Spazzer’s Platinum Guide - Playing the Commodities Exchange and Auction House for Dummies
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Section 1: Introduction
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I wanted to create this guide for some time to help others out awhile sharing my knowledge I have picked up since Wildstar launch.
This guide will be about making platinum. Massive amounts of Wildstar Currency in small, efficient and easy to learn steps.
Do you want this amount of Wildstar Platinum?
I will give you tips and show you the tricks of the Commodities Exchange (CX) and Auction House (AH), how to exploit it and make fast and easy platinum with spending almost zero effort and time.
Note:I have given people tips over the last couple of weeks and they all came back saying it really works.I love hearing this but most of the tips and information I gave out were nothing compared to what this guide will discuss.
This guide will give you an in-depth look at what It takes to make platinum. I have been using these technique for weeks and it has enabled me to almost reach currency cap.
Please feel free to leave any questions and feedback you have to help improve this guide.
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Section 2: Starting Out
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To start playing the Commodities Exchange (CX), Auction House (AH) and making platinum, you need three important AddOns which will be referenced in this guide.
CommodityStats - Commoditystats is a tool for tracking the price history of buy- and sell-orders on the Commodities Exchange, so that information can be used to your advantage. It does so by saving the statistics as often as once every hour and present them to you in a nice graph. It has a scan button to perform a scan of all commodity items and a history link on every listed item.
AuctionStats - Scans the Auction House and stores the current minimum buyout and average buyout for all auctionable items. Displays both prices on auctionable item tooltips. Only allows one scan per reload.
Note: This AddOn has had huge improvements since being launched but still needs some data storage fixes. Really helpful as CommodityStats has not moved over to Auction House as of yet.
MailHelper- Any Mail Box AddOn will work. However, from my experience I found that 'MailHelper' works the best. MailHelper is a AddOfn that adds functionality to Mail System.
Everyone using this guide should keep in mind: I have perfected playing the economy over several games, with trial and error. Playing the Auction House and Commodities Exchange will depend on your dedication. It takes time and practice. You will learn how to manipulate them over time. It can be risky and you WILL lose platinum, however if done correctly you will make more then you lose.
Many people ask; “How much Platinum do you need to start?”, my answer has always been 'what you are willing to lose'. You can easily start playing the economy realistically with 1 platinum.
That’s it for AddOn's. You can now start making easy and fast platinum!
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Section 3: AddOns Explained
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How To Use: CommodityStats
CommodityStats adds three buttons to the Commodities Exchange window, Scan all data, Graph Data and Listing Prices.
The Scan all data button is located by default on the top left corner of the Commodities Exchange (CX). When clicked the AddOn does a mass query of the CX, recording all items and current prices. You might be thinking: 'Why do I need this?'. I will tell you! You need this to keep track of profitable items and value of items. You do full scans three times a day. Morning, afternoon and night. It also can be broken down into. Morning Peak Hours, Peak Hours, Dead Zone. To get very important item history records.
The Graph Data button is located on every items panel on the CX (See Image Red Square: 1)and when clicked it shows a detailed graph of that items history. See Below.
This graph is one of the most important features of CommodityStats and is the reason you scan the CX daily. This will help you figure out a reliable price and show you the supply and demand of all items. As well as a graph the AddOn also provides an effective list of sold and previous listed items you have either placed for Buy Orders or Sell Orders.
The Listing Prices are also viewed on every items panel on the CX (See Above Image Red Circle: 2). These listings can be viewed by hovering over the small icon which will display Top 1-50 Buy Orders and Sell Orders. This is a simplified version of the graph data which will show you relevant data on the CX. See Below.
Data can also be viewed on items linked or stored in your bank or bags. Simply hover over an item and it will show current saved data located on the tooltip section. See Below.
Settings and customization of the AddOn can either be accessed by clicking the General Config Tab located on any item page or by typing /commoditystats.I would recommend the following settings while using CommodityStats to optimize profits. Undercut by fixed about: 1c awhile keeping all Buy/Sell data on Top 1 Buy/Sell price. See Below.
