Guide to making money Discovering ways to make money in World of Warcraft is an important part of getting the most enjoyment out of the game . There are many different and effective ways to make enough money for repairs , consumables , equipment , and other items . Some players attempt to purchase gold from third party gold sellers . This form of making money is against Blizz ard ' s terms of service and may lead to a permanent ban on an account . It may also lead to real world identity theft or theft of the purchaser ' s WoW account depending on the reliability and intentions of the gold selling company . There are four major money making strategies : farming , crafting , daily quests and playing the auction house . The amount of gold earned depends on the dedication of the player , the economy of the auction house on the server , the server ratios of casual , serious , and hardcore players , and time periods surrounding a major patch . Overview . This guide covers many of the ins and outs of both making money , and spending it wisely . Many players have " secret " strategies for making money that they wouldn ' t want to put in a public info site , since it gives them their edge in the marketplace . If you can gain the trust of a successful WoW tycoon , you should ask them some of their techniques . However , this guide covers many of the more common strategies . Quick guide . If you don ' t want to read this entire article , but you ' re primarily focused on how to get your mount at level 20 , follow these steps . They will work for anyone , require no grinding sessions , and generally offer a high reward - to - time ratio : If you follow this basic advice you should have no problem at paying for the mount at level 20 , and you will always be able to afford skill training , food and potions along the way . Cold booting your economy . You ' ve started a new character with no alts for support , and you are dealing in the coppers level . How do you get your financial engine rolling ? Most of these should sell for silvers each in the auction house : Harvest Small Egg s and sell them . Harvest Stringy Wolf Meat s and sell them . Harvest Chunk of Boar Meat s and sell them . Harvest Linen Cloth s and turn them into Bolts of Linen Cloth or sell them directly . Train and get tools for two gathering professions . Do this even if you plan on taking different professions at higher levels - this can give you orders of magnitude more cash in just one run : Invest in Apprentice Level Mining Profession Training , mine copper , and sell it . You may get 10 - 30g for a stack of 20 bars on an established server . Invest in Apprentice Level Skinning Profession Training , skin leathers , and sell them . Low level leathers will sell for a bit of silver each , making a stack over 1g or more on some servers . Invest in Apprentice Level Herbalist Profession Training , gather herbs , and sell them . Low level herbs will sell for a few gold for stacks , with Briarthorn going up to 20 - 50g a stack on some servers . Detailed guide . For those interested in more details on spending wisely , and generating good cashflow , we cover a number of topics in more detail . Please note that this guide represents the accumulated wisdom of many people . You don ' t necessarily have to do all of these things - - there is no one " right " way to make and manage money . However , these pointers will give you ideas on how to establish a firm financial foundation for your character . Saving your money . The most important step in being able to buy a mount and make other large purchases should be self - evident : saving . Economize as often as you can , and don ' t buy anything unless you absolutely have to . You can burn through hundreds of gold even before level 20 by visiting the auction house for new equipment at every opportunity . If you do so , over the long haul you will be left with very little to show for it . Before level 20 , keep your eyes on the prize : getting that mount . The mount helps you move faster . Faster movement means faster killing , faster questing , faster quest turn - ins , and faster leveling . It is the most important tool to fast leveling you can get at level 20 , and infinitely more important than getting your hands on that Left - Handed Vorpal Cleaver of the Zipswitch that you could have purchased at level 23 . Stay focused . The same goes for the level 40 mount . An elite ground mount means still - faster leveling . Not only that , but you ' ll get knocked off considerably less often by mobs while getting around inside zones , meaning you ' ll die less often as well . Remember , as the goblins are so fond of saying , " Time is money , friend ! " So it behooves you to get an elite ground mount as rapidly as possible . Once your character makes it to Outland and beyond , cashflow frees up considerably . The quest rewards are much better than in Azeroth . In fact , a typical character will earn from in quest rewards and vendor trash while leveling 60 - 70 in Outland , and perhaps from 70 - 80 in Northrend . The tendency is , therefore , to spend more freely after one hits 60 . However , it is important for players not to go crazy on their spending once they make it to Hellfire . One thing is , training costs , repair costs , and consumable costs are also higher . More important , there is a large purchase that you are going to want to make at some point after level 60 , your first flying mount and skill . The " bird " costs , the skill will cost you far more . Not only that , but if you want to fly it in Northrend at level 70 , you ' ll have to shell out another for Cold Weather