I like to think of a barter system like an open bazaar, a casual flea market where anything goes and negotiation skills are key to wealth.  If that doesn’t suit your style, don’t fret.  The point of this article is to familiarize you with the process of getting started in any barter system game.

One of the great things about first starting is that you don’t really have to spend a great deal of time earning something you can trade off… even if it is, in the end, pure junk.  There are many items in, for example, World of Warcraft that are utterly useless from a practical standpoint or even aesthetic, but people pay extraordinarly simply for the claim to own it.

Make the objective of your first trade for a new character to at least something tangible for your item, meaning not just the typical monetary unit.  As I wrote in the Barter System Intro, in Diablo II the tradeable units were not gold but items (the “SOJ” and rare runes).  You shouldn’t try for gold here, but another item.

Here’s how.  For any item you think is of any value to another entity:

• Don’t ask for anything specific in return:
  Not at first.  Often, if you instead ask what they have to trade for it their offer will surprise you.  This keeps open the possibility of a favorable gain for you!  If instead you ask for something specific, even if you know it’s a little or a lot more valuable than what you’re offering, you effectively close the possibilities significantly.

  You see, now there would be only a few different outcomes.  Either they have what you were looking for or not.  If not, then what you’ve done is establish a baseline for trade… the baseline being the item you asked for.  It’s not a terrible thing, but it really closes the door to something that they have and you want, but that they’re now unlikely to offer, simply because of that baseline.  If they had something more valuable (and they know it) than what you had asked for, they’ll now hold onto it because they know what you’re willing to take.

  Don’t sell yourself short.  Instead, keep things open and you’ll often come away with much more than you originally thought possible.

• Always ask for more if you have an advantage in item rarity, but do so nicely:
  More often than not, you’ll get the little bit extra that will propel you ahead even faster.  Here’s how I would do it.   First, like it says above, stay open to the possibilities.  Advertise what you have and keep it open what you’d like in exchange.  Now, the great thing about barter systems is that if you have an advantage, people will (and you will to) throw together “bundles” in order to get that one item that’s worth just a little more.   Here’s where you milk them, but like in poker, don’t scare ‘em away.  First, ask what they have.  Then, say politely, “is that all?”  When they respond yes (most likely), if they have several things that you’d like, pick several that you can trade off soon after or put together as part of a bundle of your own for a better item.   Remember one thing as you’re picking through their list.  Your one item is worth more than the sum of their individual items, so always ask for just a little extra.  In this case, if you are willing to take 4 items from them, ask instead for five – take one extra item you think they might be willing to part with.
• When someone offers you a “bundle” or package deal for your rare item, don’t fall for it:
  Unless you really don’t want the rare item you are trading for and all the other stuff is useful to you.  This works in reverse too.  If you have a “bundle” of items, often the person with the rare item you really want will offer it to you even though your sum of items isn’t equal to the worth of their one.  Either way, if you’re trading the rare item for a “bundle” be sure of a couple things.  That you can get rid of the items you’re trading for easily if you had to in a bundle of your own, or that you really can use/want them.  I’ve had chances to grab a ton of barely worthwhile items for my one rare item, but you know what?  It would end up completely wasting my time trying to sell the little items off, even if in the end it may be worth more.  Our time is actually our most precious commodity in barter systems and you don’t want to waste yours selling less valuable items when you could be trading for things far better using the item you just gave away.  Just take items that you know for sure you can sell quickly or use.
• Always get that one rare item you want by putting together a bundle of your own:
  As mentioned above, this works on those that aren’t aware of the rule above, and it works often.  It’s rare that you have that perfect 1 on 1 trade item that someone wants in exchange.  That means you put together packages for the ones you want.  Sometimes it works because people are lazy, and others becuase they’re naive.  Either way, my favorite example is the one in Everquest a long time ago.. in its first year in fact.  I was level 41, barely able to wear the Shiny Metallic Robe (SMR), dropped by an extremely greedy mage where the avg. camp time for the robe was in the high teens in hours, or maybe even more.  I wasn’t willing to do this, but I had been good at trading my way up in sellable items, even if I couldn’t use them myself.

