Gold Capped: Out-of-game auction house access
by Basil Berntsen 
Aug 11th 2010 at 6:00PM
A couple of months ago, Blizzard released the mobile auction house, which is a feature of the armory that lets you buy and sell without having to log into the game. It's available on mobile devices like the iPod touch and Android handhelds; however, it's easiest to use in a browser with a full-sized screen.
This feature has sparked such innovative out-of-game tools like The Undermine Journal (see Gold Capped coverage), which crawls the armory auction house's listed auctions and provides some excellent aggregate data. Blizzard hasn't officially provided support for third-party applications yet, however they're close enough to in-game addons that I suspect it's only a matter of time.
The armory auction house isn't perfect, and since the beta ended, the product seems to have been left pretty much alone, bugs and all. That said, it accomplishes its purpose: You can buy and sell on your auction house instead of working or studying. Join me after the break to explore methods of work avoidance!
When the mobile auction house was still in beta, I wrote up a guide on how to use it. Everything in there is still true, especially the part about mixing up unit prices and stack prices. A long-time reader and Call to Auction contributor, Tyberiuss, emailed me a screenshot showing some spooky pricing behavior that you should be aware of before jumping in.
Spooky action at a distance
Changing the stack size in the posting panel will change the bid price (but not buyout) and switch your auction from unit price to stack price. I think I speak for every single user when I say that this one single bug can single-handedly claim responsibility for all of the inadvertently lost profits I've suffered in 2010. You should do two things in reaction to this bug:
- Always check that you've reset it to unit price before you click create.
- Periodically check out the stackable auctions of your competitors to see if any of them got caught by this bug, allowing you to buy stuff at a deep discount.
Stalking without entering
I cautioned against stalking the AH in my initial article; however, I'm a convert. I will not sit in front of the AH (whether via armory or in game) refreshing for undercuts, but the time cost to doing a quick doublecheck is now so low that it makes sense for me on certain types of products. Here's the comparison:
- Before the armory AH, I had to log in to each character, run to the auctioneer, search for my auction, cancel it if it had been undercut, run to the mail, pick up the item, run back, and relist with a new undercut.
- Since the armory AH, I can click "search" directly from my auctions and cancel any undercuts from the same panel. Relisting can be done straight from my mailbox.
My argument against wasting time "babysitting" auctions still stands. However, the new reality is that most serious auctioneers have the armory auction house, and if you don't take advantage of the faster turnaround to check in more frequently, they will, and you'll see more of your stock come back unsold.
Where will this lead?
I imagine that if the admin of The Undermine Journal can build a product that makes Blizzard's auction data stand up and bark, it would be possible for someone to write a better interface for the tool. Also, it's probably just a matter of time until we have price alerts built into The Undermine Journal, which could add a whole new level of reactive automation to the AH game. Imagine having an email trigger a script that would automatically go and buy out some stock whenever it hits a certain price low.
No matter what else they do, I sincerely hope that Blizzard eventually makes some of the awesome features available to those who pay the premium available as base functionality of the in-game AH. I'd love to be able to clear out my entire mailbox of money with a single click, relist straight from my expired auction mail without having to log out, and access the neutral auction house without having to park an alt there.
Maximize your profits with more advice from Gold Capped, plus the author's Call to Auction podcast. Do you have questions about selling, reselling and building your financial empire on the auction house? Basil is now taking questions for a special series, "Ask an auctioneer," at basil@wow.com. Filed under: Economy, Gold Capped
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
gboyd Aug 11th 2010 6:08PM
You know... I've gone over it several times but I just cannot bring myself to subscribe to this service. The Mobile Auction house, while cool in concept, seems to defeat the main purpose of paying the other subscription... That being, to play the game. To actually walk up to a virtual auctioneer and get my goods on the market. Then turn around and walk over to a mailbox to receive any payments for those goods once they've sold. Doing it all through a web or mobile interface just seems to loose something.
Besides the fact I often forget to even use the Auction House, which would mean that this service would be wasted money for me.
paragorillabear Aug 11th 2010 10:30PM
When did people start spelling "lose" with two "o"s -- i.e. "loose" ???
Did I miss the memo?
Sorry to be a jerkingrammarnazi, but I must say that this new "typo" really really annoys me.
Grovinofdarkhour Aug 11th 2010 6:08PM
ass.
JC_Icefox Aug 11th 2010 6:15PM
I hope Deathwing consumes your firstborn for sustenance, cleaves you in twain, and takes a molten leak in your petunias.
Shikozu Aug 11th 2010 6:24PM
I'm too lost without Auctioneer :-)
Basil Berntsen Aug 12th 2010 8:01AM
The mobile AH isn't the full experience of logging in and using auctioneer, but it's better in some ways. You can clear your entire mail of all sold and expired auctions with a single click, for example. I still need to log in and use auctioneer once in a while, as well as craft in game, however I get a lot more done with this tool.
Nikademus Aug 11th 2010 6:57PM
The Mobile auction house app for Android allows you to get all gold in one click, relist directly from mailbox for expired items and lets you choose what auction house to post your items in. It gives you access to your bags + Bank to post items from. Other than the smaller screen this is by far better than the PC version avail through wowarmory.com.
