Gold Capped: Bait and tackle
by Basil Berntsen 
Nov 4th 2010 at 3:00PM
I'm going to start trying to include a link to something I've enjoyed reading in the gold-making blogosphere every week. Our first installment is JMTC's blogging carnival about lessons learned while preparing for Cataclysm. There are 18 submissions, which should keep you busy for a while.
We've talked about auction house PvP before, but today we're talking about a glyph PvP method I like to call bait and tackle. Here's the problem: In order to sell glyphs, you need to spend a fair amount of time crafting them, as well as milling. In addition, on most sizable realms, there are a few hard-nosed competitors who are willing to play for longer than reasonable players. There have been times when, day or night, if I posted a batch of glyphs, every single one would get undercut exactly every 10 minutes.
You can still make money while fighting these goons, but you basically have to wait for them to run out of stock. With the immensely increased demand these days due to the glyph changes in 4.0.1, this is going to happen for a larger number of glyphs than usual. Those of us too impatient, however, have options.
Attacking the supply
You can either wait for your AH-camping competition to run out of stock on their own, or you could help them along. I'm not talking about constraining the supply of raw mats -- the massive demand for glyphs has constrained the herb supply pretty well without our help. Instead, we will take their inventory from them at a rock bottom price.
Step 1: Identify their threshold. As we spoke about in my APM post, the threshold is the lowest price that APM will undercut. After that, it either stops posting or posts at the fallback. To figure this out, post a glyph they've been undercutting (pick one that's already fairly low on price) at 10g. If they undercut, try 5g. If they don't undercut, try 7.5g, and narrow it down this way. It takes about 40 minutes (during which you can be doing other stuff at the AH) to get a good read, and as soon as you have decent idea about how far they're willing to undercut, you can decide whether to proceed.
Step 2: Plant your bait and wait. Post one of each glyph that's normally selling for a solid price at just over the competition's threshold. Watch your auction panel (not the log) for vultures. It's normal to see the occasional glyph sale to different people; however, if you start to see someone buying multiple (especially multiple classes') glyphs, panic cancel your bait auctions. "/apm cancelall" is efficient.
Step 3: Buy any undercuts. Anyone who blindly undercuts you will be basically giving you a crafted glyph for (ideally) just under what you pay to make them yourself.
Step 4: Cancel bait and relist for previous value. Once you've gotten all the stock you want (or they've stopped undercutting you), go ahead and cancel your glyphs and relist it back at its old value.
Things to watch out for
Your goal is to run your competitor out of stock on the glyphs that sell for the most; however, be aware that anyone can buy your bait, effectively turning your trap back on yourself. Still, if you catch two people mass-listing without checking for cheap glyphs before your bait gets bought out, you're in the black.
As I mentioned above, this market is currently heavy on demand and herbs are hard to find cheaply. When 4.0.1 launched, I was paying 15-30g to craft a single glyph. I'm down to 10g, but it's still steep, and I haven't seen any of the epic herb dumps that I saw before the patch. If the threshold price of my target is below this, I'm willing to risk losing some stock so long as I gain more of the competitors' stock than I lose of my bait. If their threshold price is higher, I'm less tolerant to loss and risk; however, I calculate the time I save milling and crafting into the equation.
Another thing to bear in mind is that despite the massive increase in the cost of making glyphs, the market price of certain glyphs is still below the materials cost. This is due to the fact that some glyphs were so common before the patch that everyone already had them "equipped" and automatically learned them when the patch went live. These are probably not worth going out of your way to stock up on. Pick the glyphs you want to take this way based on market price.
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 4)
Matt Nov 4th 2010 3:05PM
I'm tired of seeing these blog posts that only apply to folks using automated systems instead of clever understanding of game mechanics and economy.
Focus more on how folks who don't let a mod play the game for them can make money.
saltypoison Nov 4th 2010 3:10PM
I supposed I could use written correspondence, snail mail, and an abacus to do my day trading, but that program on my PC just makes it so much easier.
Razzanor Nov 4th 2010 3:12PM
Here's your two-step guide on how to rule the Auction House without a mod.
Step 1: Get off your high horse and install a freakin' mod.
Step 2: Enjoy making money without your arbitrary disadvantage.
A5 Nov 4th 2010 3:13PM
Something tells me Matt gets undercut a lot.
Darasen Nov 4th 2010 3:15PM
So understanding the lowest price a competitor is willing to sell an item for isn't economics?
BritishBulldog Nov 4th 2010 3:18PM
You can play the AH without mods, but it's significantly harder. I'm afraid most of the AH tricks of the trade I've heard involve addons.
StormDance Nov 4th 2010 3:23PM
ok, your guide to this article with out addons: do exactly like this article, but don't use the addons to post or cancel your auctions.
there happy?
Its not the addons that make this article good its the idea of posting items low so that other people undercut you when they aren't thinking and you buying them out that is the good idea
LordMorrolon Nov 4th 2010 3:29PM
Perhaps you should consider writing your own addon-free guide and submit it to the good folks here at Wowinsider. After all, if you're not part of the solution you're part of the problem...
