The Real Money Maker In Mining
No, I’m not taking the day to talk about creating a bar of gold. Instead, I’m going to tell you how to create a lot of gold -the kind in your pocket. People take mining for one of two reasons, they either want to suppliment their profession of choice (Engineering, Jewelcrafting, Blacksmithing) or they followed the plethora of advice that suggests gathering professions are the best way to make money (though I argue not even close to the fastest). It’s true that ore will sell on any given day of the week. So will bars. If you want to make some quick money though, look at the difference between the two.
On most servers at any given time there is a difference between what an Ore sells for and what it’s Bar counterpart sells for. Sometimes the ore itself is worth more (Titanium and Copper come to mind on mine) and sometimes the bars are worth more (Eternium, I see you over there next to the Mithril). When the bars are worth more, you need to strike when the anvil is hot.
When you’re on the auction house, and ideally running an addon like AuctionLite, you should be grabbing the ore when it’s at least 20 percent cheaper than bars. If the market presents itself, buy out enough ore to make 4 stacks of bars. Go to the nearest anvil and smelt. Then re-list two stacks of bars. All four if your auction house isn’t that competitive. For the amount of time it takes to smelt said bars, you’ve just made a decent profit (remembering those minerals that take 2 ore for 1 bar). Depending on the mineral and the server this can work out to 5-30g a stack. Not a vast amount of money, but also not a vast amount of time or work.
While we’re on the subject, remember to look closely at Saronite Ore. If the stacks of ore are less than 12.50g a stack, buy them immediately. Go smelt them and sell them to any vendor at 25g a stack. With this option, you don’t even need to worry about the auction house. It’s guaranteed instant profit, and who doesn’t like that?
