Gold Capped: Transferring to a new server
by Fox Van Allen 
Mar 21st 2012 at 4:00PM
In the game world, just as in the real world, prices of even the most basic of materials fluctuates based on your location. A hamburger in Beverly Hills costs more than a hamburger in Milwaukee. Heck, just about everything costs more in Beverly Hills -- that's just the way it goes. Your dollar is simply worth less there.
But what if we were going to move from Milwaukee to Beverly Hills? We could just brace ourselves and accept that we're going to have to pay more for hamburgers. Or, we could load up our car with hamburgers and resell them for a profit when we arrive.
That concept is probably a bit disgusting -- I wouldn't recommend a cross-country trip with a car filled to the brim with ground meat. But when it comes to realm transfers, the idea's right on the money. On some realms, gold is worth more. On other realms, the stuff you buy with gold is worth more. Making the most out of a server transfer (or indeed, making a realm transfer with the goal of making in-game money from it) is a skill that could make you rich overnight -- literally.
Make an initial assessment
Before you file your change of address forms with the post office, you need to first do a basic assessment of your current realm's economy and the economy of the realm you're going to move to. This may sound difficult, but it's really not. All you have to do is compare prices.
Make a small list of items that you frequently buy on the Auction House. There's no right or wrong way to do it, just be sure to prioritize the expensive purchases -- that is, the 100g Inferno Rubies over the 1g Cinderbloom. Try to incorporate good from a few different professions in your list to ensure variety. Once you're done making the list, go to the The Undermine Journal or AHSpy.com and compare prices on the two realms.
For the sake of example, consider a proposed server transfer between the established realm Proudmoore (US) and Sisters of Elune (US). I found the following prices (effective March 20, 2012):
- Flask of the Draconic Mind 76g Proudmoore; 240g Sisters
- Inferno Ruby 110g Proudmoore; 228g Sisters of Elune
- Maelstrom Crystal 185g Proudmoore; 225g Sisters of Elune
From Beverly Hills to Milwaukee ...
Now, if you're moving from Sisters of Elune (a more expensive realm) to Proudmoore (a cheaper realm), you don't have a lot of options so far as making money goes. Instead, your main operative is avoiding taking a loss.
Since gold buys more on Proudmoore than it does on Sisters of Elune, you're going to want to bring over as much gold as you can. Easier said than done, sure, but all I really mean here is that you want to sell off all your inventory and stored goods. Got 400 Whiptail in your bank? Sell it. That Mammoth Mining Bag filled with ore? Liquidate it.
Unfortunately, there's a limit here -- you're only allowed to realm-transfer 50,000 gold in raw currency. If you're looking to move more cash, you still can by filling your bags with items that show the smallest price difference between realms. Using the data we collected, it seems like you'd be taking the smallest hit by ferrying Maelstrom Crystals.
Of course, alchemists and engineers have another option. They can fill their bags with the incredibly expensive raw materials needed to craft Mechano-hogs and Vials of the Sands. There's literally no difference in prices for vendor goods between servers. Exploit that fact.
From Milwaukee to Beverly Hills ...
If you're moving from a Proudmoore-type realm to a Sisters-of-Elune-type realm, there's a lot of room for money to be made. After all, everything is cheap where you are now. Everything is expensive where you're going. Your tactic is somewhat straightforward: Fill your bags with items that show the highest price discrepancy, in terms of percentage.
If you're going to transfer large quantities of goods from one realm to the next, it's important to keep in mind that your actions can have a massive impact on the economy you're transferring to. This is especially true if you're moving from a larger economy to a small one or if you're seeking to transfer a high net-worth character.
How? Well, consider this: You're transferring to a new realm, and because the price of Inferno Rubies are far lower on your current realm, you decide to purchase a supply. So far, so good -- it's a smart move. But what if that new realm only sees 10 or 20 Inferno Rubies change hands in any given week? What is your stock of 2,000 Inferno Rubies going to do to that market?
The answer is pretty plain and simple. Flooding the market with that much supply -- more than the realm would be able to consume for the entire rest of the expansion -- would destroy any semblance of price equilibrium that had been established on the new realm. If you're going to ferry items from one realm to another, be smart about it, and ferry a mix of (non-hamburger) items.