  So I was grouping with someone out in a far away ocean with barely another soul in the same zone except us, having a blast, when someone for whatever reason advertised that they were selling the robe.  Having several much less valuable but high profile items nonetheless in my inventory, I put together the package of my trading career.  All individually, the things I put together added up to about what the robe was worth, but it was me who was the thief… those things were worthless compared to it, even for the class they were meant for.  It was just that they were “high profile” well known items.  The person accepted, I had my robe that I didn’t have to camp for, and was the envy (yeah, laughable I know) of young wizards everywhere, as you hardly ever saw a wizard with that robe that wasn’t at least level 47 (when the max was 50… and a VERY difficult to reach 50).  This was back when they called every five levels (do they still do that?) hell levels for the time it took to get through them… ah the days.  The moral: when you want something worth more than any one thing you have, always always offer a package.

• When offering a package, be generous and tailor it to the person:
  When putting together a package, don’t be stingy.  For this reason only. You know that the item you’re getting is worth way more than all the cheap easily attainable stuff you’ve got to offer.  So for this reason, be quick and proud to offer something that will make them simply unable to refuse your offer.  They will for one be grateful, maybe a little ashamed, and definitely proud of themselves for making a “killing” when it was really you who got the way better tradeable item.  This is especially great for when you aren’t planning on using the item but instead using it in an even better package in the future.  It is absolutely amazing the stuff you can trade up for as you get better stuff yourself through package trades.
• Find out what the most valuable currency is and trade for that as much as possible:
  In EQ it was simply platinum, but later on in levels people would not trade for mere money but only in rare items.  In Diablo II it was the SOJ, and in Diablo 1 if I recall it was the stuff “of the whale” or “of kings”.  When you figure it out, do package trades for the item that’s being used for currency even if it doesn’t seem worth it.  Then when you start collecting the item in bulk, you’ll have far more negotiating power of your own, especially in package deals where you throw that one rare item plus 3 or 4 of the item that’s the current currency, such as the SOJ.  People can always use them.

There are lots more tips of course for succeeding in a barter system; it can’t be explained in one article.  But above there are several of the best techniques I’ve used to get rich in a barter system, and believe those will apply in the future to other games as well.  Happy bargaining!

There are two main peak times in an MMO. The every day peak hours and the “entire weekend”. In any adult-played MMO, where work becomes a factor, peak hours every day are around 7-8pm. This is when the majority of people are logged on and searching or posting. Then there is the weekend. The population on weekends is noticeably higher in any MMO, and the peak hours are greatly expanded, from about 3pm to 10pm, with many more people logged on throughout the day.

During peak hours you’ll find the auction house fuller and more rife with deals, but you’ll also have to weed through more of the bad during these same times. So what does this mean for the keen auctioneer? Should you save your best, costliest items for the weekend?

For the answers, let’s look at exactly what types of items and transactions are affected during peak hours.

During peak hours you’ll have more competition and prices will generally be lower. So on the weekdays, you’ll typically find higher prices for most everything. This has held true throughout my 3 years of experience in World of Warcraft. That means that if you want to sell something at a higher markup with perhaps slightly less recognition, the weekday or off hours is the time to do it. I have had great success selling during the weekdays and in fact other than making sure to search for deals on the weekend, typically make no other distinction. My prices are usually based on general market desire anyway, not on finicky weekday to weekend differences, and priced accordingly. However, there are exceptions.

Peak hours, especially during the weekend, attract more casual players, so as a buyer, this is the absolute best time to look for deals. If you look 3 times on the weekend vs. 3 times during the week, the same person on the weekend would theoretically be much richer after a set time. There is not only more to look at and thus more to find, but casual players can be a big source of opportunity as well. They (the more casual player base) a) spend less time (because they usually have less time) worrying about what to price something at the auction house and b) more often fail know the actual value of an item, which both lead to many more opportunities for the intelligent searcher.

