How to make big money

I’m a relatively rich farmer-monk (820k in storage and growing) – I help a lot of players learn to make money with just a few pieces of advice.
1.) Check your spending. Don’t buy the biggest/best up front. Wait until you have some resources before you buy that new item or upgrade. As a rule, when starting out – try not to make purchases that leave you with less than 1k in the bank. Because, as in life, you need money (salvage kits, etc) to make money.
2.) Farm for raw materials. This isn’t the sexiest way to fortune and fame but it’s the most foolproof and reliable. Keep your wood, granite, iron etc on you at all times. When a “lousy” item drops for you – apply your salvage to it and collect the raw materials. This saves you space in storage as well as builds your resources. On a raw material run I’ll leave with 4-5 expert salvage kits and 2 ID kits. Some people like to keep their materials in storage – that’s a mistake because it forces you to keep transferring between runs (… or quests). Monitor the buy prices at the materials merchant – and when it’s high just sell it all to them for a big chunk of profit. And be patient. I’m sitting on nearly 1000 iron that I’ll unload when the price is right. It really works. I can make 2-4k plus in raw materials alone on a good run. That’s not including rare items and gold I might find along the way.
3.) Gold or purple weapons etc. Some people walk around Lion’s Arch or Ascalon all day trying to sell their gold max-uber bow. In my opinion, time is money. If the weapon is fantastic – I won’t spend more than a few minutes on the trade chat. After which I’ll put it in storage and go back to farming. And I’ll sell for a fair price, if at all. You can waste a lot of time trying to get that extra 10k or 15k from your precious item. But, in the long run, you’ll find that 10k is nothing – really.
4.) Selling raw materials to players. I might sell some iron or wood to someone who is posting WTB on the trade chat. But I’ll sell for a price that’s comparable to a good day for me at the materials trader. If they try to haggle I just walk away. I’m in no hurry to sell. As in life, learn to walk away from any bad deal.
5.) Selling collector items is a nice way to turn a profit. I used to sell collector’s weapons and make good money. But nowadays I’m tired of that scene. I just don’t like to haggle anymore. Now I just sell the seeds, jawbones or wings to other people who DO like to sell collector’s items. I maintain a list of contacts who will always buy them from me – and we have a fixed price. Otherwise I’ll just give them up to the merchant for a little change.
6.) If you haven’t noticed – this method is all about preserving time (no haggling – just farming) and space (salvage almost everything you find). When you have the money – use expert salvage kits for most everything – that way you find yourself salvaging out steel, linen, leather and silk. My best salvage was a “highly salvageable” sword that yielded 10 steel!
7.) Farm alone. Finding the right build takes some time – but the effort is worth it. Even if you can’t farm alone you can do the same salvaging on normal quests – just takes a little longer.

Anyway that’s what I do. There are some finer points as well, but you can figure them out yourself if you’re creative and observant. When reached 400k it was no problem for me to get that new armor, equipment or rune (only if I needed it). Now I have 3 different sets of 15k armor - I even experimented with colors mixing blacks with other colors, etc. My point is, it's fun to be able to afford to do that stuff. My goal is to reach millionaire status in a couple of days. Good luck and happy farming.

Relatively rich? How about so rich it hurts?

You're so opulent my nose hurts. My R/N (well, pure Ranger at this point) has trouble farming anything outside of the northern Shiverpeaks/Yak's. In fact, my bank account is the biggest it has been in forever. And that's at 11 plat.

I have around 4 plat and I am a level 17 E/R. Although I have around 100 items used for collector weapons/armor that I am saving up.

You're not making money around yaks because you're a ranger and you don't have traps yet. Rangers are among the worst classes for solo farming before you get traps. Don't even try, you're wasting your time. Go level up and beat the game and then try to farm.

I'm a Mo/E20 (recently switched from Mo/W20) and I just started to farm like 2 days ago. I'm not having as much success but I do have a full inv of perfect upgrade items and the extra gold/purples that I'm left over with. I'm also not one to haggle or trade for hours, its a waste of time. Anyways I made about 15plat in about 3 hours of farming off common materials around my spot (only 2 - 3 types) and gold drops.

I got about 300 farming for a half hour in a place with level 13's. got one gold, one purple, around 5 blues, and 20 items for collectors

I realize that farming with a Ranger is rather moot unless you're trapping. But, it's fun to try sometimes, anyway. Nice place for me to try out differing skill sets.

my best was 30 wood planks from a wand.

ONe question.....what city normally has the best prices? Or are the prices the same across the board?

The prices are the same everywhere.

Also depends on how many people are buying and/or selling. I definitely noticed a nice dip in prices during peak hours after Elric posted this. =P

Parchment for 20g! *bleh*

i went from 45 k to 1.5k from just buying and i increased it to 60k and ive only sold halfmy items.

