C.R.E.A.M.

(Yup, I'm old enough to still think that Wu-Tang references are appropriate)

Obtaining large amounts of gold has always been a mystery for me in this game (and still is). Regardless of the server or faction I’ve always been a gold poor player. When I started the game a couple of years ago (Alts, has it been a couple of years already?) I had my buddy on the server with me. He made me some Netherweave bags and tossed me some cash just to get me started. I actually remember on one occasion I was trying to fly from Thunderbluff to Orgimmar and I couldn’t afford the flight cost. I had to borrow enough silver just to take the flight. I’ve also started a Death Knight on a second server. That doesn’t really count as starting a “new” character considering by the time you finish the starting zone with a DK you have pocketed around 60 gld. So, for the first time in a couple of years (yikes) I’ve started a new toon on a new server and I would be left to my own devices to gather cash.

After starting Shammy Davis the very next thing I did was start a level one Blood Elf for my bank alt. I’m not sure if using a Blood Elf is 100% necessary, but I like the time it saves me from running back and forth to the Auction House. Plus, I use the mail system as a bottom less bag. I can empty my bags of all useful articles and keep on questing.

The next step was to choose a couple of professions for my main. I understand that crafting professions (Blacksmithing, Engineering, Tailoring…) are all gold sinks. With this in mind I decided to start as a Skinner and Herbalist although any combination of gathering professions would work. For the first five to ten levels all I did was gather mats and mail them to my banker for posting on the AH.

Sell, sell, sell.

Once I was able to bank roll roughly 25 gold I switched from Skinning to Inscription. Not for gold making purposes, but just for shatts and giggles.

My banker’s role in all of this was very important. Every day I would log into my banker and scan the auction house using the Auctioneer mod. Religiously I scanned and scanned, once a day during the week and two to three times on the weekends. After a week of gathering data I began to use a couple of additional features on Auctioneer.

There are two fantastic scans that a player can do using this mod. One is called Vendor, and it’s under the search tab. A vendor search looks for articles in the AH that people are listing for less than a vendor would pay for them. Every day I perform a vendor scan and every day I consistently make two to three gold.

The next scan I use is Resale, this scan is found under the search tab as well. Resale scans the AH for all articles being listed at or below normal price (as gathered by Auctioneer). Once the list of articles is gathered I would buy or bid on as much as I could until I had almost zero gold left. All the articles that I bought or won in bids were relisted for “normal” value.

Simple and quick, the whole process takes me approximately 10- 15 minutes. By using this process I was able to reach 1K gold before I reached level 40.

Now I know that this probably isn’t earth shattering for most players. But for me it was a matter of making a goal for myself and achieving it. I am able to afford bigger bags now, I can afford all my training, and I can afford my shinny new mounts. It’s nice to know that the cash is there if I need it.