Biturbo's Alchemy Profit Guide - Version 0.1

1. Before you start

This guide assumes that you are interested in maximizing your Alchemy profits versus time spent. It also assumes that you are at least 435 Alchemy (since you can't make the flasks until that skill level. I make heavy use of the Alchemy Master tool (www.alchemymaster.com) to calculate profits - you can use a spreadsheet, piece of paper (I did this in BC!), or whatever you want, but I hope you'll try out the tool I made at least.

2. Making money

The goal of this guide is to help you make the most money possible. We are going to approach this like you are running a real life business. Sometimes this means that the best course of action is to do nothing, or perhaps to do something that feels wrong. Remember we are trying to maximize our total profit. Which brings me to my next point...

3. Herbalism/Alchemy Combos

Lots of Alchemists pick up Herbalism as well. For a time, it serves you well, and you may still want to hold onto it. There is one really important thing to remember here - Sometimes the raw herbs will sell for more than the finished goods you can make. This doesn't mean you create a whole bunch of flasks and feel lucky, it means you should sell the herbs. Let me make it clear - If your herbs are ever worth more than the finished goods, SELL THE HERBS!

4. Choosing a spec

In WotLK, Elixir spec is almost always the best one to take. Transmute spec is bad because there is less demand for metas than there is for Elixirs/Flasks at this point in the game. If you look at the Auction House, you'll almost always see Metas selling for less than the raw goods - so far that even procs will not make up for it. Potion spec might be ok, I haven't done the math on it to know for sure, but the profit margins on potions are always going to be pretty small (in terms of gold amount, percentage-wise they may be ok), so you'll have to do a ton more work to make decent money. For this reason, I recommend going Elixir spec.

To change your spec, you have to go back to the person who gave you your spec initially and unlearn it (which costs 150g) and then go to the guy in Shattrath who will teach you Elixir spec.

5. Choosing what to make

So, now that you are elixir specced, what are you going to make? You are going to try to concentrate on making Flasks - they will earn you a decent amount of gold, and usually at least one of the 4 have a good profit margin. To find out which flask you should make, you need to figure out the current price of raw materials (yes, even if you are an herbalist and have all the materials - see section 3!) and also the current price of the possible flasks you can make. Once you have this, it is a matter of doing some simple math to see which one is the most profitable. Remember to take into account extra money from procs, as well as AH fees. You can use a spreadsheet for this, or you can use my alchemy tool, here.

Let's look at an example, comparing Flask of Stoneblood vs Flask of Endless Rage:

Material Cost:

Lichbloom: 80g/stack (4g each)
Fire Leaf: 60g/stack (3g each)
Crystallized Life: 10g/stack (1g each)
Frost Lotus: 15g each
Enchanted Vial: 1g each

Total Costs:

Flask of Endless Rage: 53g (Lichbloom x 7 = 28g, Fire Leaf x 3 = 9g, Frost Lotus = 15g, Enchanted Vial = 1g)
Flask of Stoneblood: 47g (Lichbloom x 7 = 28g, Crystallized Life x 3 = 3g, Frost Lotus = 15g, Enchanted Vial = 1g)

Selling Prices on the AH:

Flask of Endless Rage: 70g
Flask of Stoneblood: 65g

Which one do you make? Assuming a proc rate of 17% and an AH cut of 5%, here is the calculation:
Flask of Endless Rage: Total sales (81.9g) - AH cut (4.1g) - Cost (53g) = 24.8g each
Flask of Stoneblood: Total Sales (76.1g) - AH cut (3.8g) - Cost (47g) = 25.3g each

So, you can see in this case, not only does the Flask of Stoneblood net you about 50s per flask in profit, but on a percentage basis the profit margin is also better (33.2% vs 30%). Usually the differences are more dramatic, but the difference of even a few percent in profit margin can add up over time.

You can also make elixirs, as many of them can be fairly profitable. Since the amount of gold you make is less per item you make, they require more work than making flasks, but can be a nice source of extra revenue. Use the same formula to decide which flasks to make.

6. Knowing the market

Knowing your server's economy is crucial to making gold, for a few reasons. First, you don't want to get thrown off by blips in prices for either raw mats or finished goods. If there are only a few Flask of Endless Rage up on the AH and they are going for 100g each, but the flasks normally go for only 70g, you probably don't want to use 100g as the number when computing your potential profit margins. Sometimes you get lucky and people buy overpriced stuff, but more often than not, the prices correct themselves in a short amount of time. Second, sometimes someone will severely undercut prices on an item - if you know that it is considerably lower than usual, you can buy them out and relist them closer to the normal price.

7. Don't flood the market!

Sometimes, people see that they can make 30g per flask, and dollar (or gold, I guess?) signs light up in their eyes. They think "Wow, all I need to do is make 500 of Flask of X and I'll be rich!" The problem is you need to know what the market will support and not oversupply it, otherwise you will drive the price down and make it an unprofitable item to sell. This goes along with Section 6 - try to get a feel for how many flasks your server's economy will support and don't get too greedy. This also means that you'll probably want to make as many different kinds of flasks that are possible, not just the very most profitable one - it will make you more money without pushing the prices down too far.

8. What sells the best?

This is a question I get asked a lot. To be honest, it depends on your server. Typically, though the 2 money makers are Flask of Stoneblood and Flask of Endless Rage. Flask of the Frost Wyrm can sometimes make decent money too. Flask of Pure Mojo never seems to sell that well, and I never make it. Your server may be different, though, so take a few minutes to do the research.

Also, some elixirs can sell pretty well, too. This is why you should probably do your Northrend Alchemy Research whenever it is available - you can have a chance to get less common recipes that will have better profit margins.

9. Coming soon...