First off let me start by telling you where this experience comes from. When I first started playing WoW back in 2004 I was very much a noob as I had not participated in the open beta or had kept up on the game before it came out. I followed a few simple rules that I will outline here and started making a lot of gold.

Below are the steps that I would recommend following in order to increase your financial gain while leveling or questing.

No, That is not a Banana in my Pocket

Keeping as many open backpack spaces as possible is important. You don’t need to carry around items that you aren’t going to use. Only carry the most pertinent items, if your not currently working on a quest leave the items for that quest in the bank. Carry as few stacks of reagents as possible, but make sure to keep full stacks so you can prevent running out of vital ingrediants.

Simple rule is if it’s not something you are going to need on this trip out then don’t bring it with you. There is always time to go and get it later if you need it.

Finally try and get as big of bags as you can, to give you as much space as you can, when you are just starting out it will be hard because you will be very limited on space. A large bag will never be a bad investment, just be sure not to overspend and ensure you get the most out of slots per price.

Leave No Stone Unlooted

I can’t say this enough, DO NOT leave loot on the ground. Sure you may think it is just some random trash or some craptastic item that no one would ever want. Well i’m here to tell you that there is someone who wants it, the vendors. These items by themselves may not sell for much, but they add up overtime and leaving them behind is throwing away money. If you see something you can pick up then pick it up and sell it.

You Can’t Spell Slaughter Without Laughter

Try and focus your efforts in a general area of the game. Usually monsters in the same area will drop similar loot that will stack and thus save extra bag space. Finding mobs that drop stackable loot is essential to increasing monitary gain.

Also don’t leave a monster alive if it’s easy enough to kill it. Don’t worry it doesn’t deserve to live, it’s mother and father and everyone it ever loved is already dead or will be soon.

Sewing is for Pussies

Gathering professions are always the best way to start out as they will guarentee you items that you can sell to other players or sell to a vendor in a pinch. Whereas when you pick up a crafting skill you are working towards an end goal of competing with all the other crafters of your trade that are out there.

Sure there are nice sexy things that you can make with these crafts at the higher level, but generally speaking you will never make money leveling up a crafting skill. It’s the end result that is attractive, not the inbetween.

You will be able to make enough money selling gathered materials to be able to buy the items you want from the selected crafters or at the very least supplement the cost by providing materials yourself.

Crafting skills are best saved for individuals who have already the level of wealth they wish to be at or for an alternate character.

Sell Sell Sell Don’t Buy Buy Buy

Everything you pick up will be wanted by someone. If the item is crappy low quality or just plain vendor trash then it is likely only wanted by a vendor. Now, If it is something that another player would want then it is best to try and find another player to buy it from you as you can generally profit better than selling it directly to a merchant.

Becareful with your spending, always try and determine about how long something you buy is going to last you. If it’s not going to last you at least 10 times the amount of play time it would take you to earn the money it cost then it’s not worth the price. Basically, if something cost you 2g it should last you long enough for you to make back 20g.

Have Fun!

This one is important on a lesser scale. You need to make sure that your having fun, because lets face it if you aren’t having fun then there isn’t much reason for you to be playing the game in the first place. Try and get the down low on people before you group with them and always try and group with friends whenever possible. The more fun your having the more successful you can be and that is important, especially if you are doing dungeons.

Dungeons can be a great source of money, but if you go in there with the wrong group of people then you are asking for trouble. Deaths cost, even if it is just time lost they are still costing you something!

This doesn’t mean stay away from everyone else in the game it just means be choosey who you group with.

And that’s your lesson for the day.