Maximize your profits with advice from Gold Capped. Want to know the very best ways to earn 10,000 gold? Top gold making strategies for auctioneers? How about how to reach 1 million gold -- or how one player got there and then gave it all away? Fox and Basil are taking your questions at fox@wowinsider.com and basil@wowinsider.com.
Filed under: Economy, Gold Capped
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Nyold Mar 21st 2012 4:07PM
That's the main issue with buying too much of one item. Dumping all of your supplies will result in the price of said item going down, and the act of you buying all of those items will probably move the price upwards in Proudmoore too. I'd say do some research way before you move your realm, and buy a few at a time. In the example above, say, buy Inferno Ruby up until it's about 130g, then stop, let supplies sink in again, buy again and so on.
incoming00 Mar 21st 2012 4:37PM
Beverly Hills! thats where i want to be!
Rmatulac Mar 21st 2012 8:05PM
I transferred from a pretty dead server over to a very active server just after 4.2 hit. Other than the mechano hog I was able to bring over a lot or volatile life that I sold at double the price I paid. If going from a busy server to a smaller economy I'd suggest looking for big price differences in boes and crafting mats like the essences and embers. It's a little late into this expansion to be useful but something to keep in mind.
Iron Mar 21st 2012 4:56PM
@ Fox,
Your article provides good advice to newcomers to the tactic; however, it is missing a very important part which is transferring your character as a guild transfer.
The guild transfer significantly increases:
* the gold cap you can transfer over with; and,
* the amount of mats/items you can bring with you - guild bank tabs ftw!
Oh, and I'm sure we are going to see a future post about how [once again] Inscription is going to be ludicrously profitable in Mists (did anyone miss that they have entirely re-done the Glyphs structure and added more glyphs); I'd expect the pandamonium (see what I did there?!) of new Pandaren's to be buying glyphs long before they are buying gems or enchants or flasks.
Cheers -
shatnerstorm2 Mar 21st 2012 5:24PM
Hmmm, I live in Milwaukee......*starts packing refrigerated van full of hamburgers*
Scuac Mar 21st 2012 5:27PM
100g for an inferno ruby?! At what discount warehouse do you buy those? They don't go under 300g in my realm.
ahsanali Mar 21st 2012 6:00PM
Going @ 91G each on Thrall Horde now.
Andrew Mar 21st 2012 6:01PM
They're sitting at 75-80g on my realm this week. I can't make money off of them no matter how I try.
gewalt Mar 21st 2012 10:59PM
on some servers, the mining bots have returned. They are definitely not on all of them.
Evelinda Mar 23rd 2012 12:55AM
Hovering around 80g on Gundrak alliance at the moment.
which is why I faction changed one of my characters early (or was going to happen eventually anyway, I miss the horde), with a backpack full of cut inferno rubies.
Robot.html Mar 21st 2012 6:17PM
You're forgetting something very important. If items cost more gold then your gold is worth less.
Rust Mar 21st 2012 8:10PM
Fox isn't forgetting that fact. He doesn't mention it, but it's implicitly built into his strategy. Beverly Hills to Milwaukee he is inflating his gold to account for the fact that gold is worth less. Beverly Hills to Milwaukee he is keeping his gold as is and letting the market inflate the value.
Rust Mar 21st 2012 8:17PM
doh, should read "Milwaukee to Beverly Hills he is inflating his gold to account for the fact that gold is worth less."
Emma Marie Mar 21st 2012 6:55PM
Ah, the sisters economy. Home sweet expensive home.
webster56 Mar 22nd 2012 2:33AM
Just yesterday i transferred from Stormreaver to Drak'thul. There were queen's garnets for 800g on Stormreaver and they go for 2800g on Drak'thul! Sadly I could afford to buy only one stack of them before transfer, but still, it's a 40k profit! (it's really really huge amount for me :-D )
Evelinda Mar 23rd 2012 1:11AM
On another topic, with the revelation of all these exciting new glyphs in MoP, are we expecting the glyph market to become easily profitable again? I mean, right now, you can make money out of glyphs, but you gave to be so on top of it that it barely seems worthwhile. A plethora of new glyphs seems like a great way for a lot of people to make money.
I'll be interested to see just how we learn these glyphs, and what we'll need to make them, inkwise... If they're made with pre-panda mats, i'd imagine that people will stockpile those mats, then flood the market with glyphs once MoP launches, which will mean the glyph market will be about the same as it is now. If, on the other hand, they're made with panda flowers, we might see some decent potential profit...