Paris Hilton dropping knowledge.

I’m not sure when it happened, but at some point I really liked making gold. I mean, really liked it.

Maybe it was a side effect of leveling so many characters, and I just liked seeing numbers going up. Only in this case it was GP and not XP that was moving the bar. It was actually better than experience, because it was something I could spend to get useful (or not so useful) items. Valor and Honor points? Sure, I could use them in the same way. But gold I could make casually, and solo. I didn’t have to group with people, learn encounters, or deal with the “human element” (IE Mouth-breathing social halfwits).

Cleetus uses his mullet for MOAR DPS.

Coming back to WoW during the dead zone of an expansion is one of the worst times to try and make gold. Fewer people are logging in, and those that are still playing have shelved their mains and are working on tweaking out their second or third string alts. They’re not looking to put any kind of serious coin into their characters with Warlords of Draenor currently in alpha. The new expansion is just around the corner, which means that a) there are new gold sinks coming, and b) most of the gear that characters are currently wearing will be obsolete in a level or two.

As if that wasn’t enough of a handicap, I’m also not online very much. I’m still working on organizing my play time, so when I do get to log in I have only a small window to get anything done. Not a whole lot of time to twiddle my thumbs with my head up my butt. So yes, trying to make gold right now is like trying to ice skate uphill.

Thanks to sites like Reddit I’ve tried a few different things to pad the old bank account. Some have worked better than others.

Crafting – I noticed that there wasn’t much, if any, of the top-shelf crafted PVP gear being sold in the Auction House. So I had my team of Blacksmiths craft a few sets and posted them. It took a couple of weeks for them to sell, but they went. Transmutes work pretty well too, but finding the right markets can be hit or miss.

Mounts and Pets – The new hotness in manufactured mounts seems to be the Sky Golem, but it’s a beast to make (thirty days of power source cooldowns to deal with) and there always seems to be a few of them on the AH. I’m working the daily cooldowns, but I’m not sure if I’ll use them for the Sky Golem. If I do, I’m not sure I’d bother selling it. Back in the day, I sat on the Jewelcrafted panther mounts for weeks before they sold. The Sky Golem is more of an investment in time rather than gold, so I could afford to let it sit around with a For Sale sign on it. I’ll file this as a “Maybe” as far as gold making. I may branch off into Engineering battle pets as well, but I’ll have to analyze the mats vs reward first.

Transmog – I’ve run a few low-level instances and have come up with a couple of pieces of transmog gear that apparently sell for thousands of gold. The problem with this, is that transmog gear is a long term investment. One piece could sit on the AH for weeks without moving, especially now when people are sitting on their gold so they can spend it in WoD. (There’s no flying to be bought in Warlords, people! Loosen those purse strings! – Editor).

Mats – I once wrote an article about Money-Making MILFs, with MILF naturally standing for Mats I Love to Find. I mean, of course it does. What else would MILF stand for?

No idea.

Halfhill Farms has made it easy to literally farm for mats. I’ve got crops planted for Golden Lotus, which still sells quite well (when I don’t use them to make Potions of Luck, which also sell quite well). If you have unlocked the whole field, it’s possible to farm any kind of mats (from enchanting mats to… meat. Ugh.) If you’re on a tight clock like I am, this is one of the best ways to earn gold. It only takes a few minutes to harvest a crop of whatever, replant it, and mail your harvested goodies to your AH toon. It might not be huge bank, but it can be a nice, quick, and steady income.

Auction House – This is probably my biggest money maker. AH flipping has worked out quite well for me, mostly due to the Mobile AH app. Thanks to the app, I can check the AH while I’m at work, look for things that are selling for lower than normal market value, and scoop them up. I’ll either repost them right away at market value (buy low, sell normal) or hold onto them until quantities are low enough for me to repost at a slightly elevated price range (when you’re the only show in town, people will pay what you charge). This works best on the weekend when everybody is logged in and offloading goodies left and right. Market prices drop way down, which is a great opportunity to buy it up and sell it for normal prices during the week. This strategy works best when you have gold to play around with already, so your mileage may vary depending on your starting capital.

I feel like I’ve hit my stride now. I’m earning a few hundred gold a day, at the cost of about fifteen minutes first thing in the morning before I go to work. I’ll log in, transmute and harvest, send everything to my AH toon, post it up, and log off. I’ll then use the mobile app a few times during the day to check prices, buy and repost as necessary, and maybe even check The Undermine Journal for deals if I have free time during my coffee break.

That’s what has worked for me. How are you making gold?