Guide to the Auction House (Part 2)

By Darkgolem



In the href="http://lotro.tentonhammer.com/index.php?module=ContentExpress&func=display&ceid=596">first
portion of this article, I explained some rules of thumb for
selling in the auction house, and how to determine the value of an
item.  However, the value of an item does not always match how
well it should sell in the auction house.  For example, tier 1
materials often sell for wildly varying prices, even though often they
take about the same amount of time to gather.

Examining the Market

The economy in LOTRO is based upon need not supply.  That is, you
must look for what people need, rather than what you have a lot of, to
determine what price to set for an item.  For example, look at
tier one scholar products.   Among tier one scholar products,
you should sell battle and warding scrolls for the most, crafting
scrolls for the least.



How do I know this? Examine scholar recipes more closely; almost
everything that you can get from a scholar can be replicated at the
tier two level of scholar abilities, with the exception of scrolls of
minor battle and scrolls of minor warding lore.  Items of tier one
usually are replaced by a better item at level thirteen or so. 
For example, a woodworker might buy a scroll of lesser woodworking
lore, since the better scroll of woodworking lore is not available
until level twenty four, but it is unlikely that a woodworker is going
to purchase a scroll of minor woodworking lore, because there is only a
six level difference between when the minor and the lesser scrolls are
available.



href="http://lotro.tentonhammer.com/modules.php?full=1&set_albumName=album18&id=Thorins_Hall_Auction_Block&op=modload&name=Gallery&file=index&include=view_photo.php"> alt="Thorin's Hall Auction Block"
src="http://lotro.tentonhammer.com/files/gallery/albums/album18/Thorins_Hall_Auction_Block.jpg"
style="border: 2px solid ; width: 250px; height: 174px;" align="left">At
level seven, most players are working toward the second tier of
crafting items quickly.  They are not concerned about creating
products for sale, just getting to tier two.  So they are unlikely
to purchase a minor crafting scroll.  In addition, since most
players get to level thirteen fairly quickly, it is less likely that
minor crafting scrolls will be much needed by a character.



Minor crafting scrolls are not particularly valuable.  This leaves
lesser athelas and lesser celebrant salve potions, plus minor battle
lore and warding lore.  The former two items use only early third
age relics, while the latter two items use all three items. 
However, note that the potions are replaced at level fifteen, meaning
that again, there will be less demand for this, since level fifteen is
not hard to reach.  But the battle and warding lore scrolls are
not replaced until level twenty four with a better version.



Summarizing, almost everything created by tier one scholar crafting is
replaced by level fifteen, so most players will level to that point too
quickly.  Furthermore, crafting scrolls are less valuable at low
levels, because most players are not interested in crafting for product
but simply to get to further tiers.  Since the only items that a
tier one scholar can make that will not be outdated by level fifteen
are battle and warding lore scrolls, these should be considered the
most valuable.



However, just because the battle and warding lore scrolls of tier one
are the most valuable does not mean they sell for a lot.. it means
that, among the products of tier 1 recipes, they should sell for the
most.  What "the most" is, is not always a lot.



Does this mean that scholar tier one materials have a low value, since
most of the items they form have a low value?  Remember that most
persons who are playing scholars just want to get quickly through tier
one crafting points.  



The value of materials is determined by the value of the product they
make, and the difficulty of acquiring the material.  Unless you
have a character with the particular profession, it can be difficult to
know how hard it is to get a particular material, and set a price for
that material.  However, you can look at the auction house at
prices for these materials or ask around to find out how hard it is to
find these materials.



In the case of scholar tier one materials, these items are very
difficult to get.  It can take an hour or more to gain a stack of
fifty of early third age tablets, for example.  Since every
scholar recipe uses these tablets, these are in high demand among
players who wish to breeze through their tier one crafting
requirement.  While a vial of say, lesser athelas is not
particularly valuable, considering how quickly you can gain a level
which grants access to better athelas potions, the materials which make
them can be quite valuable.  I personally have sold stacks of
tablets for 800 silver.

Selling Materials

href="http://lotro.tentonhammer.com/modules.php?full=1&set_albumName=album18&id=Thorin_s_Hall_Auctioneer&op=modload&name=Gallery&file=index&include=view_photo.php"> alt="Thorin's Hall Auctioneer"
src="http://lotro.tentonhammer.com/files/gallery/albums/album18/Thorin_s_Hall_Auctioneer.jpg"
style="border: 2px solid ; width: 250px; height: 174px;" align="right">Probably
the most effective way to make money in the auction house is via the
sale of materials.  This is for two reasons.  One is that the
materials are reliably obtained, the other is that the math of earning
money is reliably measured with materials.  Here is a great
example.  Let us say you wish to sell href="http://lotro.tentonhammer.com/index.php?module=ContentExpress&func=display&ceid=251">medium
skins.  Simply gather medium skins, then sell them, using the
prices of other medium skin auctions in the auction house as a guide,
with a fair profit above the value that you could earn otherwise in the
time it took you to gather these skins as the minimum price.  Set
it for a two day auction and include a buyout.



When it sells write down how long it took to sell, and include the
price you set.  Do this again, or even a few times, hiking the
price up each time, until you have hit the maximum price before an item
does not sell in an auction.  Now you know the value of a
item.  Also, keep in mind that items sell for less during
weekdays, because there are fewer people around to bid on items. 
Prime time to auctioning anything is a auction going from Friday
evening to Sunday evening.



You can cause a glut in the market when you sell the same item over and
over.  Another option, if your set on making money by selling
“mats” in the auction house, is to sell different mats, using the same
process described above, first selling skins, then other href="http://lotro.tentonhammer.com/index.php?module=ContentExpress&func=display&ceid=322">
href="http://lotro.tentonhammer.com/index.php?module=ContentExpress&func=display&ceid=322">materials,
over time.  This way, the demand for one of your materials will
increase while you are selling other materials in turn.



Look for the upcoming Auction House Price, with all the work done for
you!



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