Flying . And for those characters who will be ' farming ' herbs or ore in either Outland or Northrend , an elite flying mount is almost essential , as it helps you gather almost twice as fast . That ' s another you ' ll be looking at . Therefore , budgeting carefully during the 60 - 80 leveling process is essential to ensuring you have sufficient cash on hand for making those purchases . Saving your pennies early makes that bird appear that much sooner . Here are some things to consider when budgeting your money : Bank alt . An alt ( low level or no ) in a capital city is an effective way to not only cheaply increase your available bank space , but to be a simple savings and auctioneer account . This character can serve as your bank , an auctioneer , bag - space creator and a time saver . Get one . ( There may or may not be Item Recovery issues with characters below level 10 , in cases where one ' s account is hacked . ) To use it as a bank , figure out how much you want to have on - hand on your character based on how much you normally spend on repairs , food , ammo , etc . and send the rest to the bank alt . The principle here is " Out of sight , out of mind . " . Money " you don ' t have " cannot be spent , requiring you to log out of your character , and then to log into the alt . To use it as an auctioneer , send all your auctionable items from your alts to your bank alt , and organize all your auctions from this character . This saves your time spent on auction house management , focuses all your income to one character and allows for easier overview of your cash flow . Consider using an alt management addon to be able to access all information about your alts from your bank character . One such addon is Altoholic To use it as a bag - space creator , simply send excess items to the bank alt whenever you ' re near a mailbox for a low price of only a slot . Even if you accidentally send the wrong item to the bank alt , it can be returned - to - sender for free . It ' s very quick , due to the fact that sending mail between characters on the same account is always instant . Altogether , focusing all these activities on one character saves large amounts of time . Do consider leveling it above level 1 , though , because a number of player use addons that block messages from level 1 characters . Usually level 5 - 10 is fine , and that only takes a couple of hours to reach . Economizing on professions . Improper leveling of your production profession skills can cost a small fortune . Heck , even " proper " leveling of some production skills can cost a small fortune . And keep in mind that equipment you produce using your profession will typically be slightly worse than equipment otherwise obtainable at your level via the Auction House and / or instances . It is therefore strongly recommended " not " to take on a production trade skill until you hit at least level 30 , or better yet , level 70 + . However , if you are determined to take on such a profession ( particularly under level 30 ) , read a suitable leveling guide in order to gain whatever skill level you desire for the least amount of money . Getting good gear without breaking the bank . The most important part of saving is to never buy equipment unless you ' re positive that it will increase your earning potential , " or " significantly speed your character ' s leveling progress . While it is true that gear is important ( particularly for melee combat characters ) , it is also true that an overemphasis on having great gear " before maximum level " is dumb . Who cares if you ' re wearing a green sword at level 43 ? If you ' re advancing well , you aren ' t going to be level 43 for very long anyway . The only gear that currently " counts " is max level gear . The two best ways to get good equipment are : A common mistake of new players is to upgrade their gear at every opportunity , paying for a new piece even if it will only add one or two new stat points over an existing item . Likewise , investing in headgear , neckwear , trinkets , and rings at the earliest available levels can also consume valuable cash . While it might seem foolish to leave an available slot empty , you will eventually find something to fill it . Blizzard will see to it via the quest rewards you ' ll get along the way . In the mean time , the or more you save will serve you well if you invest it wisely . The bottom line is that one can easily level all the way to the maximum relying on just quest / drop greens . The gear you get from regular questing can help you perform well in dungeons , which gets you even better equipment . This is not to say that you should " never " buy gear . Having equipment that is reasonably current while leveling allows you to kill enemies faster , and die less often in the process . Faster leveling = sooner to higher levels ( where the real money is to be made ) . Likewise , death = loss of time . And , as we all know , " Time is money , friend ! " So , players should not hesitate to make well - considered equipment acquisitions during their leveling up , but " only " if they represent a substantial improvement over their existing equipment " and " if the price is right . Try to find good deals . It should go without saying that you should never purchase any equipment from vendors ; always use the Auction House . Look several levels above and below your own for bargains . Don ' t buy items that you won ' t hold onto for at least 4 - 5 levels . And don ' t always use the buyout option at the AH . Some of the best deals come from bidding and being patient - it ' ll be two days at the most . Of course , if you play