No trade skills, no money and a brand new economy, can things get any worse? These are confusing times for a Goblin in a new land. Overflowing coffers in WoW mean little in Rift, so little in fact I spent the first couple of play sessions fretting about my lack of funds. Soon enough the answer revealed itself.
The currency system in Rift is Copper, Gold and Platinum with Platinum being of the highest value. Of course there is income from questing and mob drops but these are a mere pittance. If I am going to spend anytime in Rift, I need platinum and I need a lot of it.
I have to admit I was a bit overwhelmed for my first couple of play sessions. Because I knew I would be leveling, I figured gathering would be a smart move. This was a mistake because EVERYONE is leveling and they are all selling these materials. No real money to be had in farming, there never is. It took two to three play sessions of me complaining about a glaring need, before the light bulb went off.
About a year ago I challenged myself to duplicate someone else’s success at starting a level 1 toon on a new WoW server and acquire 1000g with no trade skills and no money. I did it in less than two hours of play time and how I did it proves to be my salvation in Rift. I did it with bags, that is right bags.
In the experiment I sold everything a level 1 has to the vendor. I then took that meager supply of coin and bought some low level under priced item on the AH and re-listed it. Once it sold, I repeated the process until I had enough money to buy the materials to craft one bag including a small tip. I then spammed the trade channel found a tailor had my bag made and listed it. Rinse and repeat until I was listing more than 10 bags at a time.
Within the first hour of playtime in Rift I began complaining about bag space. Once I got my bearings and some focus I seen an opportunity. Immediately I hunted out the Outfitter trainer (Tailor/Leather Worker) and started my new profession. The AH is flooded with 6 slot bags so I knew my entry into the market was 10 slot bags. It was time to level my new profession.
Once I had the proficiency to craft the bags, I went to the AH to dissect the market. I have watched it for the past couple of days and I know there are a couple of people trying to control it. My only way in is by doing some basic market research and some very basic math. The materials for the bag are 7 bolts of wool (2 wool cloth per bolt) and 5 threads that can be purchased from the vendor for 49 silver apiece. The real issue is going to be the cost of the wool cloth because there is no way I am going to farm it!
For the first round of bags, I felt comfortable paying 2g each for the cloth. With wool cloth at that price my cost to craft the bag is 30g 45s. The others are selling their bags for about 60g + each on the AH. I am listing mine at 50g. The profit is not huge, but it never is in the bag market. This market is all about quantity and material prices. The good news is, the cost of wool cloth dropped for my second round of crafting.
I now have a steady source of income in a market that I am very familiar with. The income from this market will allow me to explore other areas. As soon as I find a toe hold, I will once again enjoy the freedom of stacks and stacks of money! There is a Goblin loose in Telara warn the natives!
