How To Get Rich - Merchanting Guide

Target Audience: Everyone, especially PVErs.

Dear GWGers,

Have you ever dreamed of being so rich even Donald Trump would be jealous? Finally getting that last piece of Fissure of Woe armor so all the ladies are looking at you? Gold farmers burning with envious hate? Gaile Gray asking you to a personal date? I have. And today, I’ll tell you how to be so filthy rich even the Canthan Undercity peasants would look spotless compared to you. You’ll be riding that 15k through every town. And all of this is available right from your fingertips.

From (what I hope) will be a continuing bi-weekly/monthly article, I’ll thoroughly explain all my methods and tricks (all legal of course), that has made me quite the wealthy merchant. I’ll reveal all those secrets you always wanted to know. Maybe even Victoria’s secret. But remember, everybody knows different things. Every article will not be a divine revelation, but I hope at least one article will be of use to you.

On this week’s article I will focus on the General Art Of Selling. You can’t make money if you can’t sell. Now you don’t have to be a natural born salesman, all you have to do is follow my tips and you’ll be making a lot more than you believe you could’ve.

Always be polite. Even if “X Naruto Ninja X” is throwing enough elementary school insults for your whole family tree, you should always be polite. Being cocky or annoying will only anger and drive away your would-be customers. Do this often enough, and you might find a bad reputation preceding you. Maybe the Merchant NPC will sidestep a little to the left when you’re going to the right, maybe the Rune Trader will only sell you his wrinkled runes. Now I understand that every person has his/her breaking points, and there be occasions where you’ll just snap and fire off insults harsh enough to make Condoleezza Rice cry. Just keep it to a minimum and you shouldn’t have a problem.

A simple “Thankyou, enjoy your item” after a successful transaction, or a “Thankyou for your time” after an unsuccessful one can make all the difference. Maybe they’ll add you to friends list and whisper you if they change their mind or if they decide to purchase more goods. I don’t believe in Karma, but being nice is almost always a good thing. Notice how I said “Be polite, and not be nice and lenient.” If a person is pushing you too far, instead of replying “@#$@%!!” and putting him on the ignore list, simply say “Sorry, but I can’t do it. I have a family to feed too, you know.” They’ll understand, and if they don’t, that’s when you put them on the ignore list. =)

Always be clear. If you are not precise in marketing your wares, people will not know what they’re looking for. This is especially important when advertising your wares. When you’re trying to fit your message through Lion’s Arch AD1, I’m sure you’ll find it convenient enough to put symbols or attractions to differentiate your message. Just make sure you don’t fill your messages with too many attracting symbols that cloud your actual message.

For example, I’ll give you my own format (Remove []s):

*** W T S [Type of item] | [Item #1] | [Item #2] | [etc.] | - PM!

Quite beautiful if I can say so myself. I’d marry it if it was a woman.

Know the market. There is a rule that applies to every MMO Merchant. The higher the price that deviates from the current market value, the longer it will be for you to sell it. The higher the price, the fewer players will be willing to pay for it. The higher your price, the less ability it is for players to pay for it. Sure, you may get lucky and find the newbie that will buy your Starter Wand for 70k, but in the long run this rule always applies. Always know the market values and the price boundaries for your items. If you expect to sell the item for much higher, prepare to be patient.

Use the Search function. The search function is a great function, courtesy of Arena.net (albeit a bit late). When I go into populated towns, I always have a look through the Search list and scan through the “WTBs” or “B>s”. If they want something I have, I’ll whisper them. What makes this function so great is that it works across all districts. This means you won’t have to individually scan through the barrages of messages from every Lion’s Arch district. Unfortunately not THAT many people use this function, due to some minor inconveniences. I won’t delve too much, but it’s quite annoying when you have to re-enter your message after every district switch. I hope after reading this message you’ll start using the Search function and make both our lives easier. =D

That’s all for this week, and if you haven’t learnt something new, I hope at least you’ve enjoyed the time you spent on this.

Rusty is a freelance writer that loves to make people laugh. For any questions (on the article or whatever it may be), or work, please contact him at new.canadian.rusty *A-T* gmail.com He also does graphic design mainly with Photoshop, so don’t hesitate to contact him!

