page on Dragonfin pool locations and drop rates (a MUST read for WoW fishermen).
• An April article from Dominate Your Server on the profitability of Dragonfin and gold generating strategy.
• Our favorite Dragonfin fishing hole.
• Jed’s experiences with real life fishing (or, more specifically, the lack thereof).
• Tim Howgego’s fantastic analysis of the popularity of WoW fishing holes (note the comparatively low amount of Dragonblight inland fishing and how that correlates with normal supply –and thus prices- of raw Dragonfin).

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.

Remember the Frost

As we progress through the end-game and high-end crafting it is common to overlook some of the items that we crafted along the way. One particular set of items that many crafters neglect is Frost Resistance Gear. These items still sell well in the auction house and, in many cases, are not stocked at all by crafters. This presents an opportunity for the savvy craftsman in that there is still a demand for the goods but an often limited supply.

While the utility of frost resistance gear is debatable the fact that players still buy it is not. It still sells- at lower but still profitable prices- and you’d be overlooking a gold making opportunity if you didn’t stock the at least one of each item in the AH. Many players stopped making frost resistance gear a few months after WotLK was released and the market for these items became heavily saturated and prices dropped. The market, at the time, was over supplied while demand also dwindled as guilds progressed beyond Naxxramas. Currently, however, demand remains constant while many suppliers don’t even bother crafting the items. Since the price of the crafting materials of the gear has dropped sharply post-patch 3.2, the gear is once again profitable to craft and sell. Put another way, why drop your Frozen Orb in the AH for 30-40 gold when you can add a few eternals and a couple of base materials to craft a resist piece and charge quadruple that amount or more?

Frost resistance gear is not a huge seller and it is not something to go into direct competition with other traders over, but it is an area of crafting that still has demand and market. You may also find it helpful, for your own crafting and playing endeavors, to understand how resistance works. Be sure, if you are capable of crafting such gear, that there is at least one of each frost resist item in your professional capacity stocked in the AH at all times. Play around with pricing and charge the maximum amount that you can sell the items for when you don’t have competition.

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 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- Fish Feast

All of the WoWenomics team members are avid cooks. Many of us cook for profit even more than we cook for our own personal needs. Accordingly, we tend to keep a pretty close eye on the prices of raw foods.

We recently found that the prices of the raw fish required to craft a Fish Feast continue to drop. They’re not dropping in a straight downward cycle but rater an up and down downward spiral. The same is true of Northern Spices all though the spices seem to hold there value a little better these days.

Of the 12 auction houses we checked over the past week, ALL of them showed the total cost of all of the materials required to cook a stack of Fish Feast was less than the amount the Fish Feast sell for. In fact, while the prices of the raw fish continue to drop, the price of the Fish Feast itself seems to be on the rise.

This price disparity is a common occurrence in WoW until prices of both the materials and the crafted item reach a stable value. Most items, over time, reach this form of stabilization and it may be that Fish Feast prices have already stabilized on your own server but, from what we can tell at the moment, this is not the case for most servers. Exploiting the difference between crafting costs and out and out purchase costs is one of the fastest and easiest ways to make money in WoW.

Currently, the lowest price premium of the 12 servers we looked at showed the Fish Feast selling for 8% more than the cost of the materials required to produce it. The best premium was 31%. That is a huge amount of profit to be gained from very, very little effort.

Bear in mind that it may take a little while for your feast to sell. We set our auctions at 48 hours and only post one at a time. Generally, we undercut any other feasts by one silver when we post. It also pays to be aware that Fish Feast is only useable by cooks with a skill level of 425 so, if you’re not a chef, this may be a more risky investment on which to attempt a straight buy-low-and-sell-high trade.