Auctions: Raw materials vs finished goodsFollow

Seeking other opinions.

I think I've found an almost perfect "mix" of professions - herbalism, alchemy and fishing. The potions that you produce ramp up rather quickly to some that are actually beneficial and the gathering and fishing provide raw materials. However, when it comes to selling your product at auction, none seem to come even close to skinning for profitability.

My question is this: once you amass sufficient herbs for your personal potion and elixir needs, is it better to sell the raw materials at auction or to first process them into finished products? My personal experience is that the raw herbs and fishies sell a lot better but don't bring much. There just doesn't seem to be much demand for potions and elixirs even though some of them are quite nice buffs.

Anybody else see this differently?

A lot of it is sever dependent and variable. Things go in cycles, and a person power-leveling a profession can really throw things around in the short term. Generally though I do what you've done, and dump excess raw mats directly onto the market. In my case they've usually been the better return on investment then the finished product (or at minimum a decent return with minimal time/thinking on my part).

There's certain recipes that will sell at a profit and those that wont. In my experience at least, blue-quality gear tends to turn a profit, as do certain hard-to-get recipes. You know, the market scarcity thing and what not, it does kick in on occasion. Assuming, of course, that the item is useful.

Alchemy is one of those professions I liked for the buffs. Those plus the food buffs when I was leveling was quite nice. When I was leveling the profession though a lot of the flasks never sold, and the potions rarely turned a profit. Things got a bit better at the cap, and there were always a few random things along the way (like frost oil for example) that were harder to get the recipes for, and tended to make money.

Really you'll want to try and be a bit shrewd and price check a few of the different raw + finished projects, as things will change over time. Getting an addon that tracks market prices can be a nice addition as well.


Edited, Jul 14th 2011 12:41pm by someproteinguy

Unless you are the right spec (Potion, Elixir, or Transmute), what I've found with Alchemy is that the profit per recipe is so thin it's almost not worth it. There are people that will literally sell their crafted goods at-cost and wait for a proc to make any kind of profit.

If you want to and have the time to spend on it, you can check the prices on your server daily and see what will net you more cash; selling crafted goods or the raw materials. If you just want to clear out your inventory and sell NOW, raw materials move the fastest, although usually for less profit.

Mining is usually good money as well. I don't know what your economy is like, but you could ditch alchemy for inscription if you want. You can still use the scrolls for buffs, and gylphs sell better than flasks (on my servers at least).