Hall of Fame – 2 Million Gold Club: Deepcut of Eldre’Thalas-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, Deepcut of Eldre’Thalas-US, who will be sharing their story with us today.

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

My main character is Deepcut, and I am on the US server Eldre’Thalas, Allianceside. I raided during Burning Crusade and during some of Wrath of the Lich King, but currently I just don’t have the time to devote to raiding 4-6 hours nightly.

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

Playing the auction house has been my main focus for the past year or so, but I have spent time on running 5-mans and casual PvP. I like playing the auction house since I can pick and choose when to start and stop, as well as be able to watch TV or talk on the phone while I play.

Why did you choose to collect this amount of gold?

Originally, I had quit WoW during Ulduar, and when I returned I realized I wanted to at least be able to buy the things I wanted. I never was much of a gold maker, but I always had enough to raid. Now I wanted enough to buy anything I liked without worrying about the cost. A good friend of mine loaned me 6k so I could get my epic flyer, and I wanted to buy much more! It was slow going at first, but once I got the hang of gold making, it sped up quickly. Then I decided to try and hit the milestone of 1,000,000 gold.

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

I started off with jewelcrafting, since that was the profession I saw making the most money at that time. I then added inscription, which is always a solid profession. Now, I have an army of tradeskillers (minus engineering and tailoring). Also, I always look for rare opportunities to make gold, such as stocking up on 20-slot bags and glyph making materials (since they changed the ink trader). Also, buying up the Argent Tournament pets (I bought about 30 of them) turned out really well, as I easily made 100% or more profit on them.

What is your master list?

Here is a snapshot of my MySales screen, to give you an idea of the big money makers.

As you can see, I have pretty much given up on jewelcrafting for the time being, because I’ve found better ways to use the ore I would normally prospect. If raw gems are cheap, I will buy them for resale though.

What items are in your Snatch list?

Volatiles, herbs, and ore come immediately to mind.

I’m always watching the enchanting market, since it can vary wildly from week to week. I do this since it’s my biggest cash cow and I want to dominate the market and make it as tough as possible for my competition. I buy huge amounts of just about any tradeskill item though, sometimes 40-50k at a time! If it’s at a low price, there’s no reason not to buy it!

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

I’d like to thank my real life best friend, who plays a shadow priest named Jeabus, who gave me the 6,000 startup gold, which kick started my career. Also, I originally ran across the blog “Hit the Cap!”, which got me started, and from there I searched for more knowledge. I eventually found “Stokpile” and “Just My Two Copper”. All are excellent resources for making gold.

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

ZeroAuctions – A must for helping set up your price thresholds and undercutting.

Auctioneer – I use this mostly for the snatch list function.

Advanced Tradeskill Window (ATSW) – Used with KevToolQueue to craft the items I’m running low on.

KevToolQueue – Used in conjunction with ATSW

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

I reached one million gold on July 4th. Then I hit two million on August 22nd. As of September 8th, I’m closing in on 2.2 million. I made over 600k profit during patch 4.2, so I decided to just go for 2 million as fast as I could. I’ve considered going for three million, but I’ve also considered playing the gold-making game a little more casually and have some more fun with my characters, in the form of PvP or dungeons. Whatever I decide to do, I want to stay above two million. I still have a full set of the five Shadowmourne rewards (worth about 350k on my server), as well as 7 guild banks full of stuff to sell. If I sold off everything right now, it would probably bring me close to three million.

Do many people know you have this amount of gold?

I know a few people do, and my guild knows I hit the gold cap as well. Not many know I hit two million yet.

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

I seem to have an idea that the Shadowmourne epic items (from the sealed chest), are worth a lot. They are fairly rare and sought after. I probably would have hit 1 million much sooner had I held off on buying them, but I still think there’s potential for flipping them for a good profit.

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

The best things you can do are learning the markets, and then utilize addons to automate your process. Once you have a market figured out, add another. Don’t feel bad about taking risks, as once you become proficient in the market you will rarely lose money. During patch times, buy 5x the amount you think you will use. You will always go through your stockpiles during major patches. Also, pay close attention to the patch notes!

How about an advanced gold making class?

Build spreadsheets to determine your strategies. Determine what profit level you are happy with, and create a model to help you reach that goal. If it’s not working, adjust accordingly. Use statistics and mathematics to help you make gold! Understanding basic economics helps as well.

Do you have good farming strategies or spots?

The only farming I do is on the Auction House!

What was the best deal you ever came across?

I have bought three Tabards of the Lightbringer for 100k, two of which I have resold for 170k and 155k. Also, I bought a Sylvanus Music Box for 30k, which I resold for 80k. Not too bad for only a few items.

Do you remember any of your worst deals?

I have bought a few epics that haven’t panned out, but for the most part I’ve always come out on top. I think I went a little overboard on buying pyrite ore since there were rumors epic gems might come from them. I’m still hopeful, but I have 20,000 pyrite ore in the bank still, and I’m not sure how well that venture will turn out. If epic gems do not come from pyrite, then I may just wait until major patches to unload the ore.

What are your future plans with WoW?

I plan on continuing to play casually. I’d like to level up more alts, and still dabble in making gold, as well as some PvE and PvP.

What are you predictions for the future WoW economy?

I think undercutting is just about getting out of hand. I’m not sure what Blizzard could do about it though, except cap the number of auctions you can post in a single day, or increase the auction deposits. They could totally revamp the auction house system. I’m not sure what the right solution is, though. I’ve just noticed with patch 4.2 that undercutting is downright brutal and utterly continuous.

Please tell us a little bit about how you handle your real life finances. What are the differences and similarities with how you do things in WoW?

I’m a senior Finance and Accounting student at the local university, so I suppose I was destined to play with the WoW economy. I separate my finances by function into different checking accounts, and I seem to do the same thing with WoW, only using guild banks.

How did you go from one to two million gold?

It actually happened quite quick for me, just over a month! I saw that my sales were booming and just decided to keep pushing for two million gold!

Why did you do the things you did between one and two million?

I didn’t change much, but patch 4.2 was very helpful in attaining my goal.

What are your most profitable markets that represent a large percentage of your net profits and why?

See my previous picture of the MySales addon. Enchanting is far and away my biggest money maker. It’s the hardest to keep automatic, but it is definitely worth it.

What is the best advice you can give to other players?

Don’t be afraid to take risks. If you know you can make money, go for it. Once you are over one million gold, then you can afford to buy 40-50k of materials at a time and hardly feel the pinch. Build your stockpiles and shoot for the top!

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

Good luck to everyone on their gold-making endeavors!