If you’re going to start anywhere, the beginning is always recommended. To that end, we’re going to briefly discuss the way that the economy in Azeroth works. If you hope to make money here, it’s best to know what you’re up against.

Azeroth is essentially a free market with limitations on items. It’s a closed market, so everything is server only, faction only (with exception of the Neutral Auction House), and can be heavily influenced day to day similar to the way that say a medieval marketplace might work.

BoP (Bind on Pickup) items are the main restriction. The other basics of an economy such as cash flow and limited resources don’t apply as much to WoW as cash flows in and out based on player activity and limited resources merely means someone hasn’t farmed enough. In a nutshell, it means that the market has no ceiling and inflation exists more on a world scale than a local one.

Inflation in this context has more to do with gold sinks and the way Blizzard has engineered expansions to make getting gold a bit easier for players. This is done mainly to combat gold sellers in the game as well as let some players show off if they have made the efforts to get the gold.

But it’s always nice to know what you’re up against. Your main competition will be other players, NPCs, and world events. All of which can bolster or destroy a market. Learn to adapt to the market and you’ll keep making gold long after a certain item goes to the wayside, which is of course bound to happen as Blizzard puts out an expansion every couple of years.

This of course flies in the face of some claims of making 500 gold an hour or more. Well, you can make 500 gold in an hour, but be prepared to work your tail off and don’t think it’s going to be terribly consistent. Timing, watching the market, and utilizing maximum skills all account toward hourly gold rate and you best believe you’ll need a max level character with a flying mount and a copy of the latest everything.

Lucky addons are free eh?

Last quick note, if you’re interested in seeing prices as a trend across servers, check out WoW Econ.