too hard you may have surpassed that weapon by the time you win it . In which case , you may want to auction it again . If you know there ' s an item that would be great for you , say , five levels from now , keep your eye out for it and bid on it , several times if need be . When you get it , stuff it away for later . That ' s why you have a bank alt . Note that these general principles do " not " apply to blue or purple items . If you are a first - time player , there is absolutely no reason to purchase these items . None . Sub - 80 rare and epic items are only for the alts or twinks of established players that have money to waste ( because that ' s what it is ) by showing off their Staff of Jordan ( or whatever ) . Blues and purples are completely cost - ineffective for first - time characters . Within a few levels , you will find green gear that is roughly comparable , or you ' ll get better blues from instance runs at the same level . So , do not buy these items , under any circumstances , if you are a first - time character ( no matter how cool they look ) . And even if you ' re reasonably well - off financially , think twice . This is especially true as your character gets closer to levels 58 and 68 . Even the most basic quest - reward gear in Outland will have substantially better stats than anything you can buy off the AH for a level 56 character . The same is true of Northrend gear at level 68 vis - a - vis the stuff you ' ll get in Outland at level 68 . As such , smart players stop making AH gear purchases by about level 54 or so , and then just gut it out until level 58 . The same is true at levels 64 - 68 . Within the first several quests in Hellfire and / or Northrend you ' ll have replaced half of your gear in any case , guaranteed . Buying items on the Auction House . The Auction House is always the best option for getting good equipment at a good price . The only items you should be buying from Vendors are basic consumables : food , drinks , arrows , bullets , vials , dyes , etc . Most other things should come from the Auction House , as they are generally cheaper . Keep these tips in mind when buying items off the Auction House : The Auctioneer addon . Anyone who is serious about using the Auction House should consider getting the Auctioneer addon . Auctioneer assists players in the auction house by automatically gathering price information for your server . Among other things , Auctioneer offers the following useful features : Maximizing training bang for the buck . There are a lot of skill s and spell s you can train as you progress , each of which costs money . When you can afford to , you should train all the abilities that your class trainer offers . If you ' re completely broke , it ' s fine to put off upgrading abilities you rarely use for a level or two so that you can upgrade your most - used abilities . If this happens , you should ask yourself whether you are spending too much money on buying unnecessary equipment upgrades or leveling production trade skills . Be sure to save enough for class abilities and riding training before spending money on other things . This assumes you ' re earning money at a rate where buying skills makes a difference at all . If you have a hundred gold from two gathering professions by level 20 , those skill ranks costing a fraction of a gold won ' t make any difference to your purse . If you are dead set on leveling a production trade skill instead of taking two of the gathering skills , remember that not everything your trainer offers is worth buying . While it might be nice to have a long list of colorful shirts and dresses to produce as a tailor , for instance , the truth is they offer very little in the way of potential revenue . Also keep in mind that , generally , whatever items you craft at lower levels will not likely sell for more money than you could have made by simply selling the raw materials used to make them . For this reason , two gathering skills are highly recommended until you get closer to 80 ( 70 if you don ' t have the WotLK expansion or 60 if you don ' t have the TBC expansion ) . World of Warcraft offers a lot of ways to make money ( gold ) . There is no one " right " way to make money , although there are some definite wrong ways ! Some people like to play the Auction House , some people do their daily quests , some people tend to farm , etc . Many characters do a combination of all three of these along with other activities . Below is a compendium of money - making methods . Selling vendor trash . Any item with a grey name is considered vendor trash or poor quality . White items have some use such as tradeskills , spell reagents or reputation raisers , so you may want to check to see if they ' re worth more than the vendor price . Keep your eyes out for regular quality weapons , as even the worst of these tend to sell for several silver , or several gold at high level . Always check the tooltip for the vendor price before discarding anything . Also , white ( or even grey ) shoulder armor under level 20 sells regularly on the auction house , mainly because there is nothing better available at that level . Unless low quality items have some known quest use or are coveted by other players , you should try to sell it as soon as possible to create bag space . Always ( or almost always , see above exceptions ) keep things like cloth , leather , herbs , or large stacks of white / gray items over other loot when you have to decide what to keep when your bags get full . It might be worth your while to invest in larger bags ( 10 - 20 slot ) , especially if you know a tailor . AutoProfit is a