Sometimes you see people on the trade chat "WTS - 32 iron, 57 wood, 66 granite, 101 bones and 39 plant fibers" - and they'll be up there for 20 minutes with the same sales pitch. What they should realize is that even if they did get their asking price that they would only make about a hundred or so more than if they just sold to the merchant. Meanwhile they could have been questing or farming instead of wasting their time.

I just buy and sell, I can make 200k a day if I try. I just sit around in towns and buy crappy gold items with perfect mods, salvage them, then sell them for 100k. What I'm basically saying is that when you have money, be smart with it. Don't spend more then 80% ever. As long as you know prices, money isn't hard to come by.

In my personal experience, the best way to make gold...is to win. Find an excellent team or group of friends and keep winning HoH. Although only 4 items are dropped each run, each item is worth at least 40k, some even more! Not only do you make the money, you get fame, and it's alot more fun and challenging than to farm by yourself. This is just my method keep in mind, try it, might work for ya.

That sounds like a great way. The only difference is - almost anyone can farm, but not everyone can be a winner in the HoH. But if you can do it - my hat's off to you!

The nice thing about GW is that there are many dimensions to the game and many ways to get what you need/want. If you're an exceptional PvP player then do HoH. If you're an exceptional haggler then barter in Lion's Arch. I just happen to enjoy studying and refining the art of farming - that's MY specialty.

I have made tons of money and given away tons as well (40k to some level 16 ).
My idea is to invest. Farm for materials, like the OP said, and then on the weekend, when everyone is on getting their armor, resell them to the material trader. 23gold/bolt of cloth? Jackpot!
Also, make other good investments. If you see (like I did) a great bow goin for 30k, buy it, keep it, and then resell on here. I made 15k doing that. And don't buy any armor until your at droknars. Until then, get the collector's armors in the desert or wherever. I saved tons of money doing that so I can buy my Grotto or Citadel Armor (almost ready for a Fissure chestpeice )

depends on what you are selling...the prices are generally the same...but price is set by the person sellign(unless you are talking about traders). It's easier to sell certain things in certain areas for certain prices. Lions Arch is the best palce to sell Unidentified runes...you wouldn't sell Forgotten Seals in Piken Square or Ascalon...best place to unload crappy upgrades like 2:1 vampiric or +3 armor is earlier in the game..in ascalon where these players have a use for this stuff....it definately is different in different areas

15k Lol Ive bought many tiems for 10-20k and sold for 70k+ I dont gamble and say yeh I might be able to get more I make sure I can by checking prices first if Im not sure.

im also a farmer and a reseller, i was from the first people to buy warrior fissure armor, i think i was the second because ive only seen one person before me that had it and he posted pics, once i bought a crystalline sword for 10k, sold it for 90k

Xeon Knight - how are you?
I'll vouch for Xeon - a real pioneer. When he first got his FoW armor he paraded it tauntingly in front of me (with a battery of emotes- lol).

I still haven't gotten FoW armor - I'm still working on my first million.

lol ranger are some of best farmin ive done beacouse i can avoid damge and troll urgeant gives alot of healing. you dont really need traps you just need the right skills my ranger can farm flesh golums easily, i take judges insight and use barrage, along wiht some damge avoidin skills.

you salvaged a gold item and made 100k from what u salvaged from it IMPOSSSSSIBLE haha, serioulsy what are u talking about salvaging gold items?

what item goes for 70k+ sup runes of vigor have dropped to an alltime low 38k last time i checked wtf have u been selling for 70k recently and buying for 15k i dont kno what the hell ur talking about

where to farm is my questions, divinity, where, WHERE I SAY, please tell me or give me a map or something im clueless ive got 300hrs into the game about dont have 15k armor only had 20k in storage the only farming ive ever tried was drake runs, too long. Would someone give me the greatest post of all time!!!

Not all Rangers have Judge's Insight because not all Rangers have a R/Mo build. Likewise, Unguent's only good if they don't interrupt it, and if you can spare the time to cast it. Healing Spring helps, but that also takes too much time.

Farming is supposed to "take too long". That's what farming is. Try growing some carrots. I guarantee you, you're not going to see it in a few days. Farming takes time and patience, and it's a gradual thing. Personally, I've been running outside of Serenity Temple, just so I can save up some basic crafting materials. Then I run around Yak's. If you're trying for some high level runs, then...good luck, because my build seems to not allow for that.

will someone at least answer this, previoulsy posted by me, where to farm is my questions, divinity, where, WHERE I SAY, please tell me or give me a map or something im clueless ive got 300hrs into the game about dont have 15k armor only had 20k in storage the only farming ive ever tried was drake runs, too long. Would someone give me the greatest post of all time!!!

plz plz plz answer this i want cross that NEED to kno

answer all those questions i asked. plz

I bought a 15% over 50 health hammer for 10k added a +27 life upgrade for an extra 3k and sold for 85k.

