Disclaimer: This advice is for newer players or those unfamiliar with the NW Auction House.
What is the problem?This is more of a “self-own” fail then a rip-off.
As a habitual AH mercenary,
The Took stalks the AH regularly.
Took often sees valuable loot accidentally posted for green prices.
Companions worth 100s of thousands or millions of AD post for 10s of thousands of AD.
The massively under-priced loot is snatched up in minutes by savvy AH regulars.
The seller takes a large opportunity cost (10s of thousands of their AD given away).
Took sees this every day.
The Took is tempted to join in the profit from this naivete.
But hobbits got morals, yo.
As a humanitarian gesture,
Took PMed the sellers. Sure enough, none of them had any clue that their companion was valuable.
Why does this happen?Most "wearable" loot will display it’s item level when you hover the cursor over it.
Companions and most other "non-wearable" items do not show a numerical value or item level on cursor hover.
Companion icons show the color associated with their value (green, blue, purple, gold).
But to a new player this value marker is easily overlooked or confused.
The AH does nothing to help.
The automatic recommended sell price is almost always wrong.
Take the Rimefire Golem above for example.
It has hitpoints and armor penetration. A useful pet.
It currently sells at ~6700 for green, ~60000 for blue and ~320000 for purple.
Sure enough, today a blue Rimefire was on sale for 32000 AD… 27000 less then the current market value.
The seller explained that they used the consignment window recommended price.
Almost all the “underpricers” Took PMed made this exact same mistake.
How to avoid this common self-rip-off?1) Note the color of the loot icon.If blue or purple, you have something potentially valuable.
2. Inspect the loot.Only on inspect can you see a companion’s numerical maximum rank.
3. Use the AH search filters to check the current market price.Set the auction house search to the same quality as your pet. Set it to "buyout" in the top right hand corner.
Now the true market value of your pet is revealed.
4. Ignore the recommended price.Lastly, when you place your pet in “consignment”, ignore the recommended buyout price. It is wrong.
As you can see, the recommended price is far below the current market price.
Sometimes it is high. Sometimes it is low. But it is always wrong.
Set your own price as high as you want, but base it on the
real market value.
TLDRNew to the game? Selling loot on the AH?
Check the color/quality of your loot before posting.
For companions, inspect and confirm the maximum rank (which determines it’s market value).
Ignore the consignment recommended price.
Check the current buy-out price for loot of equal value.
That is
Took’s one good deed for today.
The next green-priced blue companion that gets posted… no guarantee it won’t end up in a hobbit hole.
You’ve been warned.
I am Took.
"Full plate and packing steel" in NW since 2013.
Comments
Note to new players: Before mod 16 we had slots on the companions that expected a certain type of item. Now that is gone you can omit the belt, book, icon, necklace, etc.. Don't purchase companion items on base on those descriptions. Fierce +5 anything is the same thing. If you have the AD, and your new character has a decent companion or augment then get some epic gear cheap as it is passed on to you. Later when you finish the Undermountain, you can sell/trade it off for the better items you will receive from this campaign.