That trade is sweeter than a 10lb sack of C&HFollow

I have been making a descent living by going to the AH to sell copper ore and light leather (as well as linen cloth and wool), however I usually just vender trash my leather scraps, and never bother to smelt any copper bars. Do leather scraps or copper bars sell well at all on the AH. I've heard that copper ore sells far better than copper bars, and on my server a stack of 10 copper ore can sell for around 90s, while last time I checked a stack of 20 copper bars can sell for just over 1G. Is this right? I would think that copper bars would sell for more because they're used by more professions. I mean only miners can use copper ore to produce copper bars, however they can always just mine it themselves. Engineers and blacksmiths need copper bars not copper ore, unless they have skill as a miner and can smelt the ore, they're not going to get the copper bars unless they buy it from someone else.

Do not listen to the above poster. He is talking nonsense.

Nothing you get is free. It all takes time to acquire. Getting anything less than the most you can get for it is not getting '100% profit', it's throwing money away.

Don't get me wrong, I almost always put my stuff up cheaper than anything that's up. I want it to sell, not to come back with wasted deposit fees. But selling a stack of copper for 20s when you can easily get 65s for it is just dumb.

You're also not selling your copper to a new player who can't afford it. You're selling it to established players who are picking up a new tradeskill, or who will use your materials to make a profit. (Crafting and selling on AH, or crafting and disenchanting to sell the mats or enchantments.)

Advising to always sell tin for more than copper is ludicrous as well. Since the only thing tin is good for is combining with copper the price of tin relative to copper will always depend on the current supplies of both resources.


As for the original question, if you have the time and the inclination you can always check the AH before you do any smelting. If bars are currently going for more, smelt them. Otherwise sell the ore straight up.

Your market for selling bars is people skilling up or making a profit with blacksmithing or engineering. Your market for selling ore to is people leveling mining or - if the price of bars is greater than the price of ore - people who are going to go smelt them and make a profit.


No matter what idealistic world the above poster wishes we lived in, we live in a capitalist world and there will be many people willing to do what it takes to turn the largest profit possible. To arbitrarily do less than that yourself is only crippling yourself.

Man, you and i think alike. I'm sure most people do to.

It isn't about the seller been greedy at all. Buyers drive the market, sellers CAN but only if there is a monoply. Sellers can only sell if people are willing to buy at the price they set. So if buyers are willing to pay 1g for light leather than that's what the market will bear.

For example, We all know people will pay at least up to 20g to 22g for a stack of Stonescale Eels. On my server they never go above that price for a high, day in and day out they hover around 15g to 18g, they usually sell within 24 hours or quicker on the weekends. So why would someone crash the market and sell them for 8g?

I'm not complaining though, I love those types undercutters, I just buy them up and sell back and double my money.

Selling trade goods like leather, ore, and herbs at AH is not about matching the prices of other people. It's about finding the "the right price". As a seller you want to get as much money as possible. Thus, you need to find the price that matches the equlibrium between supply and demand.
On my server people sell a stack of light leather for as low as 10s. I easily sell it for 25s. At the moment I have set up stacks at buyout prices around 30 to 35 to find out if it works.
I guess highlevels would rather rather spend a little more money than waste time farming low level trade goods.

My advice to you all is to find the highest price you can get at the moment. Remember not to post too many stacks at the same time as it might lower the amount of money you get.
Just because some people don't know how to max their profits doesn't mean you have to do the same.

I think the true factor should be, do you need the money?

If yes, you need the money now or within the next day, undercut.
Lets face it, if you undercut others your item will sell faster than anyone elses and no worries, no it wont lower the price of the item on the market. Why? Because it will be bought before that can happen - Unless its something people do not need - If its something that is not needed on a constant basis, please do not undercut, or you will ruin the market and you wont make any money, even if you are cutting it low.

If no, you dont need the money in any rush or its not necessary the go with the group price and wait it out, gain a little more gold or silver, depending on what your selling.

I know this post was made before the war effort thing, but on Stormreaver stacks of copper bars are up to as much as 4gold