NEXT ARTICLE: More specific tips and hints on how to get rich! We'll really start to dig into this topic!

Based on this format (i.e. the spaces between the WTS), I really, really, really hope that you aren't encouraging people to post in the local chat.

Well, everyone once in awhile when no one is talking in local chat and everyone is in trade chat, you wanna post one in Local Chat to make yours obvious(just a guess, dont flame)

Lions Arch AD1. lol

Whether I encourage it or not is irrelevant, because everyone spams it anyway.

-----

This is a very general and simplistic guide, but as I go on with more guides it will get a lot more sophisicated, so tell your friends to keep an eye out! We will really start to explore every tip, trick, nook & cranny of merchanting.

This will be an interesting guide. Can't wait for the "real" tips. This was like an etiquette primer, but was nice nonetheless.

IMO, ANet should implement a filter so if someone types in the "All" chat something containing the strings "WTS, WTB, WTT, sell, buy, trade" then the message doesn't go through, or automatically the message is sent through as a trade channel message. People will find ways to bypass this filter through slang and such, but half of the people who sell items by spamming in the "all" chat aren't even smart enough to try and bypass it. :P

Nice tips for starting off. Looking forward to some of the "real" tips as well.

Btw, love the writing style. Keep up the good work.

Rusty, babies?

So this is basically a selling guide. I thought it would be one like: GO TO FOW,UW,URGOZ!!! Well at least it gives some nice tips on selling.

Yea, this looks like a potentially helpful guide. I already knew what you said on top (to me it's just common sense) but I can't wait to see the in depth parts.

The best thing to do is to use capital letters in start of a sentance and speak complicated english. People think you're clever and won't scamm them so they accept. Got req 9 dead sword 15^50 +30 for 40k this way

Some things you might want to add.

Know your target audience - No point spamming a req8 15^50 Crysttaline as 99% of the general populace couldn't afford.

Know when to sell - There comes a time when selling for slightly less then you orginally wanted becomes the better option. Time is money.

Know when to barter - Just by people reply I can tell if they will be willing to haggle slghtly or not, learning this will earn/save you gold.

Know when to refuse - Know when to refuse a good offer. If you're spamming and someone comes in with a really decent offer straight away play with them a little see how much you can tease out of them *this can result in the loss of trade*

Modding to sell - Biggest mistake in trading. High end items sell their self, low-mid range items (chaos axes,zodiacs,fells etc) on occasion need a little treatment (zealous mods,+5AR,vampiric) but spending 50k on mods to only make 20k of that back is stupid and pointless.

Make contacts - Just like in real life business your contact list is your life line. I'm regualry PM'd by people either offering me something or asking if I have something. If your contacts are not interested then they could have friend or guildie that might. Easiest way to trade bar none.

All this is what I've gained from trading.

Did it make me rich? what do you think

SPEED SELLING: Sell for less and gain more

If the market value of an item is 100k just sell 80-90k. I usually sell my items 10-15 percent less than market value. You'll usually see the same people everyday trying to get that extra 10-15k, while you selling multiple items.

Also remember the market changes real fast. One week an item will worth thousands the next week it's worth 50% less.

-----------------
I'm not rich cause I have a problem of buying too much items and customizing them, then never use them. It's just like RL....

yeah, go spam more WTS in each district go out and let all spam WTS this and that and whatever. The best thing for getting fast money is farm around 200k with your character which is doable in a week or 2. Then go onto the market an buy and sell certain items. I did that with the minipets when the update came to show them in town and I had like 80k in less then a few minutes.

Since everyone is adding little tips and such, I've found a good way to make money is to sell your purples (from chest runs and stuff) to people just starting out. Like i'll sell a req 11 FDS with 13%^50 and a +20 mod for 1k or so. Things I wouldn't normally be able to sell to the normal populace, I can sell to those just starting out in Ascalon. Or Shing Jea. But I haven't found much luck in Kamadan.

NOTE: Newb is not an insult. Noob is an insult. Newb means that they're just starting, Noob means that they suck at life.

