If you haven’t already done so, you should read entry #1 below. This covers the very basic principals of the Trading Post that you must understand before you begin. Please also note that at the start of this tutorial, I had 3050 gold. I'm simply adhering to only spending 50 of that total amount to begin with and only then spending the profits earned from this diary. By the end of this diary series I should have around 4000 gold (1000 gold profit being the target).


There are two lessons I’ve learned from flipping for such a lengthy duration:

1. I’m never doing it again.

2. It’s absolutely mind numbingly boring.

At the end of last week I hit over 1,000 goal earned and while it’s a later than intended, it was hard work and soul destroying. Unlike many who flip, I actually had no need for money. The whole purpose of this diary was to show it being possible and that it wouldn’t take long. I knew going into it that proving it was easy but what I wasn’t prepared for was the repetition.

I’m currently sat on 3805 gold, having started with around 3000. You’re probably wondering where the remaining 200 gold is. Well, I made Mawdrey the moment I hit 1000. Call it a celebration, call it relief - either way it cost me a bit of money but the end result (see below) I think is worth it! Like most things in Guild Wars 2, if you’ve got the cash you can usually get it pretty quickly. Lastly, I also finished off my Ranger’s Ascended armor. She was missing gloves and legs and I finally made them.

Getting the last amount of money was relatively simple and as I hinted at during the last diary entry, I wanted to try something a little risky. I ended up placing Buy Orders for a variety of weapon skins that had clear profit margins. The Mordrem Weapon Skins, for some bizzare reason, were filled instantly. The Greatsword, Longbow and Staff all also sold instantly providing profits of 13, 10  and 18 gold respectively. Repeating this process was pretty easy and although I was pushed out on a couple, most were filled.

I think why the Modrem Weapons were so easy to buy and sell is because they are great for Sylvari and I see a lot of the race with them. It’s possible using just a few dyes to match your colours to the weapon skins meaning you not only look fabulous, but you’ve an original weapon set that has a fancy glow (for very little cost). There’s also some frightening margins on the Pact Fleet weapon skins: as much as 40 gold on some. It’s partly why this method of earning money is incredibly risky.

If you buy a skin for 100 gold and it doesn’t sell, you’re likely to make a loss by selling it back to someones Buy Order, and if you leave it rotting on the Trading Post you’re no better off. It’s high risk, high reward. Fortunately for me my Modrem and Pact skins sold. The profit margins on many of the others however are pretty poor, especially the Shadow skins. Even though they started off at much higher prices, because they only cost one Black Lion Ticket they’ve grown in popularity and the profit bubble on them has burst. I am surprised to see such big margins on other skins.

Besides the above, just the usual flipping on weapons of any kind, that happen to have the right attributes is always a reliable source of income and bags yet again proved lucrative. I’m sad to say that I never stumbled across any huge market trends while I was in the process of earning money, but those don’t happen often. I once made nearly 900 gold in a few hours selling Simple Dressing. How I wish I'd stumbled across that this last month.

Bored, tired and never flipping again, I've now reached a point where I daren't actually spend any more money. It nearly killed me parting with several hundred gold to complete Mawdrey. 

If anyone has any questions about this series, flipping in general or needing advice on what to invest in, please feel free to leave a comment and I'll do my best to help. Here's some last tips:

1. If you're specifically saving for something, sell everything.

2. Regularly liquidate your bank vault as this will often yield you more money than you think. 

3. Dungeon speed runs are an excellent source of income - over 1 gold per path. 

4. If you must flip, do it as a side project and not your primary focus. 

5. I would always recommend that if you previously subscribed to an MMO, that you take those $15 a month and spend them on Gems. When a new patch arrives or a new item, Gem prices usually spike and will allow you to make lots of money for a very small, but real life cash investment.

6. Legendary weapons (or certainly the current set) are overrated. You can look incredible without a Legendary weapon but it's about finding the right skins and armor. Here's a look at some of mine, my favourite being the Mesmer which cost around 40 gold.

7. If you have to have a Legendary, try to choose a weapon that you can use over multiple characters. 

8. Flipping is exhausting after a while so don't worry about taking a break from it. A week off isn't going to effect the market and while you won't be earning, it'll give you a much needed rest from worrying about gold income. 


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Last Updated: Mar 15, 2016

About The Author

Lewis is a long standing journalist, who freelances to a variety of outlets.

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