Auction House The Auction House ( abbreviated as AH ) is a wonderful place to find what you need or even make some money for yourself . You can find or sell weapon s , armor , trade good s , recipe s and reagent s . Each faction has its own Auction House , and the two factions share Auction Houses in territory . Auction s are also one of the best money - sink s in the game . The original three Auction Houses were located in Ironforge , Orgrimmar and Booty Bay prior to patch 0 . 10 which moved the interfaction Auction House to Gadgetzan . As of patch 1 . 9 , each capital city has its own Auction House . All Auction Houses of the same faction are linked . With the release of the Burning Crusade expansion and patch 2 . 0 . 1 , the Exodar ' s Auction House was added to Alliance - linked Auction Houses , and the Silvermoon City Auction House was added to Horde - linked Auction Houses . As of Warlords of Draenor , all Auction Houses are connected between factions . In Warlords of Draenor . The Warlords of Draenor expansion merged the previously separate Alliance , Horde , and Neutral auction houses . Auction system UI . The auction system has four parts ( as of Patch 6 . 1 . 2 ) : Finding items . By right - clicking on the auctioneer NPC , a dialog box is opened where one can interface with the auction system at the default Search screen . If you know the name of what you wish to find , simply enter all or part of it in the Name field , and click the Search button on the upper right , and the UI will return all the items that match the string you entered . Otherwise , you can search by category : on the left , there are some blue buttons that are preset to search specific categories of items . Click on the category of item you wish the find ( i . e . , weapon , armor , spell , recipe , etc . ) . Some category items will then display sub - categories . After choosing the category and sub - category , if applicable , click Search . A listing of the items you requested , if there are any available in that category , will be displayed in the right pane of the dialog . Searching for WoW Tokens . In Patch 6 . 1 . 2 , support for was added to the browse part of the UI window . Game Time search button not selected on left side of Auction House window : Game Time search button selected on left side of Auction House window : Bidding on items . You bid on an item at the auction by clicking the item after doing a search ( discussed above in Finding Items ) . This will put the initial bid amount or the default next highest bid amount in the entry areas at the bottom of the screen ( [ ] [ ] [ ] ) . Enter a new amount you would like to bid or leave the default amount and click the Bid button . The amount of your bid is then removed from your character ' s available cash and placed in " escrow " until the auction is over . Optionally , if the item has a " buyout " price , you can click the Buyout button after selecting the item and the amount will be immediately removed from your available cash and the item will be mailed to you . A confirmation alert will appear before your buyout is accepted . If your bid wins , the item is mailed to you through the in - game mail system . If you are outbid or the auction is canceled , your bid that was previously placed in escrow is mailed to you instead . All in all , the auctions are a convenient means of getting rid of excess inventory one might not be able use due to level or class restrictions , or products that one makes using their profession s . Auctions are also a great tool for finding items one might need . These items can get expensive , so be prepared when locating and pricing items at auctions . Prices also reflect , as well as directly influence , the inflation ratio of the economy . Patch 1 . 7 added a dressing room feature to preview how items look when worn without bidding or buying . Although , you can now use this feature anywhere . Checking bid status . After you enter the auction system and make some bids , you can click the second Bid tab at the bottom to see the status of your bids . You will see the following for each item you ' ve bid on : Auction lengths . Note : If an item receives a large number of bids in a short amount of time , the duration on that item will be automatically increased by the AH ( e . g . , a Short length will be changed to Medium , and a Medium to Long ) . It appears that the change in length is to the minimum amount for that length , not the maximum . I . e . , a change from Medium to Long changes the length to 2 hours , not 12 . Selling items . To sell items at the AH , select the rightmost Auction tab at the bottom of the screen . When the auction pane comes up , drag an item from your inventory to the Auction Item slot on the upper left . Enter the price at which you want bidding to start ( [ ] [ ] [ ] ) , and the Auction Duration ( 12 , 24 , or 48 hours ) . It is often a good idea to set a " buyout " price . These amounts may be the same , or different , as is the player ' s wish , but the buyout price cannot be lower than the minimum bid price . A Deposit fee will be charged when you list an item for auction . This fee is based on the length of the auction as well as the vendor value of the item : minimum fee of 1 silver . If your item is bid on and eventually sells , the fee will be refunded , but a 5 % cut will be taken by the auction house ( 15 % in neutral auction houses ) . If the auction ends without a bid , the fee is lost ( see ) . Any money from a successful auction sale will be mailed to the character who placed the item ( s ) for auction via the in - game mail system . As of Patch 2 . 2 . 0 , Auction House generated emails for successful auction sales will now have a one - hour delay and is no longer instantaneous . It is now possible to enter the bid amount and buyout price per stack or per individual item , as well as designate the stack size and how may stacks you wish to sell . This makes creating auctions simpler , as it allows you to create multiple auctions at once , but it has led to the auction house being flooded with single stack items . This could be beneficial to the seller , as it means that people can buy the exact amount of an item that they want , but it may also mean that people who sell in single stacks lose money , as many people will want to buy items in relatively large stacks ( see Auction House tips ) . Checking your auctions . To the right of where you create your auctions , there is a list of your current items up for auction and their status . You will see the following for each item you ' ve auctioned : You can cancel any auction by clicking it and clicking the Cancel Auction button at the bottom of the screen . However , you will lose the deposit that you paid when first placing the item up for auction .