All about supply - A gold farmers perspective

I personally do not mine any saronite except when bored. Almost all of my saronite comes from others farming. It is by far better, and cheaper, to acquire a few reliable suppliers to provide a steady stream of ore. I offer the following deal to gain suppliers. I tell them that if we set a price now, I will buy any and all ore they send COD at that price, regardless of AH value. If the AH shows it lower than our agreed upon price, I will buy theirs COD first. If the AH is higher, I expect them to at least send me a majority of their saronite as it is a guaranteed sale.

I look for suppliers at night, when saronite is cheap. Why? because the biggest farmers all farm at night. I have 3 main suppliers on my personal server. The first supplies me with random stack's COD (about 20 or so a day) generally sporadically throughout the day. He sends when he gets them. The second saves his up and does live trades only, doing about another 20 stacks a day. The last is a truly unique story.

The last supplier is a Chinese gold farmer. They live in china, work for a boss who supplies the account, 12 hours a day, farming gold. This person chooses to farm saronite for 12 hours a day, and I manage to buy ALL of it (at 15g a stack mind you) The farmer gets what they want (gold fast and easy), and I get cheap saronite. The unique thing about this person is that they speak very good English and we had a very lengthy conversation tonight about how their industry really works, and the financials of it. He is 23, lives in a city in eastern China, and this is his only job. He lives within his work, and is given shelter and food for free. He is paid based on gold earned at a rate of about 7$ per 1100g. He earns about 150$ a month. 800-1000 Chinese Yuan. As a comparison, my current rent costs me about 4300 yuan a month, for rent alone. This may seem extremely low, and it is, HOWEVER, the cost of living in china is much lower as well. Average rent for a chinese apartment encompassing 40 squares (square meters) is 400-600 yuan. This person told me that the account was sold to the company, and he plays on it until it is closed, once closed, the boss assigns him a new account. We talked about the fact that he disliked the job and would love to "work free" (be his own boss), either in WOW economy or something else. After a 2 hour conversation and 10 more stacks of ore, our conversation reached an end.

My point I am trying to make is simple. It is important to know who your suppliers are, and why they supply you. The person that sends me single stacks is trying to get his flyer, chances are, once he has it, the supplies will fall off dramatically. The person who saves his stacks doesnt really farm alot, but enjoys the spare cash. The gold farmer needs this gold to live, his supply will be neverending (until banned) and cheap. By simply talking to him, I have gained a much deeper understanding, and felt that my experience should be shared. I have also formed a bond that will help solidify the business relationship with this supplier, making it even less likely he will go sell to somebody else for 1g more instead of me. The supplier is the key to your business.

Next week with All about supply, I plan to go over how to find cheap saronite on a single purchase basis, and begin to go over how to gather a supplier for long term money-making.

NOTE: This blog will follow a weekly schedule

Mondays Readers Write
- A day devoted to YOU! Review of comments and notes

Tuesdays Fast Cash
- tips for making gold by using the mill to target a specific item

Wednesdays All About Supply
- an analysis into the supply factor of the market

Thursdays Retail Retention
- Tips on getting customers to return, regardless of price

Fridays Personal Touch
- Personal stories of success and failure, and lessons from them

Saturdays Demand This
- A breakdown of demand and how to predict changes in it

Sundays Straight Sales
- Sales tips to help increase your selling ability