Understanding the Auction House

The World of Warcraft Auction House is kind of like an entire game within the game. It's a system that is simple on the surface, but wonderfully complex with a little digging. Here are some tips to keep in mind when using the Auction House, to maximize gold earned.

Buy on the weekends, sell on the weekends. Weekends are the biggest time to play for most people. That means more people on the Auction House. Weekends are also the most common time to raid hard instances, so if you're trying to sell something needed for the instance (protection potions, for example), the weekends is the most likely time for them to get snatched up!

If you're saving money, you don't need to buy from the Auction House. You can keep yourself relatively well geared through quests alone, with a few purchases here and there. Be frugal! Those little bits add up.

Always set the auction to 24 hours. Anything shorter will only lower your deposit by a few silver, but will cut the time people have to buy it dramatically.

Always post a buyout that is slightly above your minimum bid, and slightly below the competition (Auctioneer can do this for you, and much more!). 90% of people on the Auction House will take a reasonable buyout, rather than bid and risk losing. Wouldn't you? Setting a good buyout will move your items more quickly.

Don't be a wimp. If you see an item up for 100 gold, but you know you could probably wait and sell it for 200g, don't be afraid to buy it. It might not move quickly, but it will eventually sell. It just takes patience (and knowing the market!).

Don't rely solely on Auctioneer. I'm looking at the AH right now, and there are 20 listings for Savory Deviate Delight. Auctioneer is listing the profit at 10g+ for each one. But I know that can't be right, because that means EVERYONE selling them is putting them undervalue. What it means is that the market is flooded with them, and prices are down. Learn to spot situations like this and skip them for now.

Study the market. Know what is selling quickly. Know what will probably never sell. Use your own experiences to judge what is worth money and what isn't. If you'd buy it, others probably would too.

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