January 2012 Glyph Sales - Lightbringer

Here is my glyph sales graph for my brand new character on a new server, Lightbringer-US after joining the <Power Word Guild>.

The most important thing to note, is this is a graph of a glypher starting from scratch! Plonked down in Gilneas, fighting his way to Darnassus to start up his inscription business, with only a trusty puppy for a pet and a bag of freshly picked herbs he picked himself.

Stats:

• Total Glyph Sales: 18,733g
• Total Glyphs Sold: 489
• Average Price: 38g31s

One of the highlights was the second day of sales, and while you think I might have gotten lucky with a big ticket glyph (presumably from my first minor research) there's 43 sales on that day. That was just massive for a glypher just starting out, and allowed me to invest so much coin back into herbs and inks.

I made an effort to get to level 20 very quickly (I got there on the first day my glyph sales started rolling in) in order to have the largest selection of glyphs in the shortest possible time. Leveling from 1 to 20 is much, much quicker than from 20 to 35, which is the next milestone for leveling a profession. To this day (a month later) my hutner is still only level 28.

As the month progressed, I collected more recipes through research and had enough gold to make every profitable glyph that I knew and list it on the AH. For a low level character, low level glyphing is a lucrative and steady income. The number of sales varied quite a lot depending on the competition. Lightbringer-US is a large server and the glyph market is generally quite saturated.

The giant spike towarsd the end of the month coincides with the release of a new version of Tradeskill Master (or TSM as we lovinly know it). The new feature, Reset Auctions, allows you to scan your auctioning groups for opportunities to reset the price for under priced items. The paramaters you can set are sophisticated enough to really target bargains and reduce the risk. Here's how I set mine up for glyphs.

• Max reset cost: 100g
• Min reset profit: 50g
• Max price per item: 20g
• Max quantity to buy: 10

What this means is I'll pay at most 100g total to buy out ALL the glyphs required to reset the price, and the reset profit of 50g ensures that at worst case, I need to sell two of those glyphs to break even. In practise, the reset profit I'm usually targeting is between 100 and 200g so as long as I get a sale, I'm profiting even if the price immediately plummets back down.

I won't pay more than 20g for a glyph to reset it, as that is close enough to the cost price of making the glyph in the first place, with a little extra thrown in since I'm saving time not making the glyph (or milling the herbs and making the inks). The 20g/100g options mean that I effectively won't buy more than 5 glyphs at my maximum price.

The "Max quantity to buy" option is set at 10 to reduce the likelihood I'll buy leveling glyphs that are constantly dumped on the auction house for dirt cheap prices. The other thing I check manually (well it's in the tooltip, so it's very quick) is how many of that glyph I have on hand. I don't like to have more than a stack of any particular glyph, since it is usually those leveling glyphs that are available in large quantities. I've considered that it might be profitable to keep buying the super cheap glyphs  and destroying them to keep the price high, but that feels like destroying surplus oranges while people are starving, just to turn a buck.

So for example, there are [Glyph of Warlock Awesomeness] on the AH for 7g, 8g, 10g, 10g, 15g and 99g. Reset Auctions will find it and allow me to quickly buy out the first 5 glyphs for a total of 50g, and when I repost after collecting them from my mail box, I sell one for 98g. I just made 48g on my initial investment and have 4 more glyphs to sell.

In short the Reset Auctions function allowed me to greatly expand my selection of glyphs far wider than I can hope to make as a level 28 scribe.

I had a little oopsie with the reset function that I'll talk more about later, and I'm currently getting stuck into the new improved options for dealing with posting (randomly enchanted) transmogrification items in TSM as well. If you are reading this post, use the auction house to sell things and don't have TSM, grab it now! It requires a little setup, but there are fantastic resources available to help you on your way, like Faid's TSM Videos - A Beginner's Guide.

10k on a New Server

Previously I wrote about my first 10 days on a new server, amassing 3,000 gold starting a worgen from scratch and working the low level glyph market. I had a couple of nice transmog sales, which helped while I was reinvesting all my coin back into herbs and inks.

For the 10k graph, since I wasn't reinvesting every last copper into materials or BoEs, I've just expressed my capital as a result of my glyph and transmog sales. The first thing that will jump out at people is day 18, where I made a 2,500+g transmog sale. Thanks to a pair of [Saltstone Leggings], I hit 25% of my 10k target in only one sale.

I hit 10k on day 19, and already transmog sales had contributed 40% of my capital. I was very happy with how the glyph market turned out, as almost 7.5k gold profit in 3 weeks starting from scratch is a great result.