Example:
Me: Selling req 7 11-22 FDS, 13^50, +20hp! Pst me.
Newb: Is that good? How much do you want for it?
Me: 1k. Is that too much? I could go to 800g, if you only had that much.
Newb: I've only got 300g...
Me: That'll work fine. Dump me on your friend's list in case you strike it rich and wanna buy some great items
Newb: thanks!

In most cases, the "newb" will whisper you again quite alot later, but this time he'll have more gold and experience. He'll need very nice items, and you can charge him slightly less than the market price. In many cases I've had them give me more for an item, simply because I was nice to them when they were starting out. Basically, my method involves building a customer base that will always buy from you, because they trust you.

Admin, your are taking bread from xRustyx

I thought I trademarked the phrase "tyvm, please enjoy your purchase"
On the article: very nice start, I love your sense of humor. Keep this good attitude

On the spamming: I always use trade channel only and scan for WTB/B> in search function, but very few people use it.

When im selling, i usually try and get in control, set the price, etc, dont let them think you are weak, or they will just low ball with offers..unless your taking offer ofcourse

Seriously, Rusty...

You may want to alter the guide to specifically remove any reference (like what I referred to above) to circumventing the controls within the game. This is a pretty sensitive subject, and using the rationale of "well, everyone does it anyways" will discredit some of your advice.

Trying to use allchat in dist1 LA or Kamadan is pointless anyway by this point. I only spam to the trade channel, but I'm just perplexed by people who get annoyed by buy/sell messages in allchat there. You want to form a party or talk, go to another dist, not like anyone else is trying to form parties in dist1....

Please No

A good example of friendly chat. A shame not many people are like this. Most trades end with:

"ty"
"yw"
*both forget each other*

But that poor newb is broke now! Oh well.

Thank you for this guide, Rusty! I have now realized the error of my ways, and it's already starting to show!



Terror Shield, here I come!

okkk anyone notice the post above is false you cant have that many bags lol some pople like to show they are so good at something and not hide it so well lol

Thanks xRustyx! Great guide! But next time can you please post something out of the obvious??

Surely someone as observant as you would have noticed that those are two separate images. I have been so successful that I have had to create a whole new mule just to hold my character's armors!

I did make a mistake tho, it's actually a Tormented Shield, not a Terror Shield. But I'm almost there. B| Selling polite.

well....i made the incredibly daft mistake (who can blame me i had no idea of the market value neither could i check it myself tbh WHERE does one find out these specifics?) of selling my mini kuunavang for 40k, when it is work 100k + 10 ecto at LEAST.
also the dumb mistake of selling Varesh for 9k.
finally i have also had luck selling other things to peeps, but who knows, it is relaly a luck thing. depends.
NICE GUIDE BUT WHERE ARE THE TIPS

You always could tryPrice Check

Rusty, how often do you plan to put a new article? Weekly?

Just wondering. I've had faublous luck in my last two new UW runs, and this run I got no greens. I feel empty inside... :\

i lawled for about 5 minutes at this.

Just a heads up to people waiting for the next guide, it should be up tomorrow or the day after.

very nice guide. I usualy can't be bothered to sell anything less than a high-end item, but with these pointers in mind I think I actually might put some time in makin those extra g's

Always knew you were a good pve-er!!!

Hope im allowed to post this. Ill add more when I can be bothered.

Where To Find Good Deals
There is no point sitting in Yaks Bend District 1 all day expecting to find good deals. The best places (for me) to get great deals are; Lions Arch American District 1, GuildWarsGuru Auctions and GuildWarsGuru Sell & High End. Some people like Ascalon and Droknars Forge but for me I always found them a waste of time.

Lions Arch American District 1
Lions Arch seems to be the trade capital of Guild Wars. There are way more people selling their items their than anywhere else in Guild Wars. Why American server though? I have accounts on both servers and for me all of my good deals occured on the American server. Yes, you can get good deals on the European server but I have got way more good deals on the American server. Also it is alot busier on the American server. I prefer District 1 over say District 2 simply because more people are there. More people equals the possibility of good deals.