The PC version is nice cause it is part of armory so you can look for upgrades for your gear and then buy them and have it waiting for you when you log in to that character.
The iPhone version is a slicker interface than the Android version, hoping we get an update but it works for what it was designed for. Not sure if it is really worth the extra 3$ a month but for now i'm keeping it
Nikademus Aug 11th 2010 7:01PM
Forgot it also allows you to change characters without regard to which server they are on.
Blearyeyes Aug 12th 2010 1:47AM
Nikademus, all the things which you mention you can do via the app for Android you can also do with the PC version (listing items from your mailbox and bank, collecting all gold at the click of a button, relisting expired auctions, etc. I don't see what the difference is you are referring to. Don't know about switching between characters on different servers, I only use one server.
Basil Berntsen Aug 12th 2010 8:02AM
Every one of these features is on the PC version. Also, the screen's bigger.
Does the Android one still have that annoying stack versus item price bug though?
Nikademus Aug 13th 2010 7:49PM
I posted that because of the last half of the last paragraph of the article and i quote
"I'd love to be able to clear out my entire mailbox of money with a single click, relist straight from my expired auction mail without having to log out, and access the neutral auction house without having to park an alt there."
The way i red and still read this is that the author was NOT able to do these things, if you can do that from the pc window as well awesome.
Tamarin Aug 11th 2010 8:52PM
Until now I've considered WoW an ethical MMO, revenue raising only with vanity items. For instance, I've appreciated that they haven't put an achievement into the game that can be completed only or significantly easier with bought items.
Reading this article, I see that the mobile AH facility is giving functionality that I, as a log-in player, do not have. I love playing the AH meta-game and I suspect that the increased difficulty I've encountered selling my items the last month or more may be the result of the Mobile AH. For those of you using the Mobile AH, is the benefit you are receiving through this disadvantaging those who do not use it?
Should I be whining about unfair trade practices and slippery slopes?
QQinsider Aug 11th 2010 9:24PM
Agreed. The whole section in the article about "Stalking without entering" highlights the problem. People are getting an in-game advantage by paying for this service, and that's a very slippery slope.
Also,
"Imagine having an email trigger a script that would automatically go and buy out some stock whenever it hits a certain price low."
That's called botting. And that's another problem with this service - it's far, far easier to write this type of bot, and others, against a web api than it is to do it in-game.
This service will last until the gold-sellers realise the potential, and then Blizzard will have no choice but to stop it because they will wreck the market.
Horrible, horrible idea.
SunGod228 Aug 11th 2010 9:25PM
I'm gonna say no, don't whine. It all comes back around. When you still have your job in 6 months because you are not playing WoW AH all day long.
Basil Berntsen Aug 12th 2010 8:07AM
To be honest, Tamarin, I had an article written in that very tone before I ended up writing this one instead. Yes, it gives in game functionality for real money, and yes, they have said on the forums that they don't do that, but Blizzard has always categorized auctioneering with vanity pet collectors and vanity achievement collectors. It's not something that seems core enough to protect from the "no in game advantage for real money" guideline.
Still, I can afford to buy every single BoE in the game many times over, and if I had the desire to have multiple raiding toons, I could buy them into very decent starter raiding gear without having to do nearly as much grinding of 5 man content as normal players. If this doesn't count as a core in game advantage that shouldn't be purchasable, then I don't know where Blizzard draws the line.
KrazyCalvin Aug 11th 2010 9:02PM
I could see how this can be cool if you are only managing some purples or a stack or two of some pots but for me this wouldnt be realistic i dont think. I am typically running 1000-2000 auctions across 2 accounts and 6 characters.
Basil Berntsen Aug 12th 2010 8:10AM
Check the profitability of those 2000 types of items. I'll bet 80% of it comes from 400 of them. Now check the profitability and volume of those 400 items: I'll bet that you can cherry pick a few off the top that are continually in demand and have decently high margins. Those are what you manage with the offline AH.
The in game interface will always be better for managing glyphs, cut gems, scrolls, and basically any product with a bunch of differently priced items.
Blearyeyes Aug 11th 2010 10:29PM
I have been using the remote AH for about a month now. Personally I find it very good seeing as I have limited playtime. When I get time to play WoW, I want to spend it actually questing and doing instances, I don't want to waste half an hour or more of my playtime listing or relisting dozens of greens and blues on the AH. With the remote AH I can do all that housekeeping kind of stuff from work on my lunchbreak or whatever and then devote more of my precious playtime to doing stuff I enjoy more!
Basil Berntsen Aug 12th 2010 8:13AM
I've been on it for 2 months, and while I also have limited playtime, I use it to make so much more gold from my normal crafting that I can afford to spend less time in front of the AH while at my gaming rig at home. Time spend at my gaming rig is (as those of us with families know) precious and limited.
Of course, if I had all day to play in whatever fashion I wanted, I'd be getting little to no benefit from the mobile AH.
paragorillabear Aug 11th 2010 10:37PM
When did people start spelling "lose" with two "o"s -- i.e. "loose" ???
Did I miss the memo?
Sorry to be a jerkingrammarnazi, but I must say that this new "typo" really really annoys me.