Barfolomew Nov 4th 2010 3:33PM
Essentially, "Damn those carpenters for using tools to build houses for them"
Understanding the market and using addons are mutually exclusive. I hate it when people proclaim that an addon is "playing the game for you". That's just absurd.
You obviously have never sold glyphs in large quantities. If you had, you would understand using the default AH for that purpose is an exercise in futility at best.
Regardless, Basil posts quite often on AH dynamics and market theory. Search his past articles or listen to Call to Auction and you would know this...
Artificial Nov 4th 2010 3:52PM
Did you even read the article, Matt? It's entirely about understanding, and taking advantage of, the AH economy, and did not apply only to people using addons. What did it suggest?
1. Identify other people's threshold. Did he suggest using an addon to do this? No, nor is it something you need an addon to do. You just post glyphs for various prices, manually.
2. Plant your bait and wait. He did suggest that, if someone starts buying your bait, using "/apm cancellall" to cancel your bait auctions is efficient. However, and I know you may find this shocking, but you can cancel auctions without using any addon at all!
3. Buy the undercuts. No mention of addons here.
4. Relist at old value. Again, no addons mentioned, not are they required.
This was an article about how to use clever understanding of game mechanics and the economy to make money on the AH, using a method perfectly usable by anyone without a single addon at all (although having one can be helpful).
In short, this article was exactly what you said you wanted. Try reading it before you criticize it.
Heilig Nov 4th 2010 4:01PM
"I'm tired of seeing these blog posts that only apply to folks using automated systems instead of clever understanding of game mechanics and economy."
I'm a little offended that you think that I'm using automated systems INSTEAD of clever understanding. I happen to use both. The automation allows me to spend MORE time understanding and less time doing manual labor. If you were half as smart as you think you are, you would be doing the same thing instead of being undercut by people that know every bit as much as you do AND have their business automated.
People like me.
Priestess Nov 4th 2010 5:40PM
I agree with the base of Matt's complaint, because I also don't use addons. But I wouldn't get angry about it. I still read Basil's articles to get some ideas on the economics going on in WoW, what's selling, and most often, what my competition is up to. It admittedly makes cycling auctions more time-consuming to go mod-less, but that certainly doesn't take anything away from the good ideas presented in these columns.
Anye Nov 4th 2010 7:24PM
This article is sort of the OPPOSITE of "use these automated tools to make money". It's about "here's how to turn the tables on people stupidly using automated tools". So I'm not sure why you're complaining.
Want to avoid people who automate entirely? Get out of the glyph and enchanting mat markets. I've started following Gold Capped and have casually started playing a few markets (enchanting rods, armor kits, etc.) and had pretty decent success without the use of any automated addons. Nor do I get the impression that my competition use such addons... And I'm on a pretty popular server. (I've tried the mats market, and it's exactly the way it's described in these articles.)
The problem is, automated addons and borderline exploitation aside, Auctioneering is pretty simple if you use your head. Basil could certainly write an article about the different professions and different specializations and how to make money on them, but they would all pretty much read the same way: "Find a market where you can sell the product at an acceptable markup without being undercut." Good markets: those with high demand, those with a controllable supply, or those that are "niche" enough to avoid a lot of competition.
Gold Capped would get pretty boring and unhelpful if every article was simply that. And really, if you don't understand those basic concepts, you probably shouldn't be playing th AH in the first place.
Evlyxx Nov 4th 2010 7:29PM
The AH can be succesfully used with or without addons.
Without addons I can scroll through the auctions 1 by 1 and write everything down on paper and perform the exact same task that the addons perform for me.
The big difference is time, In the time I have manually scanned 19000 items evaluated the data from it and reacted accordingly the auctions on the auction house would have changed so dramatically that I'd have to start over and repeat the never ending cycle.
Just how you used you PC to respond to the post here rather than send a written note through the postal mail system, I choose to use the fastest most efficient method of achieving results.
Dan Nov 4th 2010 10:35PM
Matt must've been the one who sent the mail in the screenshot.
Jay Nov 5th 2010 3:58AM
Matt has a good and valid point.
That his comment is not faded and is actually above normal ranking suggests that more people than him are interested in playing the game manually and not with complete automation.
To those who are berating him above, shame on you for not allowing people to decide not to use the EZ-Mode.
jakedamuss Nov 13th 2010 7:35AM
the addon does not play the game for you. You clearly know nothing about business/economics/money.
In real life if you are are in charge of the money for a company, you would use software such as excel to automate most of the calculations for you and save you time. Addons like auctioneer are simply in-game excel programs to save you time.
bep4815 Nov 4th 2010 3:05PM
i made a fake company for a class one time called "Master(TM) Bait & Tackle"
Hal Nov 4th 2010 3:25PM
Did you, ahem, spank the competition?
*rimshot*
Rufio Nov 4th 2010 4:48PM
The competition didn't give a toss!