The first rule of the WoW Gold Club is: You do not talk about WoW Gold Club.
The second rule of WoW Gold Club is: You do NOT talk about WoW Gold Club.
As Cold in his Gold Factory and PowerWord:Gold have blogged about recently, you need to keep an eye on your competition, and what they are doing. Put your competition on your friend’s list. Watch their movements. Check when they come online. Check when they log off, and go and undercut them when they can’t do anything about it. Check where they are farming, and work out why.
But
Have you considered that they are also watching you? You’re on their friend’s list. Your competition are also waiting for you to log off so they can undercut you. They are also watching all your movements and checking what you are doing and why. The last thing you want is a particular competitor taking your auctioning personally and putting his effort into destroying your wow business. Here is a list of things you can do to counter their espionage.
World of Warcraft Auction House Counter-Espionage
- The first rule of WoW gold making is you do not talk about WoW gold making.
- Have several alts
- Change which items you post from each alt.
- Change the times that you post your auctions.
- Become unpredictable in your daily routine.
- Vary the times you buy limited supply items, and vary the alts you use to buy them with.
- Move your alts into different guilds from time to time – easier on a busy server to disappear into the crowd.
- Try not to let your alts become identified with each other or with your main.
- Occasionally undercut your alts to throw your competition off the scent.
- Post from different Auction Houses.
- Hide in a crowd: In an empty city like Shattrath or Exodar, the AH alts names are easy to recognise.
- Create AH level one alts with very different names. Different from each other, and different between themselves. Â “Jacksbank” and “Jacksgems” are easy to link.
- Make a name that sounds like a main.
- Delete your level 1 and make a new one.
- Take the day off occasionally, ignore the AH completely. Â You lose a day’s takings but you also lose your visibility.
- Use unusual and foreign letters in your alts name/s. Â You’re harder to target if they can’t type your name.
- Don’t tell the public, or your guild, about your alts, except for trustworthy friends (YMMV)
Talking Points: Do you have any more tips for avoiding AH PvP trouble? Â Do you prefer to seek out trouble? Â Have any of these ideas prompted you to reconsider your naming? Â You can use this image if you credit it back to this website btw!
About the Author
The Gold Queen is written by Alyzande. With many level 100s, 9 years expertise in making gold, 10 garrisons, 16k achievements, 1505 days played, and over 18m gold earned. The Gold Queen blog teaches you how to make gold playing World of Warcraft using ethical trading, auction house flipping, crafting, reselling snatch lists, and farming gold making.
Part 3 in the series of Ultimate Warcraft Secrets
Thanks, yes its actually very helpfull in many ways. If I make bags or gems or anything else. If he/she makes same as me, I let them post before me..
Great tip Braidy, thanks for adding that!
Hi Flux.
Whilst I have nothing to ‘hide’ about the way I conduct my buying and selling in World of Warcraft, I have encountered quite a number of trolls over the years. From the jealous competitor, to the ex-guildie with an axe to grind, I’ve found it always feels more comfortable to have my eggs in separate baskets. With my gold making spread across several income paths, when a troll decides to have a go, he can only influence a small section.
I’m very secret with my bankalt(s). Only my best friend know about her. And use most of your tips :). One more thing I use to do is, if I’m standing close to a JC or Tailor, I switch to combat-log to sneak and see what he/she is making … hehe
Braidy
Digging the new design TGQ. Not so much “OHGAWDMYEYES!” as the last one. Loads much faster as well.
Having all 10 slots filled with 80+ characters it makes most of the points above moot. That said I don’t mind being known because I tend to run my businesses in a fair manner. I don’t mind people knowing who I am. I tend to respect other sellers who “stick it out” on the same toon week after week. Makes me comfortable with them and not as apt to think “OMGJERK” and act on the urge to undercut them into oblivion.
Of course being well known can have disadvantages in cases like barking Mysterious Fortune Cards. Being know as a “spammer” is one of the things I avoid like the plague. Others have turned this no its head though and been the “go-to-guy” for people buying mass MFCs so it can work ether way.