For the past few weeks I have been listening to people in the WoW econ discord, and on reddit, and on twitter, talking about how it is impossible to make gold with professions in World of Warcraft at the moment because absolutely everything sells for a loss. My unpopular opinion is that this is simply not true. What is true, is that it takes a lot more work and thought to make gold from professions then it did in the past. This isn’t necessarily a bad thing, it makes gold making much more engaging for those who manage to put in the time and effort. Keep in mind that ‘time’ is going to be relevant to how much you want to do, and what sort of server you’re on.
There is one exception to this rule, and I will say that lower population servers do have a much more difficult time simply because there are less people looking for things to be crafted, and more people crafting. My perspective for this post is coming from a medium/high population server.
The first issue – crafting for a loss. Well, if you’re used to simply opening your crafting book, taking a look at your list, crafting that, and then putting it on the auction house – yes, most items sell at a loss. Dragonflight completely changed how we craft, and those basic items we all start with are in low demand and VERY high supply. If this is how you expect to make gold, you will be selling at a loss.
Where Dragonflight actually shines is for those who have put in the work to make connections on their server, or those who manage to camp the work table. I do this for roughly 15 minutes each day on my jewelcrafter, and she has made over 400k in gold from public commissions. I do own the BiS lariat recipe, I also bought the two rings, the titanic & hour-glass. I did not spec down gems. I am spec’d into both rings, necks, and multicraft / inspiration.
So for JC alone, there’s necks, rings, gems, and then there are also some toys you can craft for people if you’re lucky enough to find the recipes. So far I have not managed to get a single one (frustrating). Then there’s the cosmetic items we can make, like the rhinestone sunglasses. Dragonflight has a recipe for those that comes from fishing. I usually sell at least one pair every single day, for 20k. Yes, it takes time or money (or both) to get started, but it’s a goal (I fished mine up). Then there’s the JC that’s selling from previous expansions. That’s right, don’t forge that Dragonflight is not the only expansion out there! For whatever reason, 233 and 262 gear is still selling VERY well on my servers. More so if you include speed sets. Then there’s transmog, battle pets, mounts! DIVERSIFY.
The second issue – You don’t HAVE to be hardcore about any of this. As you can see by the screenshot above, my renown levels are pretty sparse – minus Tuskarr, and that one I did by turning in fish. I also have around 130 JC knowledge points from just casually completing my weekly goals. Yes, I realize this is just one example of a profession, and sadly not all professions are made equal, I will admit to that. My JC is paired with Leatherworking, and I do not make nearly the same amount of gold. I also don’t spend nearly the same amount of time on it, I don’t own LW patterns from expansions gone by, and I don’t check out the LW table very often (most people want that artisan’s sign (toy), go get that and you should be getting lots of orders).
It is NOT too late to start. Be diligent about collecting your knowledge points, and wait for your way in if you’re absolutely certain you can’t make a profit. Check the work order table often! Talk to people in trade chat, let them know what you can craft. Use the crafting sim addon, and use a little research into where you want to spend those points. Stick with it.
Saying there’s absolutely no gold to be made with professions in Dragonflight is just wrong. It does take work. It does take knowing your server, and it does take using a different method that simply “level 1-100, bam, put items on the AH!” but it’s also completely worth it and rewarding. If you’re used to the pre-regional-auction house times, you may also need to simply adjust what your idea of “good gold per hour” is. I’m seeing brand new gold makers upset that they didn’t make a million a day – that is simply an unrealistic expectation. Set yourself with some realistic goals, and you’ll be a lot happier.
As always, happy gaming – no matter where you find yourself!