In this second part of my tutorial on how to make gold in WoW using Auctioneer, I’m gong to show you one really simple way to use the addon to make gold.

For a lot of players, SimpleAuction contains all the functions that you need. You will get the improved Browse tab and the simple Post tab which allows you to search for items and post items easily. You will not get the more advanced Appraiser window for posting, nor will you get the SearchUI or BeanCounter. These last two are primarily useful to people who are intending to use the auctioneer method (buy items at a low price and immediately resell for profit) covered later in this e-book.

The simple interface is a great, easy way to make gold in WoW without spending too long figuring out the add-on.

If you only want to sell items that you gather, loot or craft, SimpleAuction may well be enough. In this case, you can download the simpified version of the add-on from the Auctioneer Addon site downloads page. Click the icon for the current Release version at the top then select the download in the Auctioneer section (not AuctioneerSuite - this is the full version). Make sure to delete or disable the full version if you already installed it.

Now head on over to an Auction House and interact with the Auction House NPC to display the interface. The add-on makes some useful modifications to the default Browse window. This will still be the default screen that you see when you visit the Auction House. You can always click the Browse tab to come back here.

Auctioneer Browse Tab and Compact UI

Auctioneer Browse Tab and CompactUI

If you installed the Auctioneer simple package instead of Auctioneer Suite, you may not see all the tabs and buttons shown in the image.

The main changes to notice are those in the list of items (provided by the CompactUI module in Auctioneer):

• the stack size and minimum level in separate columns
• a checkbox at the bottom of the list that allows you to display price per item instead of total price. This is very useful for making price comparisons.
• a color-coded percentage of market value (if you have the add-on configured to show this).
  This is a great feature if you want to make gold in WoW because it will help make sure you never pay too much for an item. You will need AuctioneerSuite for this to work since simple Auctioneer doesn’t provide statistics to calculate market value.

Now, click on the Post tab. This tab provides a simple way to post items on the Auction House for the best possible price. You will need to have performed at least one good scan before using it and the more recent the scan was done, the more relevant the price it recommends for your items will be. So if you haven’t already, go ahead and scan now by clicking the Play button at the top of the window.

Auctioneer Simple Post

To auction an item, drag the item (or stack) to the box at the top left (currently ‘Borean Man O’War’ in this screenshot). Directly below the item name, you will see what is being auctioned and for how much using the current settings. When you are happy with this, click Create Auction to post the items.

In the left hand bar, you can see settings for this auction in more detail. You can also edit anything that you are not happy with. If you like, you can change the bid and buy out prices for your item. But generally you will want to use the suggested price.

You can also edit how your items are stacked. In the screenshot above, you can see they are auctioning one stack of 10. But you could changes this to 2 x 5 and auction two separate stacks of 5 items, price adjusted accordingly.  One good gold secret of World of Warcraft is to only list items in full stacks if players always want to buy full stacks.  Some stackable items sell better if posted singly, so experiment with different stack sizes for your items.

You can also set the duration of the auction. I always set mine to 48 hrs personally (because I am lazy and don’t want to relist often). The downside to this is that your deposit will be higher. But you only lose the deposit if you do not sell the item at all.

The important options are at the bottom.  If you already have this item listed on the Auction House, you can select the  ‘Match my current’ option to list extra items of the same type at the same price.

Select ‘Undercut competition‘ to automatically undercut other sellers by a percentage (the exact percentage is configurable in the options. I find the default works well enough).  You should usually use this option, but look out for sellers with ridiculously low prices and don’t bother undercutting them. Particularly for trade and faction items that sell in large amounts, the cheap stuff will sell quickly then people will start buying your modestly priced items and you will make more money than if you had undercut the stupid cheap ones.

Finally, you can select ‘Remember fixed price’ to use this price for all future auctions of this item (until you change the option or manually edit the price). Most of the time, you won’t use this. You are usually better to set prices in line with the current market.

If you want to update the list of auctions of this item, click the Refresh button.

When everything is to your liking, click Create Auction. Often, this is all you will need to do to list an item, so you can get everything on the Auction House very quickly. What better way to make fast gold that with single-click price optimized auction listings?

