Professions - Which One Makes Money ?

Around level 20, on my first toon, I discovered the AH. I didn't think much of it at first, but I put a few things in to see what would happen. When I saw that gold sitting in my mailbox, that is all it took, I was hooked. I began investigate what sold and what didn't. This took a while, but after a month or two I got a good grasp of what I could make that would sell on a consistent daily basis. I continued my investigation of this as I leveled all my toons in different professions.

I had a Hunter that was herb/alchemy, a Warrior that was mining/blacksmith, Rogue that was skinning/leatherworking and a Druid that was skinner/tailor. (this was before Jewelcrafting) I tried selling items from all professions from level 5 to 30 and this is what I found.

Remember, these are generalizations, there are exceptions.

Herb/Alchemy - you will make more money selling the herbs than making potions to sell. The AH is flooded with low level potions from people trying to level their alchemy, so deliberately making pots to sell at this level is a bust.

Mining/Blacksmithing - You can make some money mining, but it is a lot of running around for very little gold, until you get to iron. From there you can make decent gold selling ore and bars, since so many professions use them. Blacksmithing is a total waste of time, from a money making standpoint, below level 30. (as is engineering)

Skinning/Leatherworking - You can always make money skinning at any level. Leather always sells. Leatherworking makes money, if you know what to sell. How you find this out is trial and error. Chest pieces and pants from level 10 up are usually good and armor kits are also a good money maker, if you make sure the AH is not flooded with them when you put them in.

Tailoring ~ This is where I hit the motherlode. The gold you can make with tailoring is obscene. From level 5 there are things you can make that sell. The higher the level, the more you can make. The key, of course, is in knowing what to sell.....but even at level 70, I make all levels of things to sell, from level 5 red linen robes, to level 70 Runic spellthread. It all sells.

Well, that's all for today. In my next post, we will revisit the money making potential of professions above level 30.

Ciao,

Jade