I finally bit the bullet and invested in a bank alt, making the gnomish run all the way into Ironforge to pick up bags and bank space. It allowed me to concentrate more on the growing number of glyphs I was stocking and getting ready for the new Reset Auctions function in TSM.

Next time, I'll show everyone how they can lose 10k gold in an instant and learn some good lessons while playing with new addon features.

Tips for low level inscription

I started a new character on Lightbringer-US to join the <Power Word Guild>, the official guild of Power Word: Gold. It was just the excuse I needed to experience the Worgen storyline, which I had wanted to do for a while, but just never seemed to get around to it. I'd also wanted to get a feel for playing the Worgen race as a possible race change for my level 85 hunter.

<Power Word Guild> is a guild designed as a place for gold makers to hang out and interact. There is another guild across the globe on the EU servers too, as well as a guild forum. If you are interested in the guild, or just learning more about the gold making community, head on over to Power Word: Gold and check it out.

As a brand new character, and a glyphing enthusiast I wanted to see just how profitable inscription is at low levels. Get straight to the tips, or read on for my story of how I started making gold on Lightbringer-US.

First up, I played through the Worgen starting zone, and had a fantastic time. I started as a hunter, and liked having "dog" to keep me company (to this day he hasn't been named, despite barking in trade about [Certificate of Ownership]). By level 10 I had 55 silver to my name, and I actually felt quite wealthy. I made it to Darnassus and got some training and hit level 13. My first sale on the AH was [Malachite] for a huge 3g28s. I was gobsmaked. Over 4g after logging in on my second day of a new character was very exciting.

I had chosen to take up herbalism in order to get me through those first few levels of Inscription, and went off questing, making sure I picked every herb that I saw. There is nothing worse than coming across a herb in your travels that you can't pluck from the ground, so I kept a keen lookout. So my second day consisted of a quick herbing session with some miscellaneous quests, and looking for some teeny tiny transmog items (none of which turned into anything).

Overnight, I had a great deal of success selling some linen cloth and little bits and pieces from questing, giving me 21g. I was pretty excited, because now I had a bank roll. So I started with my herbs, leveling inscription and looking at the leveling glyphs that were the highest in value. I sold my first two glyphs on my third day, bumping me up to 78g. Two glyphs. TWO, and I'd not only quadrupled my working capital, but I had 19 glyphs on the auction house. I was motivated to herb, quest and even drop into the dungeon finder with my guild mates to move on up to level 20, where I could increase the cap on my inscription skill.

Logging in on my fourth day, I had sold 12 glyphs for 269g and I was jumping for joy. I pretty much reinvested the lot back into herbs, and found 60 [Midnight Ink] at 1g/ea. I also had my inscribing as high as 190.

On the fifth day, I had sold about the same in glyphs, and while reposting 43 glyphs, I realised I need more bag space. So a quick check of the auction house, and I couldn't believe my eyes! [Pack of Endless Pockets] were on sale for 5g/ea. I quicly snapped 3 up, two for my bags, and one for my bank. It instantly made a difference in how quickly I could manage my inventory. I hit 225 inscription and level 21 (how OP is the XP from cooking and fishing dailies at low level?!?!) and enjoyed a quick scan for transmog items.

Logging in on the seventh day, I saw my first transmog sale for 225g. From the graph, you can sell what a boost that was, giving me a good buffer as I was reinvesting almost every coin back into inscription (or cheap transmog items). I kept on milling and glyphing, making a reasonable return on my time and the gold spent on herbs, making sure I did my Minor Inscription Research every day.

My graph shows a good, solid profit and increase in capital with low level inscribing, even as I spent coin on increasing my glyph stocks and grabbing the odd transmog item. I very quickly had a sizeable bank roll (nearing 2k in only 9 days) and as I only introduced one new glyph per day, wasn't needing to reinvest a lot into herbs and inks.

The last chunk of orange, was a 750g sale for a [Warmaul Helmet] which instantly pushed me into the realm of what I consider wild riches for a level 23 hunter. Life on Lightbringer-US is great, and 10 days later (with a very limited amount of play time) I had reached the 10k mark and level 25. That graph will have to wait for another post, so I'll get right to the point here and present...

Tips for Low Level Inscription

Minor Inscription Research
THE most important tip is to do your Minor Inscription Research every day, without fail. Every low level scribe is going to be making a bunch of the trained recipes just to level up. Some of these seem to have a never ending supply, and almost no demand. So glyphs that come from research are where the money is. Scribes that are leveling purely for the end game, their profession buff and avoiding a rep grind will often not do research at all, so already the supply for these glyphs is reduced to those that are active in the glyph market.

