The profitability of crafting materials

To craft, or not to craft?

That's pretty much the question I end up asking myself every time a few stacks of common crafting materials start cluttering up my storage. In this situation, I am faced with several options:

• Sell the stack to the merchant. Quickest, but often the least profitable.
• Sell the stack to the materials trader. Slower (since you have to sell in multiples of 10), but more profitable.
• Sell the stack to another player. Even slower, considering you need to find someone willing to buy the specific material, but more profitable than selling to the trader.
• Save the stack to craft rare crafting materials and then sell those, either to players or to the rare materials trader.

Tired of constantly having to check trader prices in order to figure out what to do with each specific stack, I decided to go through the whole list and figure out which option was the most profitable once and for all.

If you're interested in the process, keep reading. If you only want to know what I figured out, skip down to Final Analysis.

Assumptions

1. Due to the way the laws of supply and demand impact trader prices, any prices sampled for analysis are bound to fluctuate. However, barring a game change with severe impact - a nerfed/discovered farm that nets tons of a specific material, or the introduction of new craftable items, - materials prices should not fluctuate wildly out of proportion with each other. While the specific numbers I collected today, on February 17, 2008, will likely change, the general idea of how profitable specific rare crafting materials are shouldn't be likely to.
   
2. I generally sell crafting materials to players for a "halfway" price, which is the average of the prices for which a trader will buy and sell the specific material. If you charge other players a different amount, my profit analysis numbers will not match your actual profits. They will, however, fall somewhere between the two extremes determined by the trader's buy and sell prices, and those are included in the below.
   
3. While I will evaluate the opportunity cost of crafting (the cash you could gain from selling the materials outright), I'm going to ignore the opportunity cost of obtaining the materials in the first place. In other words, I'm going to ignore how much cash you could have saved by not using the Salvage Kit and selling the item you salvaged, because there's no way to tell how many crafting materials and of what specific type you could obtain from an item without actually destroying it.
   
4. It has been a while since I've done business-related math, so don't expect any formulas out of me. If formulas are your thing, you're more than welcome to reverse-engineer one from my data.

Legend

• Material = the crafting material itself
• NPC sells = the price at which the materials trader sells the crafting material
• NPC buys = the price at which the materials trader buys the crafting material
• PC price = as mentioned above, this is the "halfway price" that I would charge other players for the crafting material
• Craft price = the cost to craft the material from scratch
  1. Buy: how much crafting would cost if all ingredients were purchased from the traders
  2. PC: "opportunity cost" - how much cash could be obtained from selling the ingredients to players (at the abovementioned "halfway price") instead of crafting
  3. Sell: "opportunity cost" - how much cash could be obtained from selling the ingredients to traders instead of crafting

Data

Iron Ingot
NPC sells = 250 for 10
NPC buys = 150 for 10
PC price = 200 for 10

Tanned Hide Square
NPC sells = 180 for 10
NPC buys = 80 for 10
PC price = 130 for 10

Bolt of Cloth
NPC sells = 140 for 10
NPC buys = 40 for 10
PC price = 90 for 10

Wood Plank
NPC sells = 100 for 10
NPC buys = 40 for 10 (faster to sell to a merchant at this price)
PC price = 70 for 10

Pile of Glittering Dust
NPC sells = 190 for 10
NPC buys = 90 for 10
PC price = 140 for 10

Plant Fiber
NPC sells = 180 for 10
NPC buys = 80 for 10
PC price = 130 for 10

Bolt of Damask
NPC sells = 490
NPC buys = 390
PC price = 440
Craft/Buy: 90 (5 fiber) + 95 (5 dust) + 200 = 385
Craft/PC: 65 (5 fiber) + 70 (5 dust) + 200 = 335
Craft/Sell: 40 (5 fiber) + 45 (5 dust) + 200 = 285
Evaluation: Bolts of Damask are generally worth crafting. If you buy ingredients from traders, you can still make a profit by selling Damask to players. If you use Fiber and Dust that are just clogging up your storage, you can make a profit by selling Damask to the traders.

