Rift Morons

The economy in Rift has been all over the place. The cost of farmed materials can vary widely from day to day. This can cause the cost of crafted goods to fluctuate wildly as well. While I am starting to get a solid grasp of how the market is going to work, occasionally I am hit with something totally unexpected.

There are very few regular AH players on Kelpmere. So far the norm seems to be the average Joe/Jane trying their luck in a particular market and then they abandon it when they are undercut with any regularity. It is almost as if they are struck by inspiration and craft then post a bunch of items with some ridiculous price expectation. Then along comes some Goblin who takes all the wind out of their sails.

While I am not rolling in the platinum, I do have a pretty good spending habit going and I have been able to sustain that fairly easily. Just about anything I could want or need I can afford so right now I am happy with my Rift finances. Having two solid crafting professions helps a bit but my real money still comes from the dumb, dumber and lazy.

That’s right, I said it. I am taking advantage of the morons once again. Why I thought there would be fewer in Rift I have no idea. All I can say is thank you Rift gods for blessing us with enough idiots who are more than willing to fill my coffers. It still astounds me how foolishly some people spend their platinum.

Daily I post items for easily 3-4 times more than what I paid and daily I sell out. Not only that, my items are listed right along others who are selling exact same thing and theirs are posted for LESS than what I am charging. Guess what, mine sell and their stay on the AH. It sounds amazing but it is true. I know that some of you are shaking your head in disbelief. You are saying to yourself there is no way that is the truth and I must be lying.

I am not.

So what magic spell have I cast over the morons of Kelpmere? What have I done to make the average imbecile choose my inflated priced goods over a stack of cheaper items? Simple my friends I offer a balance between price, convenience and necessity. How do I do that?

1) I forecast exactly what someone is going to need.
2) I offer the items in a convenient stack numbering EXACTLY what they will need.
3) I price it below the price of a full stack.

Let’s pretend that I buy a full stack of 50 widgets for 4 platinum. That works out to about 8 gold each. Now let’s say I know that the average moron is going to need 8 of those widgets when he visits the auction house. I post 6 stacks of 8 with a buyout of 2p60g per stack. The moron comes along and sees a stack of widgets in the number he/she needs and he doesn’t have to spend 4p to get them! Ding, ding we have a winner. The idiot just paid 4X the amount he could have paid. Instead of paying 8g each like I did, he thought it was better to pay+32g each.

I see you there staring at the monitor with that dumbfounded look on your face. I know your thinking it can’t happen. It can’t be that simple. It is my friends, it truly is. But wait, there has got to be a catch right? How in the bloody hell do you forecast what they are going to need? Ah HA… and therein lays the secret. Now you wouldn’t expect me to spoon feed you would you? Besides I have already given the hint not once but twice.

There is plenty of platinum to be made out there you just have to find your niche. Funny, that is the exact thing I was saying about WoW. The whole trick is finding some part of the market you can leverage. The widgets I mentioned, I do not farm a single one. I buy everything off the AH and re-list it. The effort versus reward is more than acceptable. Hell a bit of napkin math and splitting a few stacks, I will take that over farming any day. New world, same old hustle!