GuildWarsGuru Auction
GWG Auctions is great if you are wanting to pick up bargains. There are items which sell for way under their real value and it is much more relaxed than having to sit in Lions Arch reading the spam. The best deal I ever got was on GWG Auctions which led to a profit of 8233% more than what I paid for it. Selling high end items on there is not recommended as it is infested with fake bidders who ruin many high end auctions. For selling low-mid end items it is great as people sometimes pay more on there. There is one trader on there who sells items for alot more than they are worth and he is able to do this regularly.

GuildWarsGuru Sell & High End
An okay way of getting nice deals. I have only really picked up unusual items which are very specialist and only collectors would be interested in. Most people dont want them or are unaware of their rarity so it is possible to get them very cheap. Also if people list items with a low buyout you can take it and hope noone else bids or meet up in game as soon as possible to conduct the trade. If no buyout price is listed then you can enquire about it and hope they have a low price in mind.


Your Customers
As Malice said spamming ultra rare or specialist items for sale in-game wont do you much good. Most of the Guild Wars players dont have millions upon millions of gold to spend on a single item or dont appreciate an items rarity. The best place to sell them is either on GuildWarsGuru High End or through contacts you have made. If you know who can afford to buy that low req 15>50 Crystalline Sword you can save yourself alot of time. If you know people who collect a certain skin then you can contact them whenever you obtain a nice version of that skin. This was more true back in Guild Wars' golden age of trading when there were tons of item collectors who wanted specific skinned items. Spamming items worth many millions in-game also will lead to a ton of abuse being directed at you. I have had to sit with Do Not Disturb on due to people calling me every insult imaginable.

Language & Presentation
The way you speak and present yourself is everything. Try when spamming to keep it neat and tidy, i.e. :-

WTS: Gold Chaos Axe Req 8 15>50 3/1 Vamp +30HP

or

WTS: Gold Chaos Axe Req 8 15>50 3/1 Vamp +30HP < Insert Price >

I have had numerous problems trying to get good deals while wearing FOW armour. It gives off the image that you are rich and have alot of gold available. For example, when someone says to me, "Offer", and I give them a price they reply, "You can pay more, you are rich as you have FOW Armour". Thats why I prefer to use either 1.5k or 15k Armours while trying to get good deals. Also if someone wants 40k for something and you want to try and pretend you only have 30k as you are poor its alot more believable if you are not wearing a high end set of armour. This is unethical but certainly not illegal or banworthy. If you want to develop a good reputation amongst other traders it is advisable not to do this to them.

When people ask you to offer a price I either usually give them a low price or ask them to give me a price. Something like, "Sorry I do not know how much the item is worth, do you have a price in mind?" Works wonders sometimes.


Knowing The Value Of Items
I cant stress how important this is. I have had friends who think they can dabble in the power trading game and lost millions because of their lack of preparation. Read the Ventaris Sell section of GWG daily to build up an idea of what stuff is worth. Some people specialise in certain items i.e. shields. Although in time you would want to be able to know the value of most items. If you think you might be able to sell an item for 10k more but are not 100% certain of its value it would not be worth buying it as you could quite easily lose gold. You wouldnt buy try and get rich from trading cars, actions figures, antiques etc if you had not thoroughly researched them so dont buy items when you are uncertain of their value.

It might also be worth knowing the value of unusual or nerfed items as they can sell for alot of gold. Most players have no clue what a Swamp Club is yet they can sell for hundreds of thousands of gold and whenever they appear for sale they are usually way undervalued. With these items they will only really appeal to a collector of them so spamming them for sale in Lions Arch is not a great idea. Your best bet would be through contacts or GWG High End.

When To Buy & Sell
Usually just before a new chapter is released items become harder to sell and their value decrease. After the chapter is release their value usually decreases further. Therefore if you have no desire to keep the item try and sell it way before a chapter is released. This will minimise the amount of gold you could lose.

When a new item or chapter is released the items tend to sell for alot of gold. However, as the weeks go buy they fall in price drastically. If you pick up an item cheaply during this period try and sell as soon as possible as it could fall in price. Take for example the Elemental Sword which was selling for hundreds of ecto when Nightfall was released however as the weeks went buy it fell alot in price.

what is this GWG Auction and High-End bla-di-bla? Is it available in Europe distro or just in American area?