Bolt of Silk
NPC sells = 120
NPC buys = 20
PC price = 70
Craft/Buy: 140 (10 cloth) + 190 (10 dust) + 250 = 580
Craft/PC: 90 (10 cloth) + 140 (10 dust) + 250 = 480
Craft/Sell: 40 (10 cloth) + 90 (10 dust) + 250 = 380
Evaluation: Don't even bother.

Bolt of Linen
NPC sells = 210
NPC buys = 110
PC price = 160
Craft/Buy: 90 (5 fiber) + 200 = 290
Craft/PC: 65 (5 fiber) + 200 = 265
Craft/Sell: 40 (5 fiber) + 200 = 240
Evaluation: Unless Linen prices see a sharp increase, crafting this rare material will remain an unprofitable enterprise.

Deldrimor Steel Ingot
NPC sells = 800
NPC buys = 600
PC price = 700
Craft/Buy: 250 (10 iron) + 95 (5 dust) + 160 (1 charcoal) + 200 = 705
Craft/PC: 200 (10 iron) + 70 (5 dust) + 110 (1 charcoal) + 200 = 580
Craft/Sell: 150 (10 iron) + 45 (5 dust) + 60 (1 charcoal) + 200 = 455
Evaluation: If you're going to use it up by crafting armor, buying the ingredients for Deldrimor Steel and running to a crafter will cost you less than buying from the trader. If you already have the ingredients, you can turn a nice profit by selling the Deldrimor Steel you craft.

Elonian Leather Square
NPC sells = 300
NPC buys = 200
PC price = 250
Craft/Buy: 90 (5 hide) + 95 (5 dust) + 50 = 235
Craft/PC: 65 (5 hide) + 70 (5 dust) + 50 = 185
Craft/Sell: 40 (5 hide) + 45 (5 dust) + 50 = 135
Evaluation: If you're going to use it, it is cheaper to craft Elonian Leather with purchased ingredients than to buy it from the trader. If you already have the ingredients, you can make a profit from selling the Elonian Leather you craft, whether to players or to the trader.

Leather Square
NPC sells = 210
NPC buys = 110
PC price = 160
Craft/Buy: 90 (5 hide) + 50 = 140
Craft/PC: 65 (5 hide) + 50 = 115
Craft/Sell: 40 (5 hide) + 50 = 90
Evaluation: If you're going to use it, it is cheaper to craft Leather with purchased ingredients than to buy it from the trader. If you already have the ingredients, you can make a profit by selling the Leather you craft to other players. (Trader prices may fluctuate widely enough to negate the profit from selling crafted Leather to the trader.)

Lump of Charcoal
NPC sells = 160
NPC buys = 60
PC price = 110
Craft/Buy: 100 (10 wood) + 200 = 300
Craft/PC: 70 (10 wood) + 200 = 270
Craft/Sell: 40 (10 wood) + 200 = 240
Evaluation: Don't even bother.

Roll of Parchment
NPC sells = 150
NPC buys = 50
PC price = 100
Craft/Buy: 50 (5 wood) + 20 = 70
Craft/PC: 35 (5 wood) + 20 = 55
Craft/Sell: 20 (5 wood) + 20 = 40
Evaluation: The perennial favorite ever since Prophecies release, Parchment is still profitable - if you can find someone who wants it, that is. In Prophecies, it was popular because monks needed it for the max AL +energy armor available at Droknar's Forge. Now that insignias have uncoupled "armor functionality" from "armor looks," Parchment demand is nowhere near the level it was on in the past.

Roll of Vellum
NPC sells = 240
NPC buys = 140
PC price = 190
Craft/Buy: 50 (5 wood) + 95 (5 dust) + 20 = 165
Craft/PC: 35 (5 wood) + 70 (5 dust) + 20 = 125
Craft/Sell: 20 (5 wood) + 45 (5 dust) + 20 = 85
Evaluation: Even if you buy all ingredients for Vellum, you could still make a profit by selling it to other players. If you have the ingredients already, your profit will increase, but selling the crafted Vellum to the trader may not be profitable over selling ingredients to other players if the Vellum price drops.