If you want to learn more about Auction House gold making strategies, Mayley Winters has launched a complete video series that shows you how to master the Auction House. Check out my review here.

So what is Auctioneer?

Its an Add-On to the WoW user interface that expands the functions of the Auction House in the game. Basically it provides just about every feature that you could ask for when it comes to getting rich at the Auction House. If you are trying to figure out how to make gold in WoW, this add on should be one of your first steps.

The main way that the add on helps people to make gold in WoW is by gathering information and analyzing it for you. You can use Auctioneer to scan all the auctions that are currently listed and record the item that is being sold and the price that it is being sold at. You can run the scan daily and over time you will begin to build a very clear picture of what items sell for a good price.  Auctioneer can also compare auction host sales prices to NPC vendor prices and even what the disenchant potential value of the item is, so you know if you will make more money by selling it on the AH, disenchanting it or selling it to an NPC.

This tutorial will teach you how to use the windows and options in Auctioneer to find and resell items for profit and will give some basic ideas on strategies and settings. For more in depth info on Auctioneering strategies and advanced sales techniques, check out Mayley Winters’ highly successful video series, Check out the Auction House Mastery guide for yourself.

Downloading and Installing Auctioneer

So lets get started by downloading the Add On and installing it. Auctioneer comes in two main ‘flavors’. The full ‘Auctioneer Suite’ which contains all the fun, advanced Auctioneer stuff like Appraiser for pricing and SearchUI for finding items you can buy and resell at a profit.  Basic ‘Auctioneer’ just contains the simple pricing and posting functions, so this good for people who just want an easy way to auction items they have farmed, gathered or crafted. This tutorial covers both versions, but I advise you to get the full version because you really can make much more gold with it. Only the full version is available at Curse.com. If you want the lite version, you will need to visit the add-on homepage here .

1. Visit the Auctioneer page at Curse.com http://wow.curse.com/downloads/wow-addons/details/auctioneer.aspx. Curse is a great source for WoW addons by the way.

   

2. You can use one of two methods to download and install it. The first is to click the manual download button and then unzip the file into your *wow install directory*\Interface\Addons. Replace *wow install directory* with the directory in which you have the game installed. If you cannot see the add-on when you get into the game and visit the Auction House, try clicking the Add Ons button on the Character Select screen and make sure that Auctioneer is listed and enabled.
3. The second method is to use the Curse Client . This is the method that I use for lots of reasons. You can download and install add-ons with a single click on the website or you can find and install them through the Curse client program. It also warns you when add-ons that you have installed are updated and lets you install the new version. This is a great help on patch days when all of your add-ons get an update at the same time. You should note that the client will gather in-game data from you as you play and add it to wowdb.com, including your character profile.

Once you have Auctioneer installed, log in to the game and head to the nearest Auction House. You should see that your Auction House window got a lot more complicated! Or maybe a lot more interesting is a better way to look at it. For now we are just going to perform a normal scan.

Auctioneer Main Controls with Scan Button Highlighted

Scanning the Auction House For Price Data

At the top of the window you will see controls similar to those on a music player. Click the ‘Play’ button to begin the scan. The text will tell you how long you can expect the scan to take. It could take up to ten minutes so plan to go get a coffee or something. Don’t try to use the Auction House while the scan is in progress because it won’t work very well. Just let its do its thing. (The good news is that there is a faster way to scan that I will show you in a later section of this guide, which will work for most players.)

Once a scan is complete, you have some data to play with. Try to scan every day and you will gain a good picture of trends as well as a snapshot of prices at a single point in time and that lets you make better selling decisions.

How Often Should I Scan?

If you plan to use Auctioneer to help you buy auctions and resell them at a lower price, you should get at least 4-5 days worth of scans (preferably 2 full scans a day) before you completely rely on the data. If you just want to sell stuff you have gathered, looted or crafted, you can get started after one scan, since you mostly need to know what is on the Auction House when you post your items.

If you want to learn more about Auction House gold making strategies, This is a complete video series that shows you how to master the Auction House. Check out my review here.