Go to the 3rd page of the Chest Farming thread an you will find the Divinity Coast barrell (and alot of information/opinions on it in general)

Well, I suck at farming and bartering for items. I just bought the Plate set (cept for the boots, thos were Knights) from the Forge. The reason that i suck at farming is because I have the worst luck ever. In presearing, in the Catacombs, I was helping a friend to get to those very end gargoyles, the three way through. But on the way, 2 Black Dye's dropped from MY kills, yet it went to my friend. I think that that is totally unfair. Same for purp, and any other items. A Chaos Axe dropped (for my kill) yet I didn't get it, its was purp with max dmg too. I think that Arenanet should maybe try to figure out a way to even that up about who gets the items, I've never gotten a black dye for myself. I have gotten alot of silver dyes though, but not enough to make up for the 4.5k or so that black dye's are worth. No golds have dropped for me yet, I havn't gotten any good items at all. I never am able to get good items in games like GW. Diablo2 I never got anything good either. I wish that I could get a good weapon or shield for once. One of my friends today sold some sword for 100k after haveing 0g. He had just given me like all of his gold to add onto mine so that I could get the armor at the Forge. He also gave me a Chaos Axe, I think it was a 19-27 dmg one, nothing else on it, I had traded some staff that added +3 energy when health is above 30% health, 50% health, and 80% health which I think that I got from a collector in the eastern frontier or something. So the only reason that I have good armor and the axe is because of a friend. Although I did get a gold Heavy Hammer of Shelter or something like that (max dmg) for 1plat in ascalon from someone, I've been told that I could sell it for 10k+. I dont think that its worth that much, but I wish that I could sell for that much. All the gold I've had throughout the game put together would probably be 9-11k thats everything PUT TOGETHER, so its not much. My guy is a lvl 17 W/R, yet I can still beat the lvl 24 guys right before the Forge, although I did have the friend help me, but he's a lower level than me, and does more dmg because of a Chaos Axe that he has (not the one that dropped for me).
I defenently need help with farming and getting gold, but it's hard for me to since I have such rotten luck. Right now I have 440g in my storage and I have no idea how I actually have that much. Still with your help, I still hardly get anything. I've tried to salvage stuff that I've found, the highly salvagable items I've used the expert salvage kit, but the most I've gotten by using that is 5 iron ingots, no steel ones, or nothing. At the rate that I'm getting these salvaged items, it would take me probably a week to muster 1k gold. Any other advise for this? Why does the game just hate me so?

Oh, and not to go off subject, is there a warrior or ranger skill that makes my energy go up faster or gives me a certain amount per hit on an enemy? I run out to fast.

Well, thanks. I hope that I have better luck later on... tomorrows another day, maybe I'll get something worth 500g... if I''m lucky.

Everyone goes through "slumps" in drops. When you're in a slump you feel like you're the only one. Believe me, it's all in your imagination.

First 10-12 times I went to the Fissure of Woe and Underworld with a team -> I swear I didn't get a single Ecto, Shard, Storm Bow or Chaos Axe. Literally, all I got were demonic remains and dust! Meanwhile I saw everyone around me getting all the cool items.

I used to wonder how people were getting all these uber-gold weapons to sell when I never saw a max anything.

In the end, if you simply play/farm often, you'll find rare drops do come. Eventually I did start to get ectos and rare weapons but it was a long time coming.

So don't feel so bad. Salvaging raw materials doesn't take luck - just consistency and SAVING MONEY.

But if you insist you just have bad luck then keep in mind my own worst bad luck (true) experience - When I started farming intensely for runes (before the fix/nerf) I actually ID'ed 2 Sup Vigors (when they were worth 90-100k) and lost them both in salvage. Then I decided to sell my un-IDed rare runes for 15k-20k each. First day I sold off one that turned out to be another Sup Vigor - the buyer was so overjoyed he bought the rest of my stock. To date I have never found another Sup Vigor. I've found more peace since I started salvaging raw materials - no more heartbreak.

definitely know that feeling! i had a +27 health mod and lost it for 10 wood!

stupid suggestion. That would make no one want to play a monk or support character for the lack of drops they receive.

I farm sometimes around grendich courthouse. Its pretty easy to solo charr groups after lvl 16-17, and they drop good stuff, if you ask me. Most of the time you can get charr hides, which someone is almost always willing to buy for 50g in ascalon or in one of the early post-sear places.

