This article will explain the World of Warcraft Auction House and how to utilize this system for profit.
Following the advice presented here will provide a starting point for making money in Warcraft.
It is important to note that no system is foolproof and based on the dynamic nature of an MMORPG like Warcraft, things can change very quickly.
As such, this article is not intended to outline specific details.
Instead, it is designed to lay the groundwork for using the Auction House effectively and turning it into a profit center, regardless of the fluctuations in the game.
The following material is organized into three sections: I.
Putting the Right Tools in Your Warcraft Auction House Tool-belt II.
Guidelines for Being a Successful Warcraft Auctioneer III.
Buying and Selling on the Warcraft Auction House Section I.
Putting the Right Tools in Your Warcraft Auction House Tool-belt In order to be truly effective at the Auction House several tools are necessary.
These are add-ons which are easy to install and will simplify the process immeasurably.

Essential Add-ons
1. Auctioneer Suite: This add-on will modify your Auction House UI, giving you a variety of features and a wealth of information.
   It is simply the most powerful Auction House add-on available.
   Its scanning feature will collect data on auction prices and provide recommendations for appropriate bids and buy-outs.
   The Appraiser feature (accessed through a tab on the bottom of your Auction House UI will make posting auctions a breeze.
   
2. Telo's LootLink: This is an interface addon that stores every item you come in contact with into a link database that you can later browse.
   It's useful for linking items you don't have and searching for item stats.
   
3. CT_MailMod: This is a simple add-on that will make managing your mailbox much easier.
   It expands your multi-mail capacity and offers "open selected" and "open all" options so that you don't have to handle each Auction House message one at a time.
   A decent alternative to this is MailGet.
   This one does not have the multi-mail capacity expansion but it does offer a "Take All" feature to quickly snag your unopened messages.
   NOTE: In both cases, the add-on buttons that appear in your mailbox UI will interfere with the red system message that shows up when you have more mail items than your mailbox will currently hold.
   

As stated, these add-ons are essential.
Without them you will be losing out on critical information to maximize your auctions and/or wasting time with mundane tasks.
Make sure you grab them before launching your Auction House strategy! Section II.
Guidelines for Being a Successful Warcraft Auctioneer

Rules of Thumb
1. Use an Alt: Don't bother running the Auction House with your main(s).
   The characters you have leveled are better served out in the field, either running dungeons/raids, completing quests or farming materials/loot drops.
   
2. Be Inconspicuous: It is better to choose a name that will blend in with the crowd than to have something like "Phatlewtz" or "Auctionking" turn up as the seller.
   The proliferation of "Bank" alt names may have some turning their eye away from those auctions as well, so keep that in mind if you are handling the Auction House for your guild.
   
3. Be Prepared: Station your alt near one of your faction's Auction Houses and keep them handy to accept all the stuff being sent by mail from your main character in the field.
   If you can afford it from the get-go, equip that alt with a full complement of bags.
   The bigger the better as it will cut down on transport time.
   
4. Scan Frequently: You will want to do two separate kinds of scans: Auction House Scans and Macro Scans.
   To conduct AH scans, just use the "Scan" button that Auctioneer places on your AH UI.
   Be patient since this scan can take anywhere from 10-20 minutes, depending on how many auctions are currently posted.
   Macro scans will require that you create macros using the following syntax:

   /auctioneer broker [xxx]

   In this example [xxx] represents a projected profit margin in silver.
   So,

   /auctioneer broker 2000

   would give you a list of auctions currently posted with a buy-out offering a 20g profit if you were to buy and resell them.
   
5. Take Notes: Auctioneer can only do so much and since it is a piece of software it is not perfect.
   Make sure you are jotting down notes as you see major shifts in the market.
   
6. Buy!: If you find deals and you have been paying attention to market fluctuations, pull the trigger.
   Scoop up the good deals and re-list them.
   
7. Be Thorough: You may find that you are able to buy low and sell high in one area of the Auction House (i.
   e.
   weapons) and generate profits.
   Don't act like the uninitiated.
   Look through all areas and capitalize!

Pay attention and follow these rules of thumb for managing the Warcraft Auction House.
They will be important as you get into some of the buying and selling tips covered below.
Section III.
Buying and Selling on the Warcraft Auction House Armed with the rules of thumb above you now have a solid framework for buying and selling at the AH.
It is crucial that you understand the market and know when, how and why you are buying items.
Here are some handy tips for buying items on the Warcraft Auction House:

1. Always set a buyout price -- Never, ever put an auction up without a buyout price.
   If for no other reason than the simple psychology of buying, it is imperative that you set a buyout price.
   If you don't, you may end up needlessly burning your profit potential in re-listing fees.
   People want to know that they can have something immediately.
   Don't disappoint them.
   If you are dead set on the belief that the item will incite a bidding war (this rarely happens), then be sure to set a suitably high buyout.
   But for pete's sake, set one!
2. 24 hours - no more, no less -- Less than 24 hours won't give you a large enough window to catch all of the potential buyers.
   Get your auction the exposure it needs to sell.
   More than 24 is just throwing money down the drain.
   If it is not going to sell in 24 hours at the price you set, it's not going to sell.
   