For me, there was another factor in play as to why glyphs from research do better. Say for example, you throw yourself into a new server and a new guild full of fellow gold makers. BAM! Inscription is a fantastic profession for low level characters, and when you have competition who know what they are doing, glyphs from research can help you avoid some of the massive overlap when competing with them. I might discover [Glyph of Mark of the Wild], but my fellow <Power Word Guild> members might not have it yet.

Herbalism
There aren't too many other crafting professions that can make a good profit at low level. So when picking a profession to go with Inscription, I recommend herbalism. Particularly when you are first starting out, herbing as you level can help you level up, and avoid spending the precious little capital you have on herbs. Once you have a bank roll though...

Check the AH Regularly
It doesn't take long to scan the auction house for low level herbs to mill. If there's some interest, I can post my Auctionator shopping lists that are neatly divided by inks. If you can get to the auction houseand have a quick peek, you might be surprised at just how cheap people are selling low level herbs. I try to cap my spend at 75s per herb and really go to town under 50s. If I have glyphs to make in the 100g+ region, I might splash out on some more expensive herbs.

My Auctionator shopping lists also include the pigments and inks themselves, so don't forget to check the final product before spending too much on herbs. If you have a decent bankroll, there is also some value (in your time) in buying the inks direct if they are cheap enough. The only reason to mill herbs is because it is worth your time in the savings you make over purchasing inks themselves.

Get TSM
Tradeskill Master is at the backbone of my entire Enterprise. The link that sends you over to curse has a ton of guides listed, including getting started with crafting glyphs. It does take some time to set up and learn, but if you stay in the glyph market for any length of time, you will be repaid many many times over. There will be a new version of TSM out soon, so keep a lookout over at Nerf Faids for videos that are ready to go when it drops.

Cancel and Repost
In my regular glyph market, I never cancel an auction. It is completely inefficient for me to do so. I have a stockpile of glyphs in the bank, and if I need to post more, I just post more from my stock. I can then drain my mailbox wihle I'm AFK, and quickly deposit them in the bank.

A brand new character can't operate like this. You can't afford to stock 15 - 20 of every type of glyph, and even if you could, you'd probably have a hard time finding low level herbs and inks at the right price over a short period of time to create the stockpile... and then there's bag and bank space issues to contend with.

So I recommend crafting one (or two at most) of every profitable glyph you can and posting them up for 48 hours. When you manage to get back to the server and the auction house, check for undercuts (I use Auctionator). Cancel and repost. Then do a scan (using TSM) and make the profitable glyphs you currently don't have posted. Repeat. Along with searching for herbs and inks, this is the core of your glyph business.

Bag / Bank space
I admit, I've been a little slack in this area. I grabed my 3x [Pack of Endless Pockets] and haven't done a lot since. So as soon as you have the coin, grab the biggest inscribing bags you can afford, and use two of them permenantly in your bags. Inscribing bags in the bank are great for storing excess inks too. The goal with increasing your bag space is to be able to do a full cancel and repost with a single trip to the mailbox. Every time I scan, cancel, open mail or post... I'm alt tabbed out of wow and writing a blog post, reading email / rss / twitter or running my characters through wow reforge (or even making my wife a cup of tea). Getting the most out of every opportunity to be productive in game becomes second nature to gold makers.

Biproducts help you level
You can use [Hunter's Ink], [Dawnstar Ink] and [Royal Ink] to significantly level Inscription. Firstly, they are a biproduct of milling herbs to make glyphs, so you might as well get some use out of them. Secondly, getting these points from biproducts can help you avoid making trained glyphs that sell poorly. If you've been able to buy inks direct, and haven't needed to mill herbs for these biproducts, make sure you check the auction house for them (and associated pigments). Just as with trained glyphs, players often dump these biproduction on the auction house super cheap just to get rid of them, so you can grab some Inscription skill points efficiently.

Try resetting glyph prices
There is still a market for trained glyphs, they aren't all [Glyph of Voidwalker]. When you see the market flooded with glyphs at well below cost price, do an assessment about how much risk you want to take on, and buy them all out. Be prepared to try for a quick sale, recoup your coin and sit on your stock, as the price may well plummet as the next batch of scribes levels up.

[Glyph of Starfire]

With some success in resetting markets, you can apply the practise to the rest of the market (including glyphs you don't know yet).

Try out Transmog flipping
Last but not least, try your hand at the transmog market. Glyphing is a great way to make a steady income while leveling a profession. At max level, glyphing can drive your enterprise to the gold cap. However, particularly at low level, there's a great rush from turning a couple of gold into hundreds or thousands in a single transaction. My post on Transmog Auctionator Lists has links to a bunch of resources on the topic.