1-600-I-PROFIT

Over the weekend I finally dropped Semblance’s Herbalism for Engineering.  Truth be told, this was the plan all along but I wanted to use duo gathering to garner up some money.  If you’re not careful, Engineering can be one of the more expensive professions to level.  But, switch I did, and quickly knocked it up to 130.  I cheated to get there, as I used a leveling guide mostly.  It got methinking about how many people must use these guides on a regular basis to level their profession, especially when modern WoW has you leveling at a much higher clip than your professions.  If you’re a player who stops and levels the professions as you go, then this doesn’t apply.  But there are a tonne of folk who skyrocket to the level cap and then worry about their profs.  While it isn’t usually my cup of tea, I certainly don’t fault that logic.  Heck, there’s a good chance you, or someone you know, did it at least once.

There’s about to be a whole lot more.

People are so excited about the insta-90 boost that they’re overlooking something.  If you are someone who is concerned about not having much gold, you’re going to want to keep reading.  You see, the ridiculous influx of 90’s that Azeroth is going to see soon is going to be lacking something, and that’s professions.  Sure, some will have them, but they won’t be capped or even close.  The gatherers you can’t do a thing about.  There’s no way to help someone else suddenly have 40 more herbs in their bag.  But the crafters…those are the ones you want to begin to circle around, my dear buzzards.

There will be some crafters who boosted a character that was already traveling towards 90 and thus will have at least started to work on their professions.  If they don’t have something for gathering, they’re most definitely going to be hitting the Auction House for materials.  You should have some ready, willing, and waiting…and at a price where you still maintain your profit.  A few stacks of key items will sell quickly when someone’s trying to make a 10-15 point jump in said profession.  That’s if you want a quick fix or easy sale.  But if you want to land the big whales, why even bother with the Auction House?

Go look at a leveling guide for a crafting profession.  If you look closely, not only do they tell you everything you need but they tell you how much you need.  Congratulations, someone’s created a grocery list for you to look after while you’re at the store.  Most of the items will be obtainable, some will definitely be harder than others.  Occasionally you’ll have bad luck, but you’re not going to have any trouble getting most of it taken care.  Any items you can’t, you make note of…and also keep track of what everything costs you!  When you sell a kit, you need to ensure you profit.

Wrong kind of Kitt

JD, what’s a kit?  As I have eluded to, a kit is the complete package for leveling a profession.  You have, according to the guide of your choice (which you’ll want available for your buyer to reference), a complete package of all the materials someone needs to go from 1-X00 in a specific profession.  It is literal one-stop shopping for a player who wants to fast track their skills instead of the painstaking process of finding everything themselves.  Quite often, each item is cheaper than what you’re offering it at…but that’s also based on the assumption that the item is readily available and in the quantity they want.  Often times, the stars don’t align that well.

So what is the appropriate price?  As I always say when it comes to gold related topics, it varies by server.  It also varies by what it cost you to get in the first place.  When I did Jewelcrafting ones at the end of Wrath of the Lich King, I was charging 5-7k per kit and they were costing me less than 3k to put together.  This is why I say keep track of what you spend and what things usually go for on your server.  When in doubt, aim a little higher so that you can give your buyer some wiggle room to “haggle you down.”

Then there is the matter of finding a buyer.  As I said, in this approach you are most definitely cutting out the middle man (in this case the Auction House).  That means traversing a region many of us hate: Trade.  Yes, /2 will get you the most viewers and increase your chances of selling.  It’s also going to get you the usual hecklers but trust me, most of them have no idea what they’re talking about (after all, it’s Trade Chat).  Also remember to post it in Local, because many people in the city have no interest in having Trade even turned on.  Also be patient.  It’s rare you’ll sell a kit on the first go, or even the first few days.  But given what’s coming, subject to change could be very much applicable.

Warlords of Draenor will make for an influx of fresh 90’s ready to take on the world.  But that’s probably a concern right?  All the new 90’s will be wreaking havoc throughout the land they will all be too busy to worry about professions.  Except for one problem with that theory.  The first batch of 90’s really won’t have all that far to go.  Sure, they’ll get some gear (in most cases from an alt that’s been hopping around on the Timeless Isle in preparation), perhaps even do a little raiding or PvP to feel out the mechanics.  On to Draenor?  Nope.  By all reports, players will receive their insta-90 coupon when they pre-purchase digitally.   Folks such as yours truly will have a fresh 90 before the expansion actually goes live.  Those are the people you’re targeting most with your kit(s).  Some of them will definitely want to be capped and others will want to be mostly done so they can hit the ground running when Warlords of Draenor does go live.

It’s definitely something that takes some time and effort to pull off, but the money is there to be made if you have the time, money, and patience for it.  I wouldn’t recommend making as many as you can between now and digital purchasing, unless you’re incredibly confident in all of the above.  Just one or two is plenty.  Once you sell one, make another.  However you choose to do it, there has never been a better opportunity to make it work than the one that is approaching.