particularly handy addon if you regularly bring home several bags ' worth of trash all mixed in with the rest of your inventory - it allows you to sell all gray items to the vendor with a single click . In general , if you have bag space , you should " always " pick up whatever vendor trash you can , particularly weapons , even if they are grey . Don ' t be too proud . This stuff may not sell for much , but vendor trash can easily pay for your repair bills , and as you level past your 60s that ' s not an inconsiderable amount of money . Playing the Auction House . The Auction House ( AH ) is a brilliant way of making money if you know the tricks on how to do it . The basic strategy with the AH is to buy things cheap , re - list them on the AH , and then sell them for a profit . Even better , of course , is to get good items from drops and then sell them on the Auction House for pure profit . Many players generate most or all of their cashflow simply by speculating on the AH . So a good understanding of the it , as well as some time to invest , is essential to turning it into a money - making proposition for you . It is also highly recommended that you get the Auctioneer addon for quick listing auctions , and knowing the average price of items . Another great addon that can assist you in flipping items for profit on the Auction House is Tycoon . This addon analyzes items on the Auction House such as cloth , ore , and even TCG mounts . Once the information is recorded , Tycoon will inform you of the most profitable items possible , and exactly how much you can make by either farming them , or buying them at their current price and then relisting them . Your server population may determine how much profit you can make . Lower population servers generally have lower prices in the AH as there is less demand , but rare items or recipes can really make a profit as they are harder to come by . Higher population servers have a higher demand . However , they are more likely to have a flooded market , which makes items hard to sell , especially in the case of low - level gathering professions . Buying items for speculation . Buying items for speculation means buying item cheap in hopes of reselling for more . This works well , but only if you know your market . Stick to what you know . Make cautious forays into unknown areas to test the waters . Items to speculate on are not merely cheap ; there must also be a demand or you will end up with a lot of cheap items sitting in your inventory . Items that are always in demand are : Recipes - provide in - game capability to create more kinds of items , and so are always in demand , BUT be careful ; if the ingredients are obscure , and the benefits marginal , or the recipe is too common , this is not a good option . Some otherwise very good recipes drop far to often to hold value - Copper Chain Vest comes to mind . This produces an excellent entry - level item , but the recipe is available for low silver at the auction house . Pets - Reasonably good for speculation , but track demand a bit before you invest . If you make a mistake in speculating , admit that you made a mistake and move on . Sell the item for what you can to recover as much as you can . Twink items . Many players who already have higher level characters create alts that they level to a certain point and then stop . Often , these twinks are level 18 - 19 , 28 - 29 , 38 - 39 , etc . for the purpose of going to battlegrounds at the top of their tiers and kicking butt . Since these twinked characters are owned by higher level players with lots of cash , they usually outfit them with the best gear available at their level . Thus , items that require level 17 - 19 , level 27 - 29 , or any other items around this level , with good stats or dps , often sell for much higher prices than they normally would . This is especially true on an older server , and also especially true of blue ( rare ) items . In general , " good stats " include Cloth " of the Eagle " ( for mages , warlocks ) , Leather " of the Monkey " ( for hunters and rogues ) , and Mail " of the Bear " ( for warriors / paladins ) as well as weapons with these suffixes that can be used by the right class . Neutral Auction House . The goblins of the Steamweedle cartel have set up several neutral auction houses about Azeroth . Gadgetzan , Booty Bay , and Everlook all house neutral auction houses . The neutral is useful for making money , as commodities that Alliance players can get easily can be sold at a cheap price to Horde players ( or vice versa ) , and then sold at a higher price at a major city . Buying items from vendors for resale . Although you usually don ' t want to buy items to sell from vendor , some items can be sold for much more than you pay for them from the vendor . There are a few reasons people will buy a vendor item for a higher cost at the AH . They vendor may be hard to get to , the recipe only sells in limited stock , or the buyer simply may not know where the item is from . Some players even turn this into their profession by systematically " plundering " vendors in the game world and then selling the items on the auction house at a significant markup . The reason why this works ( even for items which are on unlimited supply at vendors ) is , that many players don ' t want to spend time traveling to specific vendors to get hold of a recipe or skill book . They would rather pay a slightly higher price at their local auction house . In some sense , they use the auction house as a " super market " or " convenience store " . So it is completely reasonable and legitimate to be the supplier for this