For selling your own items, for the rarer, costlier item, you’ll have an easier time selling it on the weekend, but you should definitely put it up during the weekdays as well, as they attract more niche buyers and you usually don’t have to worry about competition with the same item or competing for general pricing in the same category.

When you hawk your items on the trade channel, the weekend and peak hours are the best time to use, though I have nothing against using the trade channel from time to time regardless of time of day. More people mean more exposure to the same item and even a slight feeling of competition between the masses for one advertised item is a good thing. Be somewhat warned that if you advertise when few people are around, those few are usually the hardcore or vocal minority, and you are perhaps more apt to get some negative feedback in the trade channel regarding the price or how much that item just stinks. Dealing with “hecklers” in the trade channel is another post however.

I do not claim to be an expert in commodities, but know that prices are lower on the weekend with all the competition so were I to try and corner a market I would want to do it in off hours, non-weekends, and buy up some of the low weekend prices on those same commodities for selling during the week. In fact, prices can wildly fluctuate in commodities such as trade goods over the weekend, so if you buy in bulk, your profit margins are going to be better if you use a strategy such as this.

Don’t leave out the weekdays or off-hours for finding deals however. On many occasions I have found an “impossible” deal in the wee hours and have wondered how it was that I found it. Well without as much exposure, sometimes you can capitalize on deals that almost wait for someone to find them. The fewer people, often the longer they wait. During the weekend, with the volume so high, amazing deals can also get lost in the magnitude of auctions so the general point is, though you are able usually to find deals at all times of the week, if you had to specialize, look on the weekend a few times a day.

Happy auctioneering!

• Always be open to negotiation. It is the basis of trade. People expect it from honest, real people, (and even dishonest people) and respect you when you budge a little but not a lot. But you’re not necessarily after they’re respect, you want profit. Negotiation has the benefit of making things happen – it’s like the enzyme in any deal. A stubborn seller gets two choices: either a yes, or a no. Either 100% of what they’re asking, or nothing. A negotiator gets 100%, 50%, or 150% of what they really want, but rarely nothing. Their money is active and working even when they make less of it.How many times have you wanted something and asked what the going price was, and the seller wouldn’t budge? C’est la vie for you right? But if the seller would be willing to go down even a little, it would make you more willing to go up even a little. A deal is eventually made and you’re both happy, well… happier than if he still had it and you still didn’t. That little bit more is easy to rationalize after all.

  The great thing about negotiations is that whatever it is that you’re negotiating usually starts with both sides already nearer an extreme position than to a bargaining position. This usually means that, whether retail or the AH, prices are usually set at the ideal price people thing that buyers or other opposite side is willing to accept. Retailers try and lock in the price with a huge profit. So do sellers at the auction house. Yet, most people will accept lower, even just a little, if they can sell it and make a profit right now.

• Keep your emotions in check – at least until you have money in hand, and don’t let the other you’re bargaining with notice it. High emotions can escalate any reservations that a buyer might have, leading to preventing a deal from taking place even if one was in motion – the others can sense that you are excited just by your speech and that you just want to make the deal. They will often then bow out at the last minute due to a gut feeling.This is especially important when closing the deal. When negotiating a fair price, use phrases like “would you be open to negotiation?” or if you’re selling something, “the average price is usually xyz, but if you can do n, then it’s yours”. No emotion, just business, and friendly as well. People are open to this kind of bargaining on the whole. Those that aren’t are usually brash people you don’t want to be dealing with anyway. Even if you can’t go lower, at least be friendly about it: “sorry, but 300 was as low as I wanted to go”. What you are really doing is giving them every chance to change their mind. If you’re curt, smug, stubborn, you’re essentially willing all but the desperate to go away and not bother you with every sentence. Often, by being polite and keeping your emotions pleasant and business like, you will profit in the end.