GuildWarsGuru High End http://www.guildwarsguru.com/forum/f...play.php?f=212

GuildWarsGuru Sell http://www.guildwarsguru.com/forum/f...splay.php?f=38

GuildWarsGuru Auction http://www.guildwarsguru.com/auction/

Can be done anywhere as you can use International Districts

I've found the best way to sell stuff is to cover the most ground possible.

Example:

LA AD1, Spam WTS XXX Items 1-2X
Zone to LA AD2, Spam WTS XXX 1-2X
Zone to LA AD3
....done with all LA Dists....
Zone to Droks AD1, Spam
Zone to Droks AD2, Spam
....done with all Droks Dists...
Zone to Ascalon AD1, Spam
....done with all Ascalon Dists...
Zone to KC AD1
....keep hitting all the major cities/districts

Coverage is key. I hit every major city. Henge (yep there's usually only like 10 ppl there, but these are the players that are PLAYING the game and most of the time actually need stuff and can afford it), Ascalon, Droks, LA, Amnoon in Tyria....KC, HvH, etc. in Factions....Etc Etc.

Sitting in LA AD1 and spamming cannot be efficient for low/mid range items/mats/mods. Consider that 90% of the people in LA AD1 are selling, not buying. 7% more were put in that city because it's the busiest "active district", and the last 3% came there to actually buy something. Odds are that 3% are looking for something specific and you probablly aren't selling it.

High end items-go ahead and spam away in LA AD1-or better yet just post them on Guru.

Just my $0.02 and I hope it helps.

I've given up on selling I/G for the most part. Guru FTW, and even then selling stuff is getting almost pointless. Merchant FTW!

i disagree with some of the points rusty made, particularly about spamming WTSes; something i generally frown upon.
furthermore, the lack of mentions toward points later posted by malice and herb make me wonder.
though i will compliment the approach taken to humor involving the guide.

ive always thought the single most important thing in trading is knowing the relationship of an items value and its sell time. by propperly balancing your commission percentage, and expentant sell-times, you can accuratly predict how much an item will sell for, and when you can expect to sell it by, with a pretty high degree of accuracy. which is important for both minimizing potential market flucation-based losses, and ending up with items you have no use for, and cant sell for profit (the WORST type of investment available).

if your looking out for deals, i tend to find night time good, as sellers get desperate and lower there price.

You did read the whole guide and realize this was a bi-weekly/monthly guide right? That means there will be many more parts to the guide that will cover all the aspects of merchanting. Obviously I'm not going to post a 30 page guide that covers all of merchanting because your eyes would explode.

As for the W T S, as I have already explained it is one of the methods that I use, and while some may frown upon it, it is not illegal or an exploit. I am not actively encouraging it, but I am not discouraging it either. Besides it makes no difference as you can tell from first districts of every popular town.

You can just copy and paste all my posts if you want any of it or I can delete them as you said you will update the guide.

Although not illegal trading ethics is everything. To my knowledge I never spammed items in local intentionally except possibly in my newb power trading days when I didnt know better. It doesnt look very professional. Ill expand on this further: -

Reputation & Trading Ethics
At the end of the day you will get alot further in the power trading game if you come accross as professional and have good trading ethics. People are much more will to listen to you or contact you if they know you are professional and have good trading ethics. If people see you hardcore spamming up local and breaking Anet's rules and annoying people they may wonder what other rules you are willing to break. There are certain traders who I am not willing to give the time of day due to them having an awful reputation whether it be selling gold on ebay or messing me about in trades. You are more likely to be able to shift that 500 ecto item to people if they "like" or get on well with you. I have seen how that minor disliking of someone can turn into a big hate and before you know it whole groups of people are hating on someone.

Carrying on bidding after an auction has ended or a buyout has been taken can give you a bad reputation too. A disgruntled player can complain to all who would hear him and before you know it alot of people think your a poor power trader.

People building up trust in you and in them can work wonders for making gold. You can share knowledge and help each other in making gold i.e. hooking them up with someone who would buy their item.

Ill admit spamming local isnt exactly the crime of the century but it wont help your image. I saw a well known trader doing it the other day and I did think less of them after that.