convenience store and make money out of it . This scheme works particularly well with items such as : Players wishing to avoid spending vastly over the odds on a vendor pattern should consider using Adspace , which will add information to tooltips for patterns , books and similar items detailing their vendor cost and location . Using Your guild . Guild s are perhaps one the most effective ways of progressing your character , and in turn , making money . Most ' high - end ' guilds have a guild bank where members donate items for other members . This may range from potions , reagents , and craftable plans . Usually you will have to donate to a guild bank in order to receive items as well as stay active in your guild , but receiving potions that will aid your progression and craftable plans allowing you to profit off selling the products will benefit you in the long run . Also , donating to your guild bank may mean donating something you cannot use in turn receiving something you can use . Sometimes , additional services such as VoIP servers are provided and play a key role especially in end - game content ; communication is paramount to a the success of an efficient group . Efficiency results in receiving gear faster , running more frequently in a shorter amount of time , and in turn making more money from runs . In a well put together guild , members become a close knit community including financial and questing support , which are among the most profitable benefits . If you have not considered joining a guild as part of your strategy moving through the game , you may wish to strongly reconsider . Soloing Instances . If you can Solo an instance , you have two options . The first is to take the place apart yourself and sell all the drops on the Auction House . For level 80 characters , Scarlet Monastery , Uldaman , and other mid - level instances are easily soloable , and are a very popular source of cloth and marketable blue and green items . If you ' re reasonably well - geared , and feeling more adventurous , Scholomance and Stratholme are also soloable , and can be extremely lucrative as a source of auctionable items . Soloing an instance can be all the more profitable if your character is an enchanter . During any solo instance run , you ' ll end up with some items which can be sold or traded , and some that are bind - on - pickup . Non - enchanters can only sell these soulbound items to a vendor , but an enchanter can disenchant the bind - on - pickup rare items , and then sell the shard / dust / essence instead of just selling the blue item to a vendor . ( A side benefit of selling enchanting materials is that they do not require a deposit to list in the auction house , allowing you to list endlessly until the item sells . ) Alternately , you can offer to run people through the instance for a price . Some people get so desperate to run a certain instance for whatever reason , be it rep , a quest , or specific loot , they ' re willing to pay a pretty penny to go through it . You can turn that desperation into a tidy profit . Completing quests . Nearly all quests offer cash or items as a reward , and often both . While completing quests shouldn ' t be your main form of wealth generation , it is something you are going to do anyway . The key to making the most of quests is picking your reward items wisely . Don ' t always pick the item that most fits your class - if it isn ' t demonstrably better than your current item , instead go for whatever reward sells for the greatest amount to the vendor . You can select the in - game interface option to display it in the tooltip . In general , if you can ' t use a quest reward for your character , pick either a plate - armor or melee weapon as your reward - - these tend to sell to vendors for more than other items . Completing daily quests . Repetitive daily quests are a legitimate method of generating significant cashflow . Players who spend several hours a day doing daily quests can often generate per hour . Many players have funded the purchase of their elite flying mounts solely through doing daily quests . Another trick for higher level players is to do level 70 dailies as a level 75 - 77 . If you have a hankering to get a Netherdrake , for instance , and you already have a fast flying mount ( which is a pre - requisite for the drake ) , you will find your mid - 70s an ideal time to go get that drake . Not only will the quests be a " lot " easier to do at level 75 + , but the dailies will pay about as you level rep , " and " you ' ll get XP along the way to boot ( albeit not as much as quests in Northrend . ) So if you ' re looking for a break from the grind of leveling to 80 , and want to kick back , spank some level 69s and make some decent money along the way , doing lower level dailies can be a fun way to make some extra cash . Elemental Items . Elemental items ( Primals , Eternals , etc . ) can be a good source of money , because they are always in demand on the AH . See which mobs you will most benefit from farming , then set out for a few hours . In the process you will also most likely collect significant vendor trash , and may get other profitable item drops as well . Note , however , that older elemental drops usually lose profitability compared to newer ones , i . e . Primal Water sold well to level 70 players in , but sells far less well to level 80 players in WotLK , because level 80 gear requires Eternal this ' n ' that . Using your Trade Skills ( Professions ) . Look in the Auction House for items that sell for good prices , but don ' t have a big supply in the market , so your prices won ' t get much competition . Sometimes you can make money by crafting items with ingredients supplied by other players who give you a tip to make the item . This is not necessarily a reliable source at low levels , but it can be a good supplemental income source at higher levels , particularly if you have good recipes . And if you can charge for the customer using your materials ( as opposed to materials supplied by him / her ) , you can mark those up . Gathering skills . Mining , Skinning , and Herbalism are all good money - making professions , particularly at higher levels . With Mining , from the moment you take the skill you can make good money selling stacks of the bars or ores in the Auction House . Blacksmiths , Engineers and Jewelcrafters are interested in the bars , while Jewelcrafters and even other miners may want to buy the ores . Make sure to check the relative prices of ore versus bars before smelting . As your skill increases , so does your earning potential . At the maximum level you may smelt Titansteel for a daily fee . Skinning is both highly profitable and convenient , in that you will be skinning the monsters that you ' re already killing as you level . A skinner starts by collecting relatively worthless ruined leather scraps , but soon moves on to light leather , which can be sold for a good profit . An excellent way to farm leather is to skin the kills of other players , especially if you are following along in the wake of a group . However , do wait to start skinning until it ' s clear that the other player has abandoned the kill . Don ' t assume that the other player doesn ' t skin just because they are not a leather - wearer , for example . Note that your chances of getting a better grade of leather increases with your experience ; it is possible , though rare , to get light leather from rabbits . Higher grades of leather yield higher profits . A skinner / miner has potent earning power through the auction house , but often runs out of inventory space . Herbalism is also a good source of money . Herbs are required by alchemist s and scribes . Unlike ore which is found only in rocky areas , herbs can be found in many places . Be sure to check on the auction house for what herbs are in demand for a high value ; often a lower level one is very valuable , so you can farm an area you already know for quick money . While taking both Mining and Herbalism is not recommended , as you cannot track both on the minimap , consider getting the Gatherer addon . This maps nodes and herbs on your minimap , allowing you to visit these places again and again if you are farming . Blacksmithing . Common item recipes to look for include : These items sell well for decent money , even though they are common quality items . Beware , these recipes can be pricey if you buy them , so try to get a bargain and ask around to see if you are getting a good price . Blacksmiths should also watch the prices for " Needed by " items such as the metal rod s used by enchanters , and compare the price for the raw materials . For example , a Golden Rod requires The different types of rods are no longer required . There ' s a good chance you can buy the raw materials for 25 % - 75 % of the going rate of the finished item , or mine them for free . The fee for an 8 hour auction is only 1 silver , so you can afford to re - auction rods that don ' t sell the first time . Be careful of making too many rods or other parts of a kind at once , though , as you may get stuck with them for a long time when others produce the same item and set a cheaper price to it . Engineering . A good money maker for Engineers are Scope s , which are all crafted by engineers and essential for hunters . Certain quests require items that can be crafted . A couple of examples : Tailoring . There is usually good money to be made selling bags , particularly the upper - level bags . This is particularly profitable if you are able to farm the majority of the materials . Alchemy . There is a constant market for transmutations . If you are capable of doing these , you can charge an upcharge on each of those transmutes . A player who logs on his / her character each day , and sticks to it , can generate a significant subsidiary revenue scheme through transmutes . Likewise , if you have a transmute that allows you to transmute a lower value element ( such as Earth ) into a high - priced one ( like Water or Fire ) , you can make a cool profit every day by simply doing your transmutes . Arcanite Bar s still remain a great source of income for Alchemists due to its continuous demand . Jewelcrafting . Crafting gem s is profitable if you have the right designs . Usually only the high level jewelcrafting ( JC ) are sought for gems , but you can make gold at low levels from JC too ! Jewelcrafters can create jewelery for other players , which can make big profits . Often players buying for their alt s will invest in low - level rings and necklaces , simply as rings and necklaces from quests are hard to find . You can make a tidy sum by selling these items in the Auction House . Jewelcrafting also offers players the Prospecting ability ; players can break down most Mining ores to find gems used in Jewelcrafting . The Enchantrix addon can calculate the prospecting value of an ore , and when combined with the Auctioneer addon , you can compare the prospect value to the ore ' s value and determine whether it has a fair chance of producing a profit . For example , on most servers Tin Ore has a significantly higher prospect value than the ore itself , and players can make a tidy profit by prospecting tin from the AH . The low skill needed to prospect tin