Hall of Fame – 500K Gold Club: Qrau of Aggramar-US

The Warcraft Econ Hall of Fame interviews the few elite players that have hit the World of Warcraft gold cap of 999,999 gold 99 silver 99 copper as well as ones who have obtain 500k and 250k. We have with us, Qrau of Aggramar-US, who will be sharing their story with us today.

Please tell us a little about yourself and your gaming experience.

My name is Qrau of Aggramar-US.  I started playing in Wrath.  I got my first toon to 80 right when ICC came out.  I got into my first guild shortly after hitting 80.  There were a few players in the guild, that helped me learn to raid and play my toon properly.  I was instantly hooked on raiding.  I leveled many alts and geared them for raiding.  I ended Wrath with 6 level 80s (4 Kingslayers).  Unfortunately my first guild was a pretty casual raiding guild.  I quickly out grew them and moved on to my current guild, The Remnant.  It was a huge step up for me at that point.  I have been very happy with The Remnant!  They have helped me grow as a player tremendously.  I owe them all a huge THANK YOU!!!  I look forward to destroying stuff with them!

Do you raid or PvP most? Both? How do you enjoy the game?

I mainly play the game for progression raiding.  Since Cata, it has been mainly 10 mans.  These are always tough due to attendance.  Our guild has been doing more 25 mans and we plan on going back to full 25 man for Firelands.  We were a 25 man raiding guild in Wrath.  I truly love to auction house PvP.  I don’t actually world PvP much, except the occasional Tol Barad.

Why did you choose to collect this amount of gold?

Well, it all started in Wrath when I really wanted to get Shadowmourne.  Twenty five Primordial Saronites, was a lot to get.  For most of Wrath, I was with a guild that did not get far in ICC.  What few Saronites we did get, were not available to me.  It was time to figure out how to make some gold.  I still haven’t gotten Shadowmourne, I do have a few shards for it.  Just ran out of time in Wrath.

After a few bumps, I figured out how to start making gold.  I got my Saronites, and discovered another part of the game.  I was addicted.  The auction house is very competitive.  It became a personal challenge for me to amass as much gold as I could.

How did you go about getting to this gold amount? Any creative or original ideas?

I started out in Wrath, selling cut rare gems.  I had a ton of them sitting in my bags.  At the time I had little access to epic gems.  What epic gems I did get, I used for my many alts.  I was not set up with all the professions at that time.

The cut rare gem market had very little competition in it.  Most were focusing on epic gems.  I was able to push my way in pretty quickly.  I quickly realized that posting and forgetting was not the best method to make sales.  I was really surprised how many people bought rare gems instead of epic gems.  I started out self farming.  I quickly realized that buying ore was a much better use of my time.  There was also a huge supply of uncut gems for dirt cheap.  I would buy them out when they got low enough, cut them and sell them for huge returns.  I would make anywhere from 100% to over 1000% return on my gold.

I stuck with cut rare gems all through my time in Wrath.  I also sold the occasional enchant, belt buckle, bags, or specialty cloth.  I had wanted to go into Cata with 100k, I barely reached that goal right as Wrath came to an end.

Then Cata hit.  I unfortunately got super busy in real life, right when Cata dropped.  I missed the first six weeks of Cata.  I missed some huge gold making opportunities.  I spent a couple weeks racing to catch up.  People were already raiding, and I had to get geared and get a raid spot as quick as I could.  I spent most my gold buying gear for my Pally.  I quickly worked my jewel crafting up.  I was farming a lot more than I cared too.  I did my JC dailies and bought recipes.  I started selling gems as soon as I could, I was broke.  I leveled my second JC shortly after and started getting all the recipes.

I am sure the people already established in the market, were quite unhappy to see me get two new recipes every three days.  They were also probably pretty unhappy to see that I didn’t disappear when Cata came out.  There were a few familiar names in the market.

I could hardly keep gems in stock.  I was prospecting ridiculous amounts of ore.  The profits were enormous.  I quickly figured out the math of selling the cut common gems to the vendor.  It was about this time that I started actually using Undermine Journal to check out my competition.  I started reading the blogs and saw that I was not the only one that understood the math, of what was known as the shuffle.

Competition was pretty mellow at first.  It seemed most were posting and forgetting.  That did not last long, once their sales took a dive with my relentless reposting.  I quickly riled some feathers and stirred up some fierce competition.

Right at this time, a good buddy in my guild Nivedita, started selling cut rare gems too.  He had been into playing the auction house as well.  He was in different markets up until then.  I think my bragging in vent drummed up some interest.  He started buying recipes and listing them as well.  Since then we have been racing to 500k.  I barely made it there first, only because he couldn’t help buying some crazy deals.  Instead of battling each other, we ended up setting out to kill the competition.  It has actually worked out quite well.  We are both on a lot, and at different times here and there.  It allowed us to more effectively keep the competition at bay.  He had been selling Metas, and found some of the same unwanted posters were in the cut rare gem markets too.  It has taken us some time, but most the bad competition has moved on.  We still have one really persistent competitor.  We have both engaged in many hours of reposting wars with him.  He is one stubborn competitor, for sure.  We still get the occasional big under cutter, but most have given up.  I will chase a big under cutter to zero to make sure he sells nothing.