Spiritwood Plank
NPC sells = 180
NPC buys = 80
PC price = 130
Craft/Buy: 50 (5 wood) + 190 (10 dust) + 100 = 340
Craft/PC: 35 (5 wood) + 140 (10 dust) + 100 = 275
Craft/Sell: 20 (5 wood) + 90 (10 dust) + 100 = 210
Evaluation: Don't even bother.

Steel Ingot
NPC sells = 200
NPC buys = 100
PC price = 150
Craft/Buy: 250 (10 iron) + 160 (1 charcoal) + 200 = 610
Craft/PC: 200 (10 iron) + 110 (1 charcoal) + 200 = 510
Craft/Sell: 150 (10 iron) + 60 (1 charcoal) + 200 = 410
Evaluation: While selling Steel you salvage from Canes and Rods and metal weapons may be profitable, crafting it is far from the same. Stick to selling what Steel you come across.

Tempered Glass Vial
NPC sells = 170
NPC buys = 70
PC price = 120
Craft/Buy: 95 (5 dust) + 20 = 115
Craft/PC: 70 (5 dust) + 20 = 90
Craft/Sell: 45 (5 dust) + 20 = 65
Evaluation: The profit margins are too slim, and would seem too vulnerable to market fluctuations to be taken advantage of consistently.

Vial of Ink
NPC sells = 300
NPC buys = 200
PC price = 250
Craft/Buy: 72 (4 fiber) + 170 (1 glass vial) + 20 = 262
Craft/PC: 52 (4 fiber) + 120 (1 glass vial) + 20 = 192
Craft/Sell: 32 (4 fiber) + 70 (1 glass vial) + 20 = 122
Evaluation: Since it is cheaper to craft Glass Vials than to purchase them, the above three lines are technically incorrect, and are included only for the sake of completeness. The "proper" evaluation should use the values from the "Glass Vial" section above, making the lines read:

Craft/Buy: 72 (4 fiber) + 115 (1 glass vial) + 20 = 207
Craft/PC: 52 (4 fiber) + 90 (1 glass vial) + 20 = 162
Craft/Sell: 32 (4 fiber) + 65 (1 glass vial) + 20 = 117

Thus, you can make a profit by selling the Vials of Ink you craft to other players, but your profit margins will increase if you use crafted as opposed to purchased Glass Vials.

Final Analysis

Based on the numbers collected on February 17, 2008, only Bolts of Damask could be crafted at a profit if all ingredients are purchased from a materials trader and all Damask sold to the rare materials trader. The profit gained this way is minuscule, which means that even minor, natural fluctuations in crafting material prices may negate it.

That said, crafting rare materials from stacks of spare common materials is not a wholly losing proposition. Damask, Deldrimor Steel, Elonian Leather, Leather, Parchment, Vellum, Tempered Glass Vials and Vials of Ink can all be crafted and sold to other players at a profit - when compared to the amount of cash to be made from selling the crafting ingredients outright. This means that "converting" common crafting materials - Fibers, Dust, Iron, Hide, Wood - into the above rare ones will eventually net a profit, in addition to making storage easier.

Of course, it's also possible that enough GW players read this guide to make prices fluctuate wildly and throw off the current price proportions of the crafting materials, but I highly doubt something of that nature is going to happen any time soon

I did some research into this a while ago, but you have it in more detail

I save crafting materials salvaged as I go. I took 750 wood and 3k gold to rare material crafter outside Sardelac Sanitarium and turned them into Parchment. These I then sold to rare material trader and pocketed 6k. Because the salvage kits costs' were absorbed as I went, this shows me a 'net' gain of 3k.

Doing the same with some of the other materials, i.e. tanned hides into leather squares, has some profit, but not to the same level as the wood to parchment.




edit: Looking a little closer at OP's, you said the same.

Shyft,

Thanks for the info. I've just entered the materials market; I was planning on crafting rare materials soon. My idea was to fill my storage first and then sell excess rares - so my future armor needs would be covered. Your message makes it obvious that I would loose gold and many hours of effort if I had attempted this. Thanks again.