Phuggly's Phinancial Dilemma: A Gold Making Business Plan

I'm submitting this for JMTC's April Carnival......seems right on point for their topic.
****************************************************************
Met a player today via trade chat. Super nice guy. He was selling some Primals, which I buy whenever the price is right. They are great for flipping, can be useful in crafting and if nothing else can be turned into Primal Might which sells for around 325g per unit.

Phuggly and I began chatting. ((and he gave permission to use his screen name)). Seems he was trying to raise gold for Cold Weather Flying. He was very candid in describing the challenge he faced in raising enough gold for basic needs. Left with 2g to his name after Cold Weather Flying, his next goal is Artisan Riding for 4,500g. During our conversation I explained how earning gold could be made easier if he were to use some resources, i.e.--blogs, that could help him in this pursuit.

I learned that Phuggly is his highest level character. He has L400 Mining and L281 Blacksmithing. With these limitations I know it will be hard to raise the capital he needs. I couldn't really think of a post that addressed this specific situation--he's not brand new, but he doesn't have a lot of experience or access to professions. I decided that it would be helpful to Phug (and I'm sure other players) to have a guide for this situation.

The result is this post. Read more below the fold

I'm Famous Now!!

Since the time I hit my 250k gold threshold and wrote the interview below, I have now hit 350k.....500k on the way!

http://www.warcraftecon.net/?p=3970

How To Lose Money and Piss Off People With Jewelcrafting

I managed to get a bunch of Obsidium Ore the other day for 65g/stack. I hadn't had time to prospect it until tonight, partly because I've been leveling my Warlock and Druid and partly because the monotony of button mashing the macro 200+ times was just daunting enough a task to make me find something else to do. Actually, to find anything else to do.

I got home later than normal from work. I was in a bad mood because traffic sucked. The sleet and snow flurries persisted all day and made the whole day gray and gloomy. By the time we got dinner out of the way and other family issues addressed it was almost 8pm--and I had yet to run any of my daily quests. I knocked them out quickly and decided that spamming the macro was about all I wanted to tackle. No thought required, just press the button and watch TV. Boring. Depressing.

Thus my mood was sour for a number of reasons. Reading the banal trade banter just made it worse. About the only positive I could grasp at this point was the prospect of transmuting a bunch of Shadowspirit Diamonds and cutting some Burning and Reverberating gems. I sell 2-4 of each every day. Burning goes for about 325g and Reverberating for about 575g, up to 600g. I'm still missing Agile, but remain on the lookout.

So there I sat, in a funk, pressing the number "1" over and over, just waiting to get my gems so I could transmute, cut and list my Metas. I noticed a player asking in trade for a JC with Bold Inferno Ruby and Reverberating Shadowspirit cuts.

Oh boy! I can make some quick gold!!

Boy was I wrong.

New Tanks Need New Gear

The inspiration for this post comes from a recent vent discussion with a guildie. He lamented the constant struggle to accrue gold. He wants Epic Flight but can't afford it. He has one L85 toon with Mining and Blacksmithing but he hasn't maxed either and doesn't have any other professions available. He is still in the Cobalt phase of leveling Mining and Blacksmithing.

I suggested making a circuit through Northrend for Cobalt or even Hellfire for Fel Iron as a quick fix. Both types of ore are selling well. Since he hates to mine he would prefer some way that minimizes the time he uses that fancy pick-axe.

So the question that seems most relevant for him is 'how can I best earn gold in this situation'?

Paper or Plastic? Bag Sales Are Up

During Wrath, I eschewed making any Netherweave Bags. They were selling for about 7g and the materials were around 5g. For the time it takes to make them I didn't think the return was sufficient. About a month into Cataclysm prices were up to 15g to as high as 20g and the materials held pretty close to Wrath levels. This made Netherweave Bags worth my time.

I sold over 300 Netherweave Bags in January at an average price of 16g. This translated into an average profit of 10g per bag. 3,000g profit in this one niche was pretty nice. There were about 5 major sellers in this space and I suspect we all did fairly well.

Netherweave Bags are back to being crap again because some jackoff decided he wants to own this market for 11g per bag. He lists 75 Netherweave bags at a time. Materials have climbed up to 7g-9g. These margins were not sustainable for me in Wrath and they aren't now either. Lol, he's probably writing a blog somewhere about how he has monopolized this market!

It wasn't really worth my time or energy to fight for this market space. If the seller has sufficient materials stockpiled to keep it up, good for him. He can make his 11g a bag all day long.

However, I needed a new market, and I think I've found it. Two markets, actually.

In Memory of a Friend: We Will Miss You Trixie

Our Friend Trixie--7/4/200 to 2/17/2011

Today our family said "goodbye" to the oldest of our three dogs. Trixie had been a member of our pack since 2001. 

If you are hoping this somehow digresses into a gold post, hate to disappoint but it will not. 

New Meta Gem Pattern: Tough Lesson(s) Learned

credit: www.uhnd.com

Playing on my Pally last night, who has max JC and Ench, trying to decide what Meta pattern to buy with my 4 Jewelcrafter Tokens. Thought it might be a good time to use The Undermine Journal to see what patterns were selling well.