  Be sure that before you have money in hand, you are not over-excited, and maintain a business-like nature. This will focus both parties into completing the deal. Then, feel free to open up and even make them feel good about it by using the truth: “I’ve heard from others that it’s a nice item” or if nothing else, “thanks, and good luck!”.

• Know what you want – even if you don’t. Have a number if you’re offering to buy something, and if you’re not sure what it should be, make it up. This implies confidence even if you’re not. If they in turn laugh, you can too but it’s not too late to say “ok, I’m willing to go 350″ and be serious. If the buyer offers you too low a number, do not just say “that’s too low” because that begins to escalate the emotion. Say something like “the item averages much higher but I’d be willing to take xyz” or “if you can offer 100g more, then it is yours”. The point is, do not just hope that they will magically offer you an ideal amount. Have some sort of idea of your own magic number. If you’re unsure, consult like items in the auction house, or on a website such as Allakhazam before you’re selling. Another popular method is to just simply ask others: “what is the usual going price for xyz?” Many will be more than willing to quote you a number.
• Do not let the losses get you down. Of course it can be frustrating (even very much so) but realize that everyone at some point loses money, simply because it takes some amount of risk to make money. If you’re not risking anything, you’re not making as much as you could be. It will happen on occasion and is part of the natural cycle of making money. When you know you’re heading for a loss, it is important to focus. Make your goal to minimize it and move on as quickly as possible. Focus on selling that item, reclaiming as much of the money spent as possible, and using it to buy something else with a better profit margin.Often when I’m trying to get rid of something quickly, I will simultaneously put it in the auction house as high as I think it will sell, but also be pro-active and advertise it on the trade channel, putting special focus on the item so I can get it out of my inventory and move on. If I manage to make a deal in trade or chat, I’ll cancel the auction house and personally deliver it. Don’t ever tell them they can buy it in the auction house when you can deliver it in person and make sure the deal is done.

Just because you’re smart doesn’t mean you should know the stuff I’m going to teach. It takes practice, some trial and error, and some mistakes. I have to say though, the amount of mistakes I’ve made (and there have been occasionally) have been fairly minimal, all things considered. It is very rare I will have something and sell it for less than a profit, and if so, it will be for just slightly less than what I bought it for. That’s the kind of auctioneer I want to help you become. And I’m confident you will with these methods.

In WoW, I once took on an apprentice. He was eager to learn and it didn’t take too long before he was doing just the same things I was, and we were working together making lots of money… this was on an established server where I’m sure there were many others trying to do the same thing. In real life at a game company I was working for, I taught a couple work friends who I was in a guild with to do the same thing. They were always amazed at the amount of money I had and so they wanted to learn. In the course of a couple weeks, they were doing the same thing and even I was amazed at some of the sales they were making… and I admit, sometimes a little jealous they found the deal first! But we worked on different things.

And so can you. Even if your server or virtual world is crowded, there are always deals to be had. There is always someone willing to give something up for less than it’s worth. And that’s where you come in. The trick, and this is the valuable part, is to know how or where to find them.

So tip #2:
Sell something on the auction house or trade channel. It doesn’t matter what… something that you’ve acquired. You say you’ve done this before and what is this supposed to teach you? This is where some people might have already graduated from this step and others may not have. So I’m going to tell it anyway. Do a search for that item (this is possible if in WoW), and look at all the others that have come up. If you’re playing a game where there is just a trade channel, advertise for that item and say “x item for sale for a good price or trade”. Advertise a couple times. If someone replies asking what you want, ask first what they “can” give. Not what they will. This is the art of negotiation. Leave things open. Go from there and see how that works out. Do this even if you have to nearly give something away.

