Rules of the auction house

This is a list of very important rules you should follow while dealing with the auction house. Scan the bold, and if you're curious about a topic, read the summary. If you're even more curious, leave a comment and I'll address the matter in a later post.


Don't post on your main
- Always use a bank alt. See my long list of reasons.

Buy raw materials
- A netherweave bag goes on the auction house for 9-15g on my server. The mats - 1 stack of netherweave and a rune thread - fluctuate in cost between 3 and 8 gold. That's a bargain for your bags.

Don't impulse purchase
- By not buying things right away, you can save a bundle. As the market becomes further saturated with a particular item, prices drop.
- Two examples I've watched closely are Frostweave Cloth and Titansteel Bars. When Wrath of the Lich King was brand new, I sold cloth on the auction house for 50g per stack. Now I see stacks for as low as 9g per, even lower sometimes. Titansteel was the same - once upon a time, I was able to sell them for 200g each. Now they go for less than 75.

BottomScanner SearchUI is your friend
- Although I'm not a big fan of the bloated Auctioneer Suite, BottomScanner SearchUI is a proven method for finding under-priced items that you can quickly buyout and re-post. It's also an excellent excuse to stretch your legs and refill your coffee. (SearchUI is included with the Auctioneer addon.)
- Please note that due to the size and scope of Auctioneer, I advise against running it at all on a laptop If you have to, only run it on one character.

Pennies matter
- A player will buy the cheapest item presented to them in the auction house - even if that item is only one copper cheaper than the alternatives. Undercutting a 6g cost with your own priced at 5g 99s 99c, you're equally as likely to find a buyer as if you had posted yours for 5g 80s.

Overprice enchanting materials
- Dust, essence, and shards have no cost to auction them. Even if your dream dust only goes for 1g normally, you're welcome to price it at 5, or even 10 gold if no others are up. If no one buys it, no problem, you can just re-list it later for a (slightly) more reasonable price. And fi they do buy it... then you're rich!

List auctions for 48 hours
- Always post your auctions using the longest time period possible. Over the course of one day, the market might not fluctuate much and someone could undercut you, negating any of your profits. But two days is a long time for the auction house, and once the other auctions have expired or been bought out, yours will be left standing, the only option for potential buyers.

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