ore makes this a great profession choice for bank alts ! Inscription . Glyph s are pretty cheap to produce and some of them are highly sought after , especially those learned at higher levels . Learn which glyphs are in demand and you may get a nice amount of gold by selling them . Don ' t assume that a high average price of a glyph means that it is in demand ; if nobody is buying it , it doesn ' t matter what the price is . You should also further develop your inscription skill through minor and Northrend Inscription Research . If you ' re lucky , you may get a glyph that people want " and " not every inscriber can make , which can give you more gold . Research them every day to get those high yield recipes faster . Additionally , you can make tomes held in the off - hand and the Darkmoon cards . These take more materials to make , but the tomes are classified as rare items and can fetch a good price , and even the lower level decks of cards can get you a BoE rare to sell . Enchanting . While enchanting is generally considered expensive to level , you can make a profit with it as soon as you start disenchanting for profit . It is not unlikely that almost any green item in this case will have a buyout price for a lot less than the materials it disenchants into . Likewise , it is lucrative to check the auction house for green items with unpopular suffixes , such as " of the Gorilla , " with low starting bids . You may want to get a another player or friend to disenchant items for you . Of course offer them some kind of fee or tip for their time , your overall profit will be greater . Selling enchant s can also make some money , but usually only when you have very high level ( over 400 ) . Thus , enchanting is isn ' t really recommended as a good early money making source , particularly because its leveling costs are quite high . If you use a dedicated banker alt , that does nothing but work the Auction House , have him / her pick up enchanting , so this character can disenchant low - level items . Class - specific . Lockpicking . Rogue s can make fast money from pickpocketing mobs , opening lockboxes and selling items that drop from those on the AH . If you don ' t have a rogue make one and get him to at least level 16 . Rogue s can also make some money by picking locks for people and getting tips . Not a great revenue source , but a decent one to supplement multiple strategies for making money . Generally , the usual lockpicking tip is between 50s to 1 gold , the most common being 50 silver . Sometimes , you can get lucky and have someone tip up to 5 gold for lockpicking several ( or even just one ) boxes . It ' s always beneficial for a rogue spending time doing repairing , training , etc . in a city to put up a lockpicking advertisement on the trade channel . Just make sure you let the buyers decide the price and that your lockpicking level is high enough . Summoning or portal opening . These are Warlock - and Mage - only skills which can net you some money . It ' s not much , but a few gold is worth it . Note that Mages have an easier time with this than Warlocks as Warlocks need to be at the location for the summoning and need an additional person ( a 3rd ) for the group to help out with the summons . Mages only need the reagent to open the portal . While the Warlock doesn ' t incur a cost ( except the loss of a soul shard ) , the Mage will typically be more successful at finding employment using this method . Risky Tactics . Begging . If you don ' t care about etiquette , you can make a small amount of money this way , but it isn ' t as efficient as the regular ( and respectable ) ways of making money . You can never tell how an unknown player is going to react , but if you do any amount of begging you will probably earn some dislike . Promising to pay strangers back if they give you the money is a nice gesture , but is likely to be met with skepticism and cynicism . Better to try this with a friend or a guildmate than with strangers , and always , always keep your word . If you find yourself coveting your first mount , and with no money to purchase it , try to swallow your frustration and work at earning and saving up so you can buy it honestly . Nothing is more annoying to other players who are working hard to earn their own money than hearing someone begging for gold so that they can buy a mount or fancy piece of gear . That being said , there are occasions when a little kindness is not unwarranted . A typical example is a new player who just dinged level 20 . They are suddenly confronted with a whole set of relatively expensive skills at his or her class trainer , and the cost of mount and riding training , and needs a small amount of money to learn those new skills . Likewise , sometimes one sees a player who , just by the way he or she walks , is clearly a new player . Kindness to non - whiny , well - intentioned , legitimately inquisitive newbies is karmically rewarding , and one should not worry about shelling out an occasional boon to such players . Remember , at that level , a few gold can go a long way . Heck , even a few older bags that you have lying around collecting dust in your vault will often be much appreciated . Dueling . This is a risky way to make money , and not recommended . Tell a player that if he beats you in a duel you will give him 10 gold , but if you beat him he has to give you 5 gold . This can be very effective if you are skilled in PvP and make the bet with a trustworthy person , or friends . It is a very risky strategy , as you may lose gold , or the other player won ' t cough up the money anyway . You will also get a bad