The Importance of Being Nimble

Trying to Corner the Market? I think not. *Post*

Today I was making my usual rounds. I had canceled and reposted my glyphs. I has done my full quick-scan of the AH and had queued up my glyphs I needed to restock (right now I only sell glyphs with 60g+ profit).

While using TSM "Crafting - Shopping Mats" I noticed that the cheapest I could get herbs/ink for Ethereal Ink was 34g/ea. I skipped it of course. I can get Blackfallow for 14g and trade them at the ink trader. Here, though, was an opportunity.

The thing I wanted to touch on today is taking advantage of things you see during your daily gold making activities. Being nimble and using that to make profit.

When I saw that the herbs to create Ethereal Ink were 35g/ink's worth I knew I may have an opportunity. I checked the AH and found that the cheapest Ethereal Ink was 60g. 60g! And all of them were 60g. 1 stacks. 11 stacks. 20 stacks.

What does this mean? To me it means that someone is attempting to control the market price for Ethereal Ink. How can I use this to my advantage? If someone in trying to corner the market and drive up prices it means that they have already done all the heavy lifting of buying up all the cheap stock from others. It also means that I have a chance to make a little money on this if I do it right.

TSM - Shopping - Crafting Mats. Know it. Use It. Love it.

I stated earlier that at the time the cheapest Ethereal Ink mats were 34g/ink (by the time I took shots for this article it had dropped to 13g/ink). I decided to pick up a few (just 6) Ethereal inks from the Ink Trader (in Dalaran of course. I know there are new traders in SW/Org but Jessica is my girl!) and put them up for around 35g each.

Will they sell? Maybe. Am I undercutting the person trying to sell them for 60g? Of course. Will people see them for 60 and then ones for 35g and think 35g is a deal? Perhaps (if they don't follow ink prices and a glyph they need is 197g or something).

Might I fail to sell them at all and be undercut? Good chance. But what have I risked? Very little. The inks can be used for glyphs if they don't sell. But if they do sell then I've made a nice little profit.

The key is keep your eyes open. Always be watching as you do your normal thing. If you see a window of opportunity to make some profit use it while you can. That is being nimble.