Is the deposit of gems excessive?

[Deleted]

The blue ones appear almost a loss to be listed if they are undercut a couple of times in a day. Is anyone familiar with a way to avoid the bulk of the loss?

I start suspecting only epics make a decent investment nowadays.

Though those need very careful consideration of the price of the uncut gem and careful consideration of the time of the listing of the cut one.

[wynterlyn]

Yes but nothing can be done about them. Earlier before the nerf to green gems I would simply cut them and Vendor them to the vendors getting 9G from each sale. I simply only transmute the red gems and craft Rings/Necklaces with the other colors.

Quite a few players who are levelling alts want to get boosted through immediately for LFR and PVP gear gives them the ability to do that. But like you said, there is nothing you can do besides not listing them until the price comes back up. Blizzard set the prices at the start of the expansion. It isn't their fault that people are quite stupid sometimes and don't know a thing about economics. Well at least it has not got to that point on my realm but I still have fierce undercutting competition.

[Deleted]

I tried to sell them but considering i'm not the only one shuffling the supply is close to endless. Ocean sapphire isn't useless though, it's a reagent for PvP necks/rings and Masterwork Elementium Deathblade/spellblade.

Blue gems just have very little demand. Green quality goes to JC daily, and there was a spellpene cut?
Anyway demand is very low..

You could try barking them in trade? At least it's free.

[Farabee]

Yeah, pretty much anything that isn't an Inferno Ruby cut will not make profit anymore on my server due to how many times I have to undercut. Ember Topaz cuts are the next best thing but those too are sluggish. Compared to enchants, glyphs etc where you can relist infinitely, I generally only cut 1-2 of anything that isn't red.

The demand is there, the supply is just completely glutted.

Ocean sapphire isn't useless though, it's a reagent for PvP necks/rings and Masterwork Elementium Deathblade/spellblade.

That would be an excellent argument if Volatile Air wasn't the most expensive and fastest-selling volatile on the market. Since it is, why bother with making a ring/neck that would have to sell at 150G just to break even when you ca just go to Uldum on your mute spec toon, hit a button and then list in AH for an easy 200-300g guaranteed profit that will sell within the hour?

Same argument with the 365 epics, only the truegold takes FAR more time/effort, is also used for the 397s, still sells well and even then any character can run HOT heroics for a couple hours to get a 378 (or join DF and win a 384). People just aren't willing to pay for the 365 weapons anymore because they are quickly replaced and there's a new expansion coming up so folks are in hoarding mode.

I pretty much cut & vendor any ocean sapphires I get nowadays and leave a stack in my bank in case an alt with a tank spec needs a solid.

[Z-Man]

The listing fee is less than it was in WotLK, and about the same as it was in TBC before the gold supply inflated. It's too low, and this encourages cancel/relist shenanigans we see now as they are easily afforded. The older higher listing fees actually had some teeth back then, but they've become largely irrelevant now.

[Deleted]

The listing fee is what it is, Nope its not too much and bear in mind those who relist many times each day.
Your problem isnt the listing fee it is lack of demand due to end of expansion, too many shufflers and neverending supply of cheap botted mats.
Suck it up or dont play the ah.

[Farabee]

[The listing fee is less than it was in WotLK, and about the same as it was in TBC before the gold supply inflated. It's too low, and this encourages cancel/relist shenanigans we see now as they are easily afforded. The older higher listing fees actually had some teeth back then, but they've become largely irrelevant now. ]

Yes, but do you think it's fair in relation to other, similar consumable markets such as glyphs/enchants that pay next to nothing to list their auctions?

That said, I really hope that Blizzard follows through with their promise to make secondary stats as powerful as the "red" stats, but honestly I don't see it happening at all because it would require a major game change at this juncture. We're at the point in stat inflation where you're seeing some classes (hunters in particular) going back to ignoring set bonuses and gemming straight reds. As long as Blizzard keeps this up, we're going to see this pattern where the reds are the only profitable gems each expansion.

[Deleted]

Suck it up or dont play the ah.

Why? Do you play the auction house? (in that profession)

Because if you do, I wonder if you are successful with unpopular blues.

---------- Post added 2012-06-15 at 12:17 AM ----------

Yes, but do you think it's fair in relation to other, similar consumable markets such as glyphs/enchants that pay next to nothing to list their auctions?

