Auction House: Crazy Prices in Wotlk

Posted by Warcraftecon | November 18, 2008 .

If you have looked at the auction house during this first week of Wotlk, you may have see some very high prices on items. This is due to the very unstable economy during release of new content. Since the prices of these new items have not stabilized yet, players are charging inflated prices to make a quick buck. In contrast, some players not knowing the value of the new items are listing their items for very dirt cheap. A good example of this would be during the first 3 days when I was leveling up leatherworking, prices of rare skins were about 5g or less. By the way, I tried to power level leatherworking to 450, but hit a road block where I needed [Frozen Orb] for my last 5 points. The orbs drop in level 80 content and players are not selling them yet on the AH. There goes my realm first… Anyways to continue, the rare skins are used to craft level 80 epics as well as armor kits. I quickly bought out everything that was under priced. A few days later prices started to jump up to over 100g each, and eventually started falling below 50g as more and more players undercut each other. I highly recommend looking ahead in your professions or items you plan to acquire to see what materials you need. Then keep checking the AH for good deals. Also pay attention how much your paying for crafting materials, and how much the final product will sell for. This may mean buying something that seems expensive, like [Arctic Fur] for 100g, but your final product which requires only 2, [Icescale Leg Armor], sells for 300g. During the past few days I have used this rule of thumb; if the price is equal or lower than its’ Ouland counter-part, then buy it. This is a very broad statement and should be taken with a grain of salt. This will mainly apply to things like uncooked meat, eternals, leather, etc. However be very aware that prices may have not hit their all time low yet. Many people have been ignoring the auction house due to the rush in leveling to 80, use this to your advantage since the AH is flooded with new items that the majority of the population has no use for… yet. Take the [Eternal Earth] and [Eternal Water] market, prices have dipped below 10g already.

I was stumped to see these new replacement primals this low. I did noticed however that in both starting areas, [Eternal Water] is the very first type of element you find, in its’ crystallized form, which are like motes in Ouland. Players may be taking some extra time farming these for gold they need for various things. Further research shows that they can be fished up as well. I am still not sure why they are so low, but I am speculating that they will not stay this way. I believe this because most professions don’t start using eternals until 400+ skill as well as high end epic items. I would keep an eye on low priced eteranls in the mean time, as in anything under 10g. It is hard for me to believe that this market will stay this way. Even wow.allakhazam.com is reporting median prices of [Eternal Earth] for 30g. Do people think the new eternal will be like the old ones, so they are selling them for cheap? Drop rates across all Eternals have been normalized so it seems, including being to get almost all types from mining. I’ve noticed people are still in he mindset where they think the new earths will be the cheapest eternal. Almost all the different professions require [Eternal Earth] including the motorcycle mount, 3 crafted epics, and 2 tanking enchants.

[Eternal Water] is also fairly cheap, even though it is used for level 80 frost resist gear along with [Eternal Fire]. It as been said that frost resist gear is NOT required in Naxx 10/25, but may help those struggling with Sapphiron. There is even an achievement for having less than 100 frost resist during the encounter; [The Hundred Club]. I am still not sure if this type of resistance will be a joke like arcane was in Karazhan, or required like the old Naxx. Although high end guilds should be able to do the boss without gearing up everyone in frost resist gear. I hope to do follow up posts on what each eternal is used for and why the price is so high or low, but that may take some time. Just keep in mind now that the new eternals are used pretty evenly across all professions.

Any insight on this topic of the new economy would be appreciated from our readers, anything from what your doing to profit or any large investments your making.

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6 Comments so far

Eino November 19, 2008 6:52 AM

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I’ve been fishing. It’s really amazing how much money I’ve made just from fishing and selling both the cooked and uncooked results.

Pygmy suckerfish, which is an uncommon drop attached to fish in the Fjord area, sells for at least 10g each. It’s used in alchemy and no one else sells them.

I’m selling stacks of common fish for 20-30g each, both cooked and not. I simply advertise that you need cooking at 400 to access the random bind on pickup recipies or get some buff food for leveling and they sell.

I sell cobalt ore at high prices right now, around 175g a stack, instead of using it to level my own profession, because I know I can just do that next week when the prices have normalized. The ore has already started to come down dramatically, this may not be an option any more.

As an engineer I can harvest the mechanicals from the Airstrip in Borean Tundra, they drop engineering materials like cobalt bolts and volitile blasting triggers. I’m able to sell these on the AH for what looks like a good deal compared to the price of Ore, but really they cost me nothing.

Overall I’ve made about 4000g in the last 5 days. Not too shabby for someone that normally avoids the AH.
DougE November 19, 2008 8:44 AM

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What I’m noticing is that people aren’t taking advantage of the disenchant pricing of level 71+ greens on the AH right now.

I’ve been picking up items in the ‘less than 10g’ range & DE’ing them for 2xinfinite dust or 2xLCE’s and even GCE’s which sell for double what I paid for the item.

So if you’re an enchanter, take advantage of the people AHing those new lvl 71+ greens. Even if they don’t sell you’ll have cheap mats for leveling your enchanting!
taco November 19, 2008 7:35 PM

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lol those leg armours are selling for 100-150g on my server.

I have been buying frost lotuses for 10-15g each. I figured that prices are cheap at the moment as people are still leveling and not raiding and expect prices to pick up once more people are at 80.
Warcraftecon November 19, 2008 11:58 PM

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Ya I’ve been doing the same thing, instant buyout if I see frost lotus for less that 10g. Flasks are going for 100g+ right now. Frost lotus is used for 4 different flasks as well as 3 alchemist stones.

There is so much new material to cover during the first few weeks of Wotlk, as well as tons of good deals everywhere. I’ll try to get a few new posts up soon. In the mean time, try grabbing all the good deals you see since I guess people are a bit timid to buy something they don’t need yet or know the value of.
Sophie P. Stillwell November 21, 2008 9:18 AM

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I’ve been doing pretty much the same as everyone else. One thing I’ve noted is that the Crystallized forms are selling much higher than the Eternal forms – which I agree will balance out with time. But for right now, it can make grinding for crystallized drops worthwhile if you need some g for an immediate purchase. I just wrote an article about earning gold in WotLK at lower levels:

http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/1233195/gold_making_any_wow_toon_level_68_can.html?cat=19

Check it out and let me know what you think.
Reader Email #1 December 6, 2008 10:59 PM

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[...] make them gold. Professions and gathering skills are bringing in a huge amount of money right now, prices on the auction house are pretty crazy at the moment. If you spending more than your bringing in for questing/leveling I would recommend [...]