Note: I recommend leaving all of 'My Listings' and not worrying to much if you get undercut. This does not apply to 'Buy Orders' and they should be re-posted regularly.
How to Use: AuctionStats
AuctionStats has been under major changes, so I will keep this explanation to a minimum. The AddOn runs off the same basis as CommodityStats but the project was created by a different developer. There are two buttons; a 'Scan Auction House' button and Graph Data button.
The Scan Auction House button is located on the top left corner of the Auction House window. When clicked the AddOn does a mass query of the Auction House, recording all items and current prices this process might take up to a minute.
The Graph Data button can be located on each individual button which brings up a window showing past scanned data. (See Image Red Circle) When clicked it shows a detailed graph of that items history. See Below.
Data can also be viewed on items linked or stored in your bank or bags. Simply hover over an item and if there is any stored data it will show on the tooltip section. See Below.
Like stated above this AddOn is still under development and needs some major improvements for data storage. Currently the AddOn only saves so much data before erasing previous stored data. I would recommend keeping an eye on the development website located on Curse.
How To Use: MailHelper
I won't go into much detail with MailHelper as the AddOn for the most part is self explanatory. The most important function of this AddOn is the 'Take All' feature which will speed up and help gather mass amounts of mail.
Note: MailHelper can be formatted to personal preferences. Play around with the settings until you find something you like.
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Section 4: Understanding Commodities Exchange and Auction House
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Now that you know how to use the AddOns you need to understand how the Commodities Exchange (CX) and Auction House (AH) work before you start making Platinum.
There are four main functions on the Commodities Exchange.
Buy Now: This should be your least used function of the CX, unless you need something as soon as possible.
Buy Order: This is the bread and butter of the CX, and this is what will also heavily influence the market because it displays a both sides of supply and demand.
Sell Now: This is your get money fast option, and again one that likely won't be used often. DO NOT USE THIS OPTION.
Sell Order: This is where Supply gets to set their side of the market. This is what a buyer will see as the "Buy Now" price, and dictates the top end of the scale. Create Sell Order gives you two bits of info just like Buy Orders; Competition and Sell Now.
These for the most part are self-explanatory but the most important thing you should take away from this this section is that the Commodities Exchange (CX) and Auction House (AH) is server wide. This means that Dominion and Exile share the same items and database.
There are two main functions on the Auction House.
The AH works a lot different than CX but is rather straight forward and needs no explanation.
Until you start making serious amounts of Platinum you should focus more on CX instead of AH. AHhas more risk where as CX will stay very linear.You can also dabble with the C.R.E.D.D. Exchange but I would stay away from that as prices are not worth flipping.
After you get comfortable with both the CX and AH searching and flipping items for a profit will become second nature. Flipping items takes practice but if you have the determination to continue buying low and selling high you will turn a reasonable profit.
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Section 5: Formula
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Buy Low + Sell High = Profit
Playing the Commodities Exchange (CX) and Auction House (AH) is rather simple and done by using the above formula. You want to buy items and sell them at a higher price. This is easily done on the CX by placing Buy Orders for cheaper than listed Sell Orders than flipping the same items for a profit.
Start playing the economy by focusing on Buy Orders and Sell Orders of Eldan Elements on the Commodities Exchange. This is because there is a huge difference in Buy Orders from Sell Order listings. You can easily double any spent money on Buy Orders after re-posting the same items as Sell Orders.
Example: Sign of Water - Eldan - Current Buy Orders 18g - Current Sell Orders 28g - Profit 10g. By simply placing buy orders above the top listed at 18g and flipping that same item and posting a Sell order of 28g generates you a profit of 10g.
The Auction House on the other hand takes some practice of figuring out the supply and demand of certain items. Weapons are very profitable depending on that stats and rune sockets. Take a look at my posted Best in Slot, Bind on Equip items and what rune sockets are more sought after per class and you will turn an easy profit.
Definition - Flip Profit: A sale of an item which you previously purchased for the sole purpose of generating a profit.