It makes sense easily: Some products are supposed to be very important and at the same time used very frequently. This way one can not get a monopoly with huge margins because he would have a high deposit to care not to lose.

However, I have to agree that in gems it's a bit excessive. It doesn't seem to deserve giving 80 to 100g to relist a few of blue gems.

[Deleted]

[QUOTE=fateswarm;17172190]Why? Do you play the auction house? (in that profession)

Because if you do, I wonder if you are successful with unpopular blues.[COLOR="red"]


You have to remember the universal rules.

All servers are different, which means the levels of supply and demand are different, so what works on one server does not go for another. If you are smart you cam adapt the basic strageies and use the rules as guidelines.

Yes to list on the ah it is the most efficient way to sell gems and I dislike dealing with people in trade.

If you can sell what people want and be the cheapest, then you will meet the available demand. The level of demand at the moment is low because less people are playing at the end of expansion, less upgrades happen, but the population level on your server will also have a big influence on demand.

If the cost of production- mats+ expenses is greater than sale price, then do not sell.
If its close to break even or a modest profit, then consider whether you want to waste the time.

Only if its greater should you sell the items.

So ill try and give you some tips to increase your profit, they are obvious but worth restating because you asked nicely.

Use all your designs because most gems are useful to someone. The most interesting part of the expansion for me is when you are picking your designs at he beginning of an expansion. The emphasis for the JC is to have started doing the JC quests early. I have every rare design except the emerald ones and every epic design because i ensured i did the quests. Experience or study gives you an idea on prices and relative level of demands for each cut. It means you compete over more cuts and you have a greater chance of making a sale. Now I know all servers are different so my current experience is:

Reds still ok to sell, but prices have fallen to 100-150g. I rode this market and was selling them at 200g till even last week. The fall in ore prices has meant I can still make a profit, although demand is much lower these days.

Oranges are okish with a lot of designs. If I see a shuffler is too lazy to get rid other than selling the raw gems I buy them up to remove them from supply. I will even vendor them to prevent them getting to market. I already give free gems to guildies and other friends. If the cuts are too cheap I will buy them up as well.

Purple at times have fetched very little but if you manage the market as with ornage then you cna revive the price to something reasonable.

Yellow I find more popular than they have been in a long time, thats not to say amazing, just they sell better than purple and on a par with ornage.

Blue I have never had mych faith in especially since hit, spirit and stamina have been less important.

Green I have avoided as too much hassle and vendored most stuff, although perversely people with green cuts are so rare, then you cna sell them for 50-70g which is better than 5g.

pvp stuff uses up a lot of blue and yellows.

As I consider my costs covered by red, then the extent to which I can make sales on all the others can double or triple my sales income from gems.
To minimise auction costs try listing one or two of a cut instead of ten. Nobody is going to buy ten of a cut straight off, thats common sense.
This is especially so when I know I might be undercut in 5 minutes. Depending how much you sell it can add up to thousands.

So if you sell across markets, sell what people want at the cheapest price but do as much as you can to maximise profit, then you should make money. I would think rare class gems amount to 40% of my total sales. Its getting less profitable as it goes on, but mats are falling and I am in such a position I still have stock, so its all free money to me. I still make a decent amount, dont need the money, but its all set up now.

I will use exactly the same strategy in MOP if I bother to play. The AH fees are just an expense you have to swallow. I tend not to look at them too much now as sometimes some sales are more important than anything you might lose in fees. This is the case where you want market share.

As for epic gems then because of their lack of availability they have not been that profitable.
the red gems are invariably duped/exploted, they do sell, but not in the quantities of rare gems. Why bother about which market, just sell them both. At the end of expansion you have to be very careful not to hold too much stock as well because the price is about to collapse as people stop raiding and break for mop. If the supply of gems had been greater then there would have been more opportunity to make profit. Id almost steer clear of epics now. although I do have a reasonable number to clear, but have been lazy.

If you know your cuts, customers, market and competitors, then you can maximise your profits. I think im reasonably successful, but there are always ways to improve. There comes a point though where you have to ask yourself whether the time spent on the AH is worth it , especially if you have little use for the gold any more. AH game is not as fun or complex as it was.

[Z-Man]

Yes, but do you think it's fair in relation to other, similar consumable markets such as glyphs/enchants that pay next to nothing to list their auctions?

No, those items should pay much higher listing fees (as should gems).