3. Look for lowbie items -- Make sure you are conducting manual searches of armor, weapons and other lowbie items.
   You can often find steals on items under level 49 (that's usage level, not item level).
   A corollary to this tactic is buying transition armor in the 39-40 level range.
   Shamans/Hunters switching to mail and Warriors/Paladins switching to plate are great targets for lucrative sales.
   Scout out these armor items for those classes and scoop them up low to sell high.
   It is a good idea to check in with the class community on the forums to see what the prevailing gear specs are.
   This will help guide your purchases.
   
4. Undercut on minimum bid -- Since the Warcraft Auction House orders its bids based on the "bid price" (before any user sorting) and not the "buyout", you can achieve greater visibility by undercutting any competition with a lower bid price.
   CAUTION: Be judicious with the use of this technique, as being too aggressive may leave you with bid prices that cut deeply into your profits if they turn into sale prices.
   
5. Stack for easy math -- People are inherently lazy and that is the operating factor with this technique.
   You are wise to unstack stackable items before re-listing them.
   Make sure when you do, that you put them back up in numbers that make for easy math.
   Buyers are going to try to calculate the per item price on stacks and if they don't have an add-on that will do it for them they will often ignore those auctions they can't figure out quickly in their heads.
   One exception to this is stacking items that are used in quests.
   In this case, it is OK to create odd stacks.
   
6. Bid before downtime -- Patches and scheduled maintenance disrupt the normal flow of things, including normal folks bidding at the auction house.
   If there is new content to explore when the game comes back up then it is likely that the AH will be a ghost town except for your fellow auctioneers.
   If you place bids right before the servers go down you stand a good chance of winning once they come back up.
   This will obviously work much better for those auctions that are nearing the end of their list time.
   
7. Bid late Sunday/early Monday -- Most players do their hardcore work over the weekend.
   So, from Friday night through Sunday evening they are questing, raiding and doing whatever else it is they do.
   Once all of the action dies down many players look to make some coin on the Auction House.
   This typically means that supply outweighs demand and since most of these auction posters just want to sell quick and make some coin, they will oftentimes undercut to the point that you can scoop up some great deals.
   
8. Ply trade chat for great deals -- There are many players who would prefer to bark their products over trade chat than post auctions in the AH.
   If you are paying attention, you may identify items worth buying and listing.
   Using your stats, make an offer in the 65-75% range of what you know you can sell it for.
   If they bite, awesome.
   If not, don't sweat it and don't make a jerk of yourself.
   It's not worth the time.
   In many cases, you'll find them coming back to take your offer because they couldn't find a buyer through trade chat.
   
9. Cater to the twinks -- Even with the changes to the Battleground system in Warcraft, twinking remains as popular as ever.
   Players still want to dominate even if they can't hang out indefinitely as a level 19 in Warsong Gulch.
   So, capitalize on this.
   Typically, you want to look for items level 60 and below.
   For blues, grab anything that can turn a profit.
   For greens look for items in the x6 - x9 range (i.
   e.
   26-29 or 46-49).
   
10. Don't buyout on LOW bids -- Be mindful when you are scanning the Auction House and snagging low-priced re-sell fodder that you don't overlook the bid price for items.
    Many sellers will not pay attention to this number and they will leave it ridiculously low, providing you with a great opportunity to snag a solid deal.
    If the bid is 60% of the buyout or less, don't be afraid to bid.
    If you lose an auction or three, no biggie.
    There will always be plenty of opportunity.
    

So, there you have it.
A good foundation from which to launch your mastery of the Warcraft Auction House.
This is not as easy as flipping a switch, but it is definitely not as difficult as some folks think.
Get the right tools, follow the rules of thumb and utilize the techniques presented above and you will be well on your way to building respectable wealth in Warcraft.
You will have enough to comfortably afford the things that will help you enjoy the game.
Mounts, gear, vanity items and more.
And, if you are interested in turbo-charging your AH domination and learning other useful strategies, there are several well-respected experts in the field that can let you in on the really juicy secrets.
I hope this information has been helpful and wish you the best of luck!