by D A Lavizzo

Created on: May 06, 2008

There are a lot of ways to make gold in World of Warcraft, but the easiest one by far is to capitalize on the laziness of other players. Much like in real life, crafting items in World of Warcraft takes materials, and someone has to go out and gather those materials. Why not you?

After playing World of Warcraft since launch and experimenting with various skills, the two that I have found that bring in a consistent amount of cash are Mining and Skinning. Additionally, they work well together, since one is a "tracking" profession, and the other is innate - meaning you don't have to track anything down for it. Skinning will bring you great profits in Outland - next time you log in take a look around at how many Beasts you see. Now imagine each one of those hides selling for 90s or so. Starts to add up, doesn't it?

Also, mining can be profitable due to the fact that most mining nodes in the Outlands will also cough up high level gems or even motes, which can later be crafted into Primals. On my server some Primals sell for upwards of 40g. Not bad for some junk you find laying on the ground, and don't even have to kill anything for.

Alternatively, another way to make money is by going Enchanting. Now before you start to say anything, let me explain. I don't mean you should actually enchant anything - that's the quickest way to the poorhouse, to be honest. What most people fail to realize is that Enchanting materials have no fee to be listed on the auction house. You can keep relisting them until they sell and never come out of pocket - 100% profit! Further, Enchanting mats are always in high demand. So, Enchanting / Mining or Enchanting / Skinning is another possibility.

One thing that is an absolute must for any real businessman or woman in World of Warcraft is a little addon called Auctioneer. What this small addon does is scan the auction house before you post your materials and give you an average price, ensuring you get top dollar for your goods. It will also automate the selling process - say you have 10 stacks of 20 Silk Cloth. Auctioneer will make it easy to list all of them at once, at the same price. It will even undercut the competition - making sure that your auctions are the first ones on the list for potential buyers. You can find it at Curse.com or by hitting a Google search.

Hopefully this helps all you budding WOW entrepreneurs. There is definitely money to be made in World of Warcraft. Using these methods enabled me to purchase an epic flyer within weeks of the Burning Crusade's release, and now that I've shared my secrets you'll be well on your way! Good luck!

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