The Overcut: Transmog and me by @AudemGold

I am a relatively new player in World of Warcraft. I only began playing on my main character Audem on US Fenris in June of 2011. I was a total noob to online gaming and MMORPG's in general. I remember being shocked that I could talk and play a game with players all across the world in real time and do anything I wanted. I progressed through the game, attempted to raid, and was always the most greedy person in my guild (though usually the most broke... I have a spending problem!). I became obsessed with trying to make gold because I had a dream. I realized that I was never going to down Heroic Ragnaros, it just wasn't going to happen but there was something else I was in awe of and was determined to get. It was Vial of the Sands and it would be mine. There was only one problem I had like 10k gold after 6+ months in the game and acquiring epic flying (borrowing gold from a former GM for that) that was all I had though I tried and tried to find ways to get the scratch up to buy it I never could. Then it happened.... 4.3!

It was a cold day about a month after patch 4.3 hit and I was still struggling making gold when it happened for me. I was at work checking over my twitter feed when I kept seeing this guy being called the Mogfather showing the world how he was making literally TONS of gold flipping low level green items. Players wanted these greens to use for transmogrification and they were paying as much as 20k gold per piece. I was shocked that this was possible because I had tried for a few weeks to sell these things on my realm and no bites so I reached out to @Deazeroth aka The Mogfather asking him whether or not he could do it on my realm as well because I was trying and it wasn't working at all. He kindly agreed to give it a shot and I scrambled with the RAH app on my iphone and got a guildie to send him 200g to play around with. He joined my guild and we began to talk about the items to buy and flip and he showed me where to find his lists. I was giddy (though quite skeptical) and began buying everything I could find that fit his theme and mailed off to him and sat back and waited. It wasn't instant, it wasn't in a day, but in about 3 days we had built his inventory to around 100 pcs and profits started coming in. I couldn't believe it! I picked his brain constantly, I continued to buy and he continued to post and after around 1 week he had made me 5k gold! It was like Christmas for me. That's where my journey began.

I took that initial 5k plus the roughly 20k I had personally and went to work. The Mogfather had left me roughly 80 pcs of inventory and a good knowledge of what to do. I began using TSM and Auctionator and scoured my AH via the game client and RAH app for hours a day. I was obsessed with it. I started making sales... 2k one day, 9k a few days later, 24k one weekend, the gold was pouring in and all I was doing was buying low and selling high. I didn't have time to raid, didn't have much time to run my guild, nothing I was obsessed and it was ok! I made my first 100k about a month in (maybe less) and was feeling pretty good about things. I technically had the gold to buy my Vial but greedy goblin set in and I wasn't comfortable letting it go just yet but did want to do something else.

I play Horde on my main and all of my alts but I had been noticing that the models transmogrification wise for characters was so much better on the Alliance side. I had a guildie help me move 1k gold over to the Alliance side and made my first Ally toon. Bankonally was his name and that is all he was. He was a human hunter and never made it past level 1. He didn't have to! I began the same process again and was AMAZED at how many sales I raked in on the Alliance side. I bought a lvl 11 guild with 7 tabs for 7k about 2 weeks later, started stocking up, and literally making a killing on the AH. I was literally posting around 2,000 auctions a day across both factions, deposit fees were in the 1,000's but it didn't matter because I was clearing 3-5k a day. A month went buy and I was up to 100k gold on the Alliance and it was finally time. I found my Vial on the AH for 38k snagged it up, had a guildie help me move it over to the horde side and victory was mine! Hell I even decided to wear some of the stuff I'm selling because why not market a little while out in the world. The two photos are of my Rogue Splitpea wearing full Bonechewer with Boneshredder shoulders and gloves plus my new Alliance Toon Cailou in almost a complete set of Vanguard plate!

There were very few if any cons to selling transmogrification gear for me. Trade Trolls would rage “That is never gonna sell!” “lol 5k for a lvl 50 green”and right after that I would post “XXX on the AH now. 9K!” …......... Troll Rage........... “a buyer has been found for you auction of XXX”. I've had mails from players raging on me. I get whispers “thanks for ruining the economy on this server” to which I reply “your welcome”. I have been reported as a gold seller and accused of making the game unplayable for leveling characters. I have also gotten the mails from people grateful that I had the one item they were looking for and more requesting pcs that they themselves couldn't find. I was and am always willing to help and even cut a deal to those genuine people in game and love it when I see them in Org wearing my gear.

I have since retired Bankonally as a toon on the Alliance and rolled a DK and leveled enchanting so I could DE the items that wouldn't sell. I have began to stockpile cloth and dusts for MoP and continue to sell albeit at a much slower rate now that we are 5 months into the patch. I use a bank alt on the Horde side as well but it is fairly well known on my server who I am and what I do. I am the GM of my own guild with over 250 members and am quite happy to say we are 1/8H DS and ALL guild members have full repairs along with flasks and feasts paid for by the guild that is 100% funded by my transmogrification sales. The transmogrification market has changed the game for me, I would still be the guy that had to borrow 2500g from my former GM for epic flying just to manage it. Now if I want it I buy it and don't worry about what it costs. I have dipped into so many new markets that I now have a steady stream of gold coming in via shuffling, crafting, and flipping that I know if I spend 10k today I'll make 11k tomorrow so who cares.

In conclusion the transmogrification feature added with patch 4.3 has netted me over 400k gold. Liquid gold after buying Vials, funding a guild, Mechano Hogs (x3) and I don’t have a care in the world as far as gold goes. I lend gold out to guildies never intending to be repaid. I give 1000g to random players attempting to sell 20x Wool cloth in trade and watch them freak out, there is nothing better than bankrolling a lvl 19 warlock that is selling wool cloth. I would like to give special thanks for all of this to @deazeroth (for getting me my start), @powerwordgold (for having a site to bring all the lists together), @theovercut (for supplying me a forum to write this and for the EXCELLENT leather lists!), @bishopswow (for letting me bounce ideas off of from time to time), and too many others to name.

I will leave you with a few screen shots of some of my successes and to everyone good luck in all your gold making endeavors!