Today I got 6-7 charr hides, 15 gargoyle heads, and a couple purple items in 20 minutes. I sold the hides and heads and with the value of the purple items, thats 700-800g in 20 min.

Not too shabby considering how easy charrs are at lvl19.

I play a monk and don't get good drops when I'm in a group anyways.

I know that the drops are split evenly, as in the number. But, they need to find a way to split them based on the value. Everyone gets nice purples and golds, but when it's my turn for a drop, all I get are remains and dust. I laugh about it all the time.

I wish there was a collector for demonic and dark remains. I would have a ton of collector stuff.

I agree that they should make the drops come out even like you said. Today I was doing a mission to get to Aurora (whatever its name is), 5 black dyes dropped today, none were for me, yet we were playing with 3 people (4 counting me) but none went to me. All I got were those stupid rag things, I actually got a purple one, expert salvaged it, and got... A MINOR FIRE RUNE!
I feel extremely lucky... not. Thats all that I got, unless you count expert salvaging something (I forget what weapon it was) and getting 1 steel ingot.

I was doing some farming today, well, not really farming, sortof inbetween farming and leveling. Anyway, a gold almost max damage hammer (34dmg) dropped and I was so happy that I got something that I accidentally double clicked on the salvage kit instead of the identify kit, both were side by side. So I accidentaly salvaged it. I probably could of gotten a good amount of $ from that too. I think that they should make a sign come up saying, "Are you sure you want to SALVAGE this item?". It wouldn't say that for everything, just for the purple and gold items. People would get annoyed at it anyway, but who cares, it only takes one click extra to say "Yes"
Another thing they should add is the customization thing, its not very notacible. People have been scamming other people by selling items with max dmg and gold, and the person who is buying is so happy that they're getting a good item for a low cost, just puts it in without checking the very bottom for customization.
I think that they should either make the customized by (blank), flash, or have it be big lettering. Or the picture of the weapon should have a sideways sign on it saying "Customised" so that its easy to see it on the weapon picture.
Yes, I admit it, I did get scammed out of 500g. This was when I was still looking for good items and had nothing worth keeping. It was a gold max damage hammer, like the one I have now, but I didn't notice that it was customised because it isn't that easy to see. The only reason I was scammed was because of how happy I was to be getting a good item that I didn't look at the bottom of the list of atributes on the weapon. I just looked at the gold-highlighted words, not the light grey ones of how much you could sell it for to a merchant.
I know you're thinking, "Oh my god, how stupid is this guy to be scammed like that?"
Well, it is pretty easy to be scammed that way when your adrenalin is pumping from the great trade.
Well, anyway, they should change that.

Also, are there any other good spots where its good to farm, you don't have to say where exactly, just its general location, like is it after Kryta but before Lions Arch? Or something along those lines.

Thanks

Well then maybe they should make it so that if the monks heal the attackers and if the attackers take more damage, then they monks get it.
I don't know, but there has to be a way for them to make it a little more fair.

It's interesting - when I'm in the UW or FoW - if I start to get Shadow Bows (or dust or demonic remains) I will tend to get that from then on. I've had many unlucky days - but I won't complain because I had days where I got all the good stuff, too and nobody else in the party got much of anything.

In the end, if you play a lot, you'll come out even, I think.

there's a collector for dark remains in southern shiverpeaks i think. inside snake dance.

maybe i'm wrong, but you can check the community works forum for the collector lists.

So? Just be glad you have friends. In previous games I have giving friends items/money which were 100k worth or more. In this game those same friends helped me by getting me armor/money. At the moment I'm farming like hell to pay them back. And like everyone said: be patient, your time will come too. Just to summarise a few tips:

1. Be Patient!
Sell that Golden Axe of Great Worth today for 4k or wait a few days and sell it for 14k. It's your choice.
2. Small bits can grow a mountain
Save all those wooden planks/irons/char carvings till you get more then 500 of them. Then sell to other players/NPC and be happy with your profit.
3. Take it easy
Sure, UW/FoW give nice drops, but no way in hell you'll be getting those if you're lvl 10! Just act your lvl and hunt/farm on monsters that are half your level and/or do less then 10 dmg on you. Easy kills are easy drops are easy profits.
4. Friends
Ask your friends/guildmates/etc. about their income. How do they farm, where do they farm, what build do they use? They might even want to show you their special farming sites...

Nice one bunny.... Also speck to where you are farming ..... Surrounding cold? Use fire damage.... Guy looks like a Undead dude, use smite (if you have).... those pesky fire imps bothering you then use Spirit of winter..

I know this goes without saying to most of us but for those newer players.... it could be useful.

Trust me youll be killing these monsters way eaiser if you try different skills on them

maybe they should make customized weapons impossible to trade.