Now back to WoW. Search for the item you’re going to sell, and if there are others, put yours up for the lowest price (unless you just know that it’s insanely low) minus roughly 10%. If the lowest is 99 silver, put yours for 89 silver. You know why? Yes, because it will sell, but even better, it will sell quickly. This is the goal. Don’t leave your stuff up forever hoping for a sale. Your time is worth more than that. Get the sale even if it means slightly less profit, and move on. What’s even stranger is that there are always people who put their item up for the same price… then again there are those that will undercut you no matter what. So what do you do in that case? You take yours off, let theirs sell, and then put yours back up to where you make a decent profit. You wait it out and deal with other stuff in your inventory.

So what do you do if your item is not there? Well that could be for two reasons. Either a) it’s not popular or b) it’s something people will usually buy and no one happens to be selling it at the moment. So again, what do you do? You look for similar items. If it’s rare, look for a rare similar item. If it’s a common weapon that requires level 5 to use, look for other weapons from level 3-8 to get a good sense of what others are charging. Then charge less. So that people notice yours and buy it. Just enough less so that others notice, don’t gyp yourself out of more money.

I think that’s enough for tip #2, so see you next time! Tip #2 was all about experiencing the auction house or trade channels. We’ll deal much more with that in the future.

Apart from my 8-5 day job, I’m a successful auctioneer in the current most popular online game, having racked up well over 20-25,000 gold with relatively minimal work. This is on several servers and not all on one character mind you. Before this I was a successful auctioneer in the last most popular game in North America, and a little after that, acquired about as much as anyone without too much work in yet another (and lost it all falling for a scam!). The methods I use don’t require camping for hours, and do not require a large initial monetary investment – merely a little time to learn and observe.

With proven methods I can show you how to take a character from meager beginnings until he/she’s got just enough to buy “something” and then in short order, play with the big boys. My goal is to share this technique over time – you won’t learn it all at once (at least I didn’t) – because to tell the truth, I have nothing to lose and who knows, might even end up with a few new friends.

So I thought I would start this blog to let others in on the secret of quickly gaining money in the auction house, or in any game with some sort of bartering system/channel. You’ll find it’s not too hard but does require some knowledge and experimentation. It’s also a fun, low time-cost activity at least once you get going. At this time I just check the Auction House (AH) a couple times a day for a few minutes and that’s it. It still brings me pretty good revenue. What you’ll gain is this: the ability to help friends, techniques you can apply to real life, “twinking” your lower level characters to progress through the game faster, and outfitting your characters with the best stuff you can buy. My plan is to help you not all at once, but in servings and useful tips, so that you can become rich, too, in your virtual world of choice. The examples will mostly be with World of Warcraft, though a lot of the techniques are not MMO specific.

The great thing is that I believe this knowledge can apply to business anywhere and am myself anxious to test it out. In fact I’m already doing so.

Very recently, I logged off World of Warcraft with a 540g net profit on an item where, with about 2 minutes of work, I became that much richer. Since the current most expensive thing in the game is an epic mount worth about 5k gold, I just made 1/10th of that in 1/30th of an hour, typing out about 3 sentences.

For my first blog post, I’ll end with this, and a tip. You’ve seen them before, these auctioneers… mostly in a bad light I’m sure, if at all. You are pretty sure many of them are farmers (wouldn’t be far off from the truth – not me though, couldn’t tell you where or what). No, that is not my secret. Nor is, though reliable enough in the short term, having characters stationed at vendors that sell rarely spawned or hard-to-reach items, shoveling them to a central AH character to sell, and making just a tiny profit. My method is easier, pretty much foolproof (there are always deals), and doesn’t take special knowledge, just a little initial time to figure out.

So here’s the first tip. It might seem a little silly but there’s reason behind it.

Tip #1: Visit your local auction house and/or bartering area, make sure the trade channel is open, and just observe. Learn how it works, and do a search for rare or epic items. Look at lowest and highest prices. Learn the interface and what kinds of things are available. If you’re doing this in an MMO with a trade channel, observe what high price items are going for and what people generally are selling/wanting. That will help later when you are making quick decisions on what to buy and for how much. Key #1 is observation. Don’t worry about writing anything down, you’ll start to remember soon enough without paper.

See you next time.