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5/19/2011

Flipping Cataclysm Epic Items Is Legit


Today's guest post was written by Jokine, the co-host of The Power Word: Gold Podcast. You can follow him on twitter at @Jokinee.

Hi. It's Jokinee. The guy who "hasn't reached the gold cap yet" (inside joke). It has been a while since I posted last time but this post is going to be about flipping Cataclysm epics for profit.

As you may know, for example, it's nice to find Elementium Ore for 20g cheaper than it usually is. Or find Khorium Bars for cheap prices because you know that you are going to make a lot of profit with the item you bought for a cheap price. Either way you know the item is rare or you know you will make profit with the specific item anyways (even if it was more expensive).

Read more about how to choose which epic items to flip after the jump.

Why couldn't this work with the epics too?
It does. I used to think that it's very risky and I can lose a lot of gold even if I play the "auction house game" well. That isn't true because of the fact that if no patch hits (or the auction house isn't flooded with the specific item) in most cases the price isn't going to drop below the price you bought the item for.

First let's take a look what do we need to know before buying. (I'll get to this part later if you don't know which addons to use). Here is a list what you need to know.

How do I find these epics?
I found out that the best way to search for these epics is to set the minimiun level to 85, quality to epic and just search.

Settings for searching for level 85 epic weapons. (Armor is done similarly.)


Never forget the trade chat. When you are doing other markets, crafting or just camping your auctions check out the trade chat. The cheapest deals you find will be from there. Most of the people who are in trade chat are in a hurry to get gold from their item. They want to get rid of it fast which drives them to lower the price dramatically.

Things you need to notice before you will buy the item.
  • Is it rare?
  • How much it costs? What's the normal price you're addon or you own memory says? Is it under/same that your Maelstrom Crystal prices are? If it is buy it if you have bountiful bags perk. You don't lose anything if it doesn't proc. But if it does, you double your money
  • Does it have equivalent from reputation vendor?
  • Does it have equivalent from crafting?
  • Is patch coming or is anything going to happen to make the price drop? Keep this in mind whatever you are doing.

An Example
Take the item Dizze's Whirling Robe:
  • It's a world drop which means it's rare.
  • It disenchants to a Maelstrom Crystal.
  • It doesn't have equivalent from reputation vendors.
  • It doesn't have equivalent from crafting.

This means the item is rare and its needed if you want 359 chest for your cloth user without raiding. Maelstrom Crystal price is only important if the item is very common in auction house.

How to determine the price?
  • How rare is it?
  • What does your addons say about the price? (this works only if you scan auction house often)
  • Is there any of the same type of item(s) in auction house?
  • Think like the buyer: As a raider, would you buy this to your alt for this price?

For US Players
The Undermine Journal is a good source of information especially for knowing how high it has been selling or how rare it is. If you have time to set it for every epic, you can also have The Undermine Journal to notify you whenever any epic is posted for a cheap price.

Addons
 If you scan often TSM gives you a price which is a good lead but don't follow it blindly. You want to get as much gold as possible.
Again, if you scan often with Auctioneer you see very fast if it's low priced because of the percent (which is shown as last number on the right of the item). Do not follow this percent blindly either.

If you do not know how to use TSM there is the World Of Warcraft Gold Blog Directory directory where flux (the owner of Power Word: Gold) has listed all the gold-making blogs. Or you can just Google "TradeSkillMaster" or "How to use TradeSkillMaster" for example. Also Flux has nice video guides about Tradeskillmaster. (See "Setting Up TradeSkillMaster Groups - A Beginner's Guide Video", "Video Tutorial: Making And Selling Glyphs With The TradeSkillMaster Addon" and "Using TradeSkillMaster, Auctioneer And Auctionator - A Video Tutorial".)

"No time to chat, I'm heading for the gold cap."
The expression above doesn't work for this market. There is no rush selling your epics. Take your time. Don't make false moves and you will get guaranteed profit. Sometimes epics can sell in one night. Sometimes it takes few weeks. This is a passive market with huge profits compared to the work you need to do. 

What you need to remember.
Bark your epic on trade especially if you are the only seller. It's always better to sell expensive items in the trade window rather than in auction house because 5% of 15k is 750g and that's all extra profit.

Talking Points
  • What keeps you out of the epic flipping market?
  • How do you choose which epics to attempt to flip?
  • Which items have you seen the most success flipping? Least?


(Editor's Note: Jokine was very adamant in explaining that the header image depicts a gnome falling to their death which is somehow meant to signify the price of epic items falling. Cute. -flux)

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Posted by iiimjiiim on 5/19/2011 Labels: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

5 comments :

  1. Clint R. MurphyMay 19, 2011, 7:37:00 PM

    Lol, this is perfect timing...

    I am trying my first major epic flips right now (2 x soul blade and 2 x chelley's staff)...

    Me thinks if you're flipping epics you need to have a stronger constitution than I do because when someone shows up with the same product I imediately undercut them, which can work in glyphs but kill on 15k epics...

    The 2 soul blades are gone + a couple k on them but the first staff was at best break even...the next staff will determine I'd this was a good venture...

    With 4.2 on the horizon and new gear listed, it appears, but I may be wrong, that demand is down for the current high end epics...I would much rather buy VP boots for 2-3k and sell them for 5 - 7k...

    ReplyDelete
  2. UnknownMay 20, 2011, 9:36:00 AM

    I always faction xfer the item, if it didn't sell well in my current faction. After I sold the item, I trade/buy faction pets, sanddrake mats and get my gold back to original faction.

    ReplyDelete
  3. AnonymousMay 21, 2011, 5:48:00 AM

    I actually do a lot of flipping epics. What helps me find them myself is I use the RAH while I am at work, and sort the auctions by Item Level. I'm beginning to know the market pretty well, so I just grab something if it's cheap.

    Always check TUJ if you're not sure on an item. But yes, patience is definitely key here. I'm sitting right now with 2 Soul Blades in my bank and one I am trying to sell. There is a little bit of risk involved, but play it cool and there can be huge reward as well.

    ReplyDelete
  4. VergadinMay 22, 2011, 7:00:00 AM

    This tip is Legit...

    Thanks for the tip Jokinee. When I woke up this morning I found 22k in my inbox from a flip of Chelleys Staff of Dark Mending. I bought this last weekend in trade for 10k, I tried to get the seller down to 7k but 10 was as low as he would go. Over the course of the week I priced the staff anywhere from 27 to 20k. Last night I had it up for 22k and it SOLD!! Im a very happy dwarf right now. Thanks. Keep paying attention to trade chat and keep those ungoldcapped tips coming

    ReplyDelete
  5. GrayzBDFMay 23, 2011, 4:00:00 AM

    Good stuff. The hardest part about epics and high priced items is patience. I solve that buy buying extras and using various alts. Some price items for profit (2-4k+) and other sell for major profit (6-12k+). If the majors don't sell I still make a good amount.

    Pets and trinkets are my main markets. As long as the DMF trinkets sell for more than I expect i'll sell them. When they drop i'll look into flipping epics. I'm effecitvely minimizing my AH time. Bored.

    ReplyDelete

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