Auctioneering 101: How to Roll Out Items in Surplus
Dec 20th, 2007 by tyson
You’ve decided to either corner a market or buyout a stack of items and are wondering how best to resell them. Here’s how to maximize your profits.
You may have noticed that when looking for herbs or materials for your profession, that there’s usually one person who has several items up individually for typically more money than if you would have bought them in a stack… sold by others. There’s a reason for this. Oftentimes, people actually only need one or two to either craft a particular item or skill-up in a profession, or turn in for a quest. While there definitely is a need for stacked items, you’ll do better to split them up and sell them either individually or a couple to few at a time, for a higher profit.
Now say you actually have that market cornered and have lots of supply to get rid of. You’ll still want to roll them out in bits since less supply means more demand. Do you have 20 thorium bars you want to get rid of. Do what a lot of other small timers do. Get rid of only a couple at a time until your supply is used up. Don’t put all 20 there, because people won’t grab it as fast, knowing it will likely be there tomorrow. Take a lesson from the video game companies when they release new consoles. Create demand by lowering supply.
Also, if you’re on fairly frequently, don’t make the mistake some others do and put 10 individual items up. That’s almost as bad as putting up a stack of 10. It’s roughly the same demand as a stack of 10, only now it’s more money, which won’t sell as well. Just put up a couple to few at maximum, then check back and always keep a small supply up. Another reason against this is that there could very likely be someone who comes in an undercuts you, then you’ll either have to restock the items after yours don’t sell, or at the very least, sell yours after their item(s) sell.
I disagree, i’m making huge profits from the auction house by selling in bulk. Most things i find sell easier in bulk. In bulk u can price it up aswell. single items are less appealing than in bulk.
Super, care to give an example? Also, bulk can mean many individual items or in stacks, or both? Which do you use?
It would also depend on the initial demand of the product. If it’s something that frequently runs out no matter how many there are, then definitely, I should have mentioned, it would probably be ok to slap them up individually or in a stack. But that requires knowing the market for item or its price well first. If you do, great. If it’s something in an area that will fill up again fairly fast but demand is mediocre, bulk in individual items seems risky.
In any case, selling them in singles has always worked for me, a few at a time since I can judge what the market is like before taking a risk and putting them all up. I’ll be honest though that I’m not that type of auction house guy anyway. If I did trade items or quest items in bulk for a “living” I’d probably find it too cumbersome due to having so many and perhaps wouldn’t care if all mine didn’t sell, so might take the loss on those that didn’t and just reput (not a word, I know but it should be) them up.