Difficulty level: very difficult
risky
Pre-requisite: Requires a second account or a partner you can trust
We are now going to see another advanced technique to make a profit in WoW. I’d rather warn you right away, it is absolutely not within everyone’s reach and it is not essential that you use it.
However, since I promised I would reveal to you as many methods as possible, whether it is a secret or not, that’s exactly what I will be doing :).
This method is called inter-faction trade-off.
There are pre-requisites and quite a lot to do. However, and obviously, this method is totally worthwhile, financially speaking, when you use it correctly.
In short, the idea is to be able, on the same server, to monitor exchange rates for the Alliance AND the Horde and to be able to buy from one faction to resell higher to the other.
Not so easy when you know:
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- that the only way you can transfer from Alliance to Horde and from Horde to Alliance is via a neutral Auction House like in Booty-Bay.
- that this type of transactions are taxed at 15%.
- that you cannot buy your own items (same account).
- and that you will need some cash flow on both sides.
This is where things get tricky since, in order to effectively use this method, you will either have to own 2 accounts, or join efforts with a family member or a friend. In any case, someone you can blindly trust.
If you have not given up on this idea yet, here is what I recommend you do.
You will need 4 characters.
Two on the first account for the Horde
and
Two on the other account for the Alliance.
Be careful, on the same server of course.
For each faction, one character sits in the neutral AH while the other remains at the AH in a major city.
They have to scan the “standard” AH regularly on both sides (Alliance and Horde) in order to get the market prices of major items for both factions.
Then, you will focus on the price of items with strong purchase/resale volumes and with a rather stable market price. There are in fact no real limitations but it’s easier with regular items.
Be aware that it is easier to transfer stackable items in large stacks. Like volatile items for instance.
You can also use the AhSpy website to easily check out the prices for both factions. For this particular method, this website is a real boon.
So the big idea consists in:
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- Identifying items that are sold for less in one faction than the other.
- Shopping for these where it’s the cheapest.
- Transferring them to the other faction.
- And reselling them right away for a profit.
Not so complicated then, in theory.
Except that you need to be very responsive since transferring is tricky and posting for resale has to happen fast.
Actually, to avoid paying the 15% commission, you will post large stacks of items for sale at 1c and your alternate character will buy them instantly.
The risk being that some smart guy spotted you and buys before you do or even worse, that a bot is at large and set to automatically purchase any item auctioned too low.
To limit this risk, I recommend you be online at the same time as your partner and open twice Wow, one window for each account.
Once you get the items, your character on the neutral AH will send them by mail to your other character who then post them for sale without any delay. The best approach, in this particular case, is to use Auctionator and the undercutting method so it sells off fast.
Alternatively, you can elect to pay the neutral AH tax if you do not want to take chances or if you want to transfer gold from one faction to the other. If your profit margins are decent enough, it may also work.
That’s it, it’s a bit peculiar, a rather secret method which is seldom used since it’s tricky to set up. However, it is really effective since there are often big differences between factions and some very good opportunities.
And it is an even foxier scheme when it can come in addition to the shortage creation technique.
Since, whenever there is a very unbalanced situation, transferring from one faction to the other will temporarily limit supply on one side and create a shortage. So that a transfer the other way round can quickly be put in place.
Always with a profit for you along the way…
All the best and good luck!
If you are a junkie for the AH like us, then this method is made for you :). But, I will insist one more time, it is not essential at all and you can really do without it.