How are you guys becoming filthy rich?

[--Pete]

Hi,

I originally tried going the Auctioneer-flip-bargains route and I just couldn't get into it. I was always annoyed when I got stuck with a bad deal and had to eat a loss in profit. That turned me off of flipping.

We lose 5 gold on each item, but we make up for it in volume.

It bugged me at first. You have to watch out for Chinese Auction items that will lose you money through too many postings. but with a little practice, I got fair at cutting my losses and keeping my eye on overall profits rather than profits or losses on individual items.

Your method is probably better for people that study market trends and likely turns a far greater profit from investment, but my method doesn't require any micromanagement and is a nice, steady stream of incoming wealth.

Keep in mind that when I was doing that, there was little else I could do. My mental and physical condition, not to mention my computer, pretty much eliminated most things. Eating (a small matter at the time), sleeping (14 to 16 hours a day), and watching TV were about my only other activities. So AH banking gave me something that scratched my itch for something to analyze.

As for time invested, I had to level 2 characters to 85 (and the required tradeskills) for it to really work. Once I got there, the time I spend making money isn't a whole lot.

I don't know how I could level characters without fighting, which I could not do. My bankers ranged in level from 1 to 7 (IIRC) and that only because some of them turned banker after having started as something else.

Prospecting ores takes the longest amount of time, but I set aside that job for when I am watching something on TV.

I'd say I did all my banking while watching TV. I only watch things recorded on TiVo or streamed. So, if more than cursory attention was required, I could always pause the TV. Between an auto-mail program and Auctioneer, many of the routine tasks were greatly automated -- a good thing since, with about 4 to 6,000 items cycling through the AH every two days, every second added to the process per item added about an hour per day to banking.

I'd say I spend less than 15 minutes per day solely doing money-making stuff. The biggest chunk of that time is prospecting, and the second biggest chunk of that time is sifting through my mailbox. If I don't have to prospect, I can do my auctioning in no time at all.

I started out banking almost by accident. Sue and I had avatars we played together. I felt we were getting ripped off by selling a lot of our stuff "in the field" as it were, but traveling to a main city to the AH was just too much of a hassle. Since there were mailboxes most everywhere, I got the idea of sticking one of my rarely played characters near an AH. Then I started flipping things, since I was there anyway. Back then, it was about ten to fifteen minutes a day. No matter how you do it, banking can be a minor item or a major time sink.

--Pete