Trading channel = Tips for trading = Many new players get quite a surprise the first time they enter a capital city , when they see all of the colorful item names that pop up when clicked in the chat window . For the newbie , it can be more than confusing to figure out what ' s in - demand , what ' s cheap , and how to make money . This guide isn ' t written completely NPOV , because it contains a lot of firsthand experience on how WoW economy is used and misused . Most newcomers to this market can literally be harassed by other players , get ripped off , or even made the laughingstock of the trade channel . I will call buying / selling in the Trade channel " the direct market " because it is different from Auction House in that you can interact with others . The basics in trading . When you first come into this world , you will notice that people are trying to sell all kinds of items in the Trade channel . Mostly it ' s users offering their services , such as enchanting , leather - working , blacksmithing , etc . , but you will notice a lot of blue and even purple item named too . The item names are clickable , so you can see the details on that specific item such as level requirements , stats , the DPS , etc . If you are new to WoW , or just new to using the direct market , often you will find it difficult to evaluate a specific item ' s worth , and in many ways this is perhaps the beauty about it , as some would say . The reason is to make you buy quickly without a second thought , instead of having plenty of time to look up an item on the web . Another reason is if you have difficulties in selling a item on the Auction House and are tired of losing deposits every time , the trade channel is a good way to sell your items if you are in short supply of cash . The trade channel can be a seller ' s as well as a buyer ' s market , depending solely on whether you know what price each item can be sold for ! " Tip : start looking for the prices on Cloth ( , , , , and ) and if you have mining , skinning or herbalism - look up what they get sold for , ex : , or " . Keep track of things you know from ordinary drops or gathering skills , items you are familiar with . First things first . There are 3 kinds of direct marketing in trade channel . Examples There are many ways to mark your items on the trading channel and none of them are wrong - the question is how many whispers can you handle ? Most people will whisper you the rarer the item is , except if its trade items and especially if you sell at a very low price and are announcing it . Word of advice is try not to use words like " free " or " cheap " or any other words that indicate " salesmanship " , just " WTS " plus the link to the item . Cheap is relative so often you will attract Plzz ' er , Goldfish and Sharks ( see below ) with too much salesmanship . It can though be a good idea to write if a given item has an enchant on it , not everyone notices if it does . How to behave . You are going to meet a lot of people in the Trade channel and have some odd and funny conversations , but you might also encounter mean or annoying people . These are words of advice for both sellers and buyers . When you are dealing in the Trade channel , be fair and helpful with any questions that buyers might ask you . Try not to brag about other sales or deals you ' ve made ; there is no reason to / flex your salesmanship , because it will only backfire and make people jealous . It ' s a good idea to do a bit of research to get to know which items are used for which professions s or class es : Especially if you sell those items , so you can advise others on if it ' s an item they actually can use , or at least point them in the right direction . For example , if you are trying to sell a 2H weapon to a Warrior at level 55 , and he isn ' t going to use it for his alt , tell him he might have a difficult time keeping aggro and that he should go with dual wield . You lose a potential customer if he ' s reasonable , but at least he knows whom to ask for items in the future and you will gain respect . If the customer wants it anyway , sell it , because it ' s not up to you to tell others how to play their character s . If you sell an item and 5 minutes later that person ' s trying to sell it for a higher price than you sold it for , don ' t be angry and start harassing the person ; it ' s part of the game . Be glad you got the money you wanted . There ' s always a chance that person won ' t be able to sell it for a profit anyway . Trader personalities list . This list is a stereotype of personalities you may encounter . It can help you understand more easily each type of person ' s intentions before you really get to know them . Many of these personalities come out in the light when you are selling items The Plzz ' er The Goldfish The Shark The Monkey Scratcher Only got 1G The Monkey The Kid The Thief Grand Theft Auto The F16 Pilot The Gamemaster Yourself = How to price = This is the difficult part of trading , unless you use outside sources . If you ' re still a newbie , and you haven ' t spent years memorizing your server ' s economy , you can always download an appropriate price addon ( such as Auctioneer ) or visit fansites that help you outline prices . Remember , every server has its own economy . If you don ' t want to trust outside sources , here are some tips on learning how to price : When you are come this far , you will soon figure out that there are a lot of money too be made on auction hall , same goes for trading channel . The only problem is that often it is not white trading items that are sold in trading channel , but rather blue and purple item s and " enchanter spammers " . The " right " price . Players often don ' t know the value of their sellable item s , resulting in these items being either over - or under - priced . Indeed , a good deal of skill and knowledge is required in identifying unreasonable prices . In the real world prices are controlled by different economic factors , including the value of a country ' s currency , wages and the buying power of the consumer . The WoW economy , however , is very similar to economies in the real world , particularly in that prices are determined by Supply and Demand . If an item is common , it is easier to find and therefore not likely to fetch a high price . If it is rare and in high demand , it is likely to fetch a higher price than a common item . This law of supply and demand is common to all economies , whether specific to MMORPGs or real - world . One difference , however , between WoW economics and real - world economics is that in WoW there is only one currency and therefore the factor of foreign exchange is irrelevant in WoW economics . Some factors that are perhaps unique to WoW are : With regard to the first point , if Server A has more Paladins and Warriors than Server B , and both servers have the same overall population , then the price of Plate Armour on Server A will likely be higher than on Server B . This is because Plate Armour will drop just as often on each server , but on Server A more players will want those items . That is to say more players will be vying for a limited supply of Plate Armor , forcing the price on Plate Armor upwards . There has been much speculation on how server population affects item prices , with such theories often yielding the equation : Some argue that if the population is low then item s are dropped as rarer less often than on a fully populated server . Some argue that this makes items much more expensive , because high - quality items are dropped more rarely . On the other hand , if the server is sparsely populated then fewer players will be in demand for those few rare items , resulting in lower prices . Theoretically the server population should make little or no difference to the real value of any item . If the server population is high , then demand will be higher and prices will rise . In this case , however , rare items will drop more often , creating a greater supply to satisfy the increased demand . In the end the two forces should balance out and server population should be irrelevant in determining the price of rare items . One thing thats is definitely true of low - population servers is that prices tend to fluctuate rapidly giving way to lots of trading . On highly populated server prices tend to be more stable , at least in theory , because players will notice underpriced items more quickly and resell them for a higher price , forcing the overall price of the item back up to " normal " levels . Another factor that is interesting but very difficult to quantify is the effect of so - called " chinese farmers " . Some say they have a enormous effect on the economy , while others claim the effect is minimal . This can be hard to monitor and there is really no way to figure out . Yet another factor to account for is the age of the realm , on a newer realm prices tend to be fairer where and items are involved . While on older realms the prices for ( low level ) and items are usual very high because of the large number of twink s on the realm . Disclaimer : This theory and can vary from server to server and may not be accurate Figuring out the right price . When you are looking for good deals , you have to not only know about the prices on many item s beforehand , but have to make proper estimations on buyout . Finding " the right price " these rules should be applied for sell price : If you are about to buy something and you aren ' t sure about the price , don ' t buy it no matter how much you crave it until you ' re sure it ' s a good price . Be careful about an item ' s worth .