• "World of Warcraft" (WoW) is a phenomenally popular game with an intricate economy you'll have to master in order to purchase many of the game's more expensive items and mounts. Fortunately, "World of Warcraft" offers many avenues for gathering gold, including selling items you find to vendors, trading directly with other players or using the Auction House.
  
  

Professions

• Before you can trade, sell to vendors or put items up for auction, you will need something of value. Professions provide the most reliable way to get valuable items, and the easiest professions for acquiring gold are the gathering professions, herbalism, mining and skinning, because the raw materials you will find while pursuing these professions are always in demand. Skinning is particularly useful because almost every beast you encounter in the game can be skinned.
  
  If you choose to pursue herbalism or mining, you should know that Sholazar Basin is an excellent place to find raw materials for either profession, because the terrain is easy to navigate and the enemies are low level. Other good locales include Icecrown, Wintergrasp and Storm Peaks.
  
  

The Auction House

• The Auction House is the hub of the online economy for "World of Warcraft." When selling at the Auction House, keep in mind that green, or uncommon, items and raw materials usually sell quite well. Raw materials are almost assured to sell because players at every level need them, and many are unable or too lazy to acquire these materials themselves.
  
  Before you set the price for the item you want to sell, consider the deposit fee. The amount of this charge depends on the value of the item you are trying to sell. The more valuable the item, the higher the deposit fee. If your item does not sell, for whatever reason, the deposit fee will not be refunded. You should also see what prices other people are selling items for. One tool that is particularly useful for this is Auctioneer, an add-on that scans the Auction House and determines the market's current selling price for your items. Because prices do fluctuate, this add-on is highly recommended. THOTTBOT, a website that catalogs all items in the game and also provides their values, may also be helpful as you determine your prices.
  
  In order to ensure a sell, you may want to undercut the average price slightly, but be careful that you're not undercutting too much. Also, if there seems to be a great deal of undercutting going on already, you should wait it out so you can sell at more reasonable prices. Also, never undercut single items, as these are always the first to be purchased.
  
  Finally, keep your customers in mind when setting prices and stack sizes. A player who is looking for only the necessary materials to craft a component may be willing to pay a higher price for smaller numbers of that component than other players. Also, some lower-level characters may be able to afford steeper prices than you think, provided that they are being used by a player who also has high-level characters.
  
  

Selling to Vendors and Trading

• The Auction House is not always the best place to sell items. For instance, certain items become very common after you reach level 40 and thus do not reach high prices in the Auction House. You are better off trading these items to players in need of them or selling them to vendors. Understanding all of the "World of Warcraft" character classes and their needs will help give you leverage with direct trades. Also, certain items become bound to you once you pick them up or equip them. These items can be sold only to vendors if you have no use for them.