While playing the Commodities Exchange (CX) and Auction House (AH) it is important to understand Morning, Afternoon, Night, Morning Peak Hours, Peak Hours and Dead Zone. These are simplistic ways to classify time periods while playing Wildstar. You can break it down even further to discover when prices will be higher and lower depending on the servers time. (See Section 6: Time Frames)
Note: Everything is based around a 24 hour clock. When people are on it depends on three things; time, date and day of the week. I recommend you scan during each time frame, i.e. a minimum of three times a day.
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Section 6: Time Frames
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After understanding the basics of playing the economy and learning how the Commodities Exchange (CX) and Auction House (AH) work you need to understand 'time'. Time Frames in this context are refereed to as certain time periods in game which can affect playing the economy.
Definition - Time Frame: A period of time during which something has taken or will take place.
10:00-20:00 hrs is called Peak Hours/Afternoon. This is when 60% of the items on the AH and CX get posted and when items fluctuate drastically.
00:00-09:00 hrs is called Morning/Morning Peak Hours this is when 30% of the previous days auctions run out of time/get reposted. Morning Peak Hours is when things can get dangerous for items and can have great selling opportunities.
21:00-24:00 hrs is Dead Zone/Night this is when items are being bought for raids and new items posted this is when you want to post most of your items.
These time frames change depending on the day of the week. The worst time to EVER sell an item is on Friday, Saturday and Sunday and Monday mornings. This also depends on the date of the month, the first weekend and last weekend always have an increased activity on the server, big patches will have a big impact on the economy as-well.
Note: I recommend keeping updated on items that will have increased value because of patches or changes in-game.
How it Works, 'most' of the time with Time Frames
Buy items during the week/weekend at Peak Hours/Afternoon. You then resell them during any Dead Zone/Night with priority of selling on the weekend Dead Zone/Night. You can also keep an eye on Morning Peak Hours/Morning depending on the demand of an item. Any raid materials are needed 24/7 especially on raid days.
Note: After server maintenance it is one of the best times to sell items because almost all items are removed from the Auction House or Commodities Exchange due to items expiring.
It takes awhile to understand the system, but you really never want to sell during Peak Hours. You want to buy during Peak Hours and sell any other time.
I would recommend playing around with when you post items, and remember it all depends on your play schedule. Don't go out of your way to post during specific times. You will also want to refresh your 'Buy Orders' every couple of hours as people will out bid you which will be a lose of income.
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Section 7: Monopoly
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WARNING - This section is for people who have mastered playing the Commodities Exchange and the Auction House. You will lose large amounts of Platinum if you are not careful. If you decide to corner the market and start a monopoly be prepared to spend serious amount of time and platinum in the process. Start out by monopolizing a certain item as trying to corner all materials for example is unrealistic.
Definition -Monopoly: the exclusive possession or control of the supply or trade in a commodity or service.
I can't tell you what to buy or when to buy it as you will need to figure that out but what I can tell you is AMP's are currently your best option.There are several AMP's that are required for certain classes to make them viable in PvP and PvE. This is also true because some of them are really rare and there is a high demand and low supply on the Commodities Exchange.
I have been monopolizing the Trigger Fingers market on my server and have single-handedly skyrocketed the prices from 5-10p to 30-35p.Trigger Fingers are of the few required AMP's for Spellflingers to viable, not only is it a huge increase it changes their rotations.
Example: Trigger Fingers - AMP - Current Buy Orders 15p - Current Sell Orders 30p - Profit 15-. By simply placing buy orders above the top listed at 15p and flipping the AMP you profit 15p.
Note: If you plan on cornering the market I would recommend buying up items for several days before buying out the market so you can crash the prices prior. You need to have a majority control of the market otherwise people will slightly undercut you and that will be a lose of income.
Definition - Crashing: the sudden dramatic decline of prices across a significant cross-section of a market.
Tip: Buy items for lower prices in the global Trade Channel as most items can be bought for lower prices than on the Commodities Exchange and Auction House.
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Section 9: Conclusion
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Update: August 6th, 2014
I will no longer be updating the guide as I have stopped playing Wildstar. This might change but as of recent I have not had the time. Please keep in mind this guide and information will stay relevant for sometime if not forever.
Enjoy,
~Spazzer