reputation if you don ' t cough up the money in the case of defeat . Treat Your Profession Like A " Business " . Perhaps the best and most secure way to make money within the game is to apply some basic business practice to your Professions . While some of these tips are common sense and common knowledge , it can ' t hurt to be reminded of basic principles of trade . As previously stated , people will only buy your wares if they want it . Do not waste time gathering or producing items that people do not need . Focus on items that will most likely be wanted and bought . Profit is only created if you make sure your costs are less than your earnings . This is not so much an issue for gatherers who simply trade in some time and effort to gain their wares , but for production professions , this must be kept in mind . Many high - end items that sell well require materials that cannot be provided by the gathering profession normally paired with your production profession . To craft these items , purchasing the raw material from the AH or another player becomes necessary . You must keep record of how much you spent to obtain these materials , or else you may price the finished product inaccurately , either too low that you sell it at a loss , or too high that you can ' t sell it all . Record keeping is thus necessary to ensure profit . Listing expenditures in a notebook or the like will help make sure you sell your items at the " right " price . This may seem excessive and time consuming , but it will save you a lot of time and effort in your endeavors to earn cash . For items that you can gather directly , you have the choice of either going out to gather them yourself or to buy them from the AH . The former adds no cost to your item but requires time and effort , while the latter can be quick and hassle - free . Even should you choose to get the materials yourself , don ' t forget to add them to your cost — your labor and time should be compensated for , even if just a little . When buying raw materials from the AH , keep an eye out for bargains . Choose only the cheapest items available to keep costs down . Try scanning the whole section of item listings in the AH to check prices ; often the prices for stacks of items in the AH are much cheaper than individual pieces ( for example , a single Thorium Bar may be priced at 3 , but a stack of 10 may actually be priced at only 2 per Thorium Bar ) — you may spend more to acquire your materials , but you also save more and ensure larger profit in the long run . You can find a lot of terrific bargains this way . Once you have assembled all the materials required to make the item , you can then refer to your records for how much you spent to acquire those goods in order to come up with your total " cost " — the price at which you would break even if you sell the item . From there , you can assign a higher selling price that gives your profit . When assigning a selling price , do not aim for too low a price that would give you too little profit , but certainly do not assign too high a price . Too much greed is never a good thing , and the AH is filled with items that do not sell due to excessive inflation . A very common tactic in the AH is to sell for lower than what another player is offering , and many players make a lot of money that way . Similarly , losing sales thanks to being undercut is never fun . Aim for as low a price you can that will still make you a good profit . If you can keep producing the same item over and over , sell cheaply yet make a good amount of the item , you will reliably make a lot of money by volume . Moving inventory is the best kind of inventory . Similarly , when earning by volume , do not overload the AH with your items . Basic supply and demand : too much supply will make your wares too common and unwanted . Furthermore , with great demand and a cheaper price , you may end up starting a price war with your competitors , with them actively trying to undercut and outdo you . Moderate the amount of items you ' re selling on the AH to small batches , refilling them only when sold out . Once you have your finished product and have a price for it , keep in mind that using either your faction AH or the neutral AH also costs money : if the item does not sell , its deposit is taken by the AH ; if it does sell , the deposit is returned , but a cut from the payment it taken by the AH as a commission . You must factor this into your selling price : your faction ' s AH will take 5 % from your sale , while the neutral ones will take 15 % . You can factor this into your cost to determine the minimum price at which you need to sell to at least break even : In the event your item does not sell but you still wish to try selling it again in the AH , factor in the deposit you paid for the previous auction . This is cumulative , as you take into account each failed sale as a loss . In the event too many deposits accumulate , you must decide whether to continue selling the item inflated by too many sales or finding of another way to dispose of it . One final tip : when you find that an item fails to sell in one AH , selling it on the other may finally dispose of it and get you your earnings . Conclusion . Whatever your approach , if you use some common sense and apply yourself , you can make significant quantities of money in the game . By managing your cashflow , conserving and budgeting where you can , and investing wisely in those activities that make you money , you can become financially solvent relatively early in your career , and remain comfortably well - off ( while still buying good gear ) at level 80 . Good luck !