As Cata has progressed and mats have gotten cheaper.  I have broke into the Elixir and Potion markets.  I have also been selling a ton of Buckles, and a few vendor items.  I still sell Crusader enchants, now for huge profits.  This was always a main stay for me in Wrath as well.  I have done a lot to diversify my sales in the last two months.  But in the end, cut rare gems are still 75% of my sales and 80% of my profits.

I was pretty well stocked for 4.1, and have seen my daily sales triple.  My biggest problem has been getting enough ore to prospect.  It was like all the bots disappeared for a while.  I was selling all kinds of mats for ridiculous prices for a week after 4.1 hit.  I was selling Greater Celestials for 165g, Hypnotic Dust for 20g, Volatile earths for 20g.  All kinds of herbs for insane prices as well.  The supply has come back for many of these, but there is still a lack of bots.  I need a serious supply of ore daily, and I am not finding it.  Staying stocked in gems is getting pretty tough, it is a daily battle right now.

I am well on my way to the gold cap.  By the time this gets published, I will have broken 600k.

What is your master list?

• Any Cata cut rare gems
• Ebonsteel Belt Buckle
• Elementium Rods
• Many Elixers and Potions
• Volatile Air and Earth
• A few vendor items
• Scroll of enchant Crusader

I have a few secret items too.

What items are in your Snatch list?

• All Cata Herbs and Ore
• Volatile Life
• Righteous Orbs
• Large Brilliant Shards

How did you learn to do it? Anyone or resource you would like to thank?

I really started out on my own.  I probably did not make as much in Wrath as I could have.  For the last few months, I have been reading all the blogs on Undermine Journal.   They all deserve a big Thank You.  I have picked up many tips and tricks from them.  These blogs are a valuable resource for anyone wanting to make gold.  There are many items they feature, that I never would have thought of selling on my own.

What addons, if any, do you use to help you make gold and why are they needed?

I don’t think I use as many as others do.  I would not want to sell without these though.

• Auctionator
• TSM
• Accountant Classic

Are you still going for more gold?  If so, do you have a new goal? Are you close?

I will definitely be going for the gold cap.  It is a personal challenge.   I expect to hit the gold cap soon, and be back for another interview.  I doubt I will stop there.  Like I said above, this is addicting.  I enjoy being able to purchase whatever I like.  I enjoy auction house PvP, and doubt I will give it up anytime soon.

Do many people know you have this amount of gold?

There are a few people that know how much I have.  The more I get the more I do not mind bragging here and there.  I am sure a few more will know after this post.  Several people in my guild know that I enjoy playing the auction house.  Some probably do not appreciate my relentlessness.

Did you spend your gold on fun things? What have you bought? What things would you like to buy?

When I got back to WoW after Cata came out.  I just about went broke buying gear.  I got all the way down to 7k at one point.  I felt so poor!  I have bought the Travelers Mammoth, Sandstone Drake (only after we got Bartering), and a ton of gear for my alts.  Once I hit a million, I will probably go on a spending spree for a couple of my alts.  I seriously raid on a few of my alts, so a Travelers Mammoth would be nice on them as well.

If you were the professor of a gold making 101 college class, what would be some things you would talk about?

I would start with the Undermine Journal, Auctionator, and Wowprofessions.com. Patience and a lot of gold blog reading.

How about an advanced gold making class?

This is where TSM, Mailopener, and your Friends (Enemies) list would come in.  I would talk about wearing your competition out, without wearing yourself out.  Profession synergy would be a huge topic as well.  The more professions you have the more opportunities you have available.

Do you have good farming strategies or spots?

I do not really farm any mats, unless they are really overpriced on the auction house.  Back in Wrath, I used to farm Saronite here and there.  I quickly discovered that it was more efficient to buy it from the auction house.  I check my shopping lists very often and snag cheap mats when I see them.  I typically stay well stocked on most mats, so I can wait for the buying opportunities.

What was the best deal you ever came across?

I have not come across any really great deals.  I pick up an under priced boe here and there and flip them.  I have not found any really crazy under priced items, like you hear others find.  My best deals are probably boe’s from raiding.  Something I am going to be doing anyways, so when I win a roll.  It is a heck of a deal.

Do you remember any of your worst deals?

I am pretty lucky in this area.  Probably the worst deal I made was buying a boe from a friend that needed the gold to buy a trinket.  I knew he had been trying to sell if for a while, and I knew I had plenty of time for it to sell.  However, I ended up making a deal with a guildie, for a few thousand less than I bought it for.  And I did it on a payment plan, that I have yet to collect more than 75% of.  In the end, I helped out a friend and a guildie, so not too bad of a deal.

What are your future plans with WoW?

I hope to help get our guild to the top of the server in 4.2.  We were a little relaxed with this expansion.  Though we did get Realm First Guild Level 25, WOOT! That is a pretty big deal, since our realm is mainly Alliance and we are Horde.  I also plan on continuing to dominate the markets I choose to sell in.  I really look forward to future expansions!

What are you predictions for the future WoW economy?

Well, every patch is a huge opportunity to make gold.  You just have to stay up to date with the PTR notes, and plan accordingly.  The gold blogs are always a huge resource for preparing for the next patch.  I expect there to be plenty of inflation as the game continues.  I am sure reaching 1 million will not be that difficult a year from now.

Thank you for taking the time to do this interview for Warcraft Econ. Do you have any last words?

Keep your enemies on your friends list!

Thank you very much for publishing my interview! See you again at the gold cap.