Wow How To Make Money With Skinning

By Everett Zarnick

The Burning Crusade is nearly upon us, ladies and gents. And with it, a host of new reasons to make money, with a host of new strategies. Since Classic WoW's meta is soon to be gone, we're leaving out the old, and moving in the new.

Today, we'll be going over the top ten methods you should keep an eye on when you get an itch to fill your gold stores once TBC arrives. And given the roughly 500 gold cost (with discounts) for epic mounts, you may be hurting for that gold sooner rather than later, unless you've got some insanely valuable items on you already.

It should also be noted that if you want a more in-depth guide to how exactly you're supposed to get these tasks done, there are reputable sources out there that have compiled the exact skills and knowledge you'll need to maximize your gold per hour using these (and other lesser-known) methods. We'll leave one of those sources here just in case you want something more meaty to get your hands on.

Top 10 Ways to Farm Gold in WoW TBC Classic — World of Warcraft: The Burning Crusade Classic (©Blizzard Entertainment)

10. Dailies

We understand this is kind of an annoying point to make, given the amount of stress dailies cause some people, but alas, we're getting this point out of the way fast.

In TBC, you'll be able to do a maximum of 10 dailies per day. Going off of the max gold you can get from one quest, you'll be able to earn about 120 gold per day just from these dailies. This isn't the most efficient method by any means, unless you really want the rep that comes with these quests. But they are great for lesser-experienced players who want a repetitive way to grab some cash every day without having to work too hard for it, or non-dps classes who have trouble farming quickly.

9. Jewelcrafting

This point is going to come with one obvious caveat: we're well aware that on TBC's release, Jewelcrafting is probably not going to be very profitable. Given that it's the new and shiny toy for classic players, it's likely every guild is going to have an insane amount of crafters at their disposal.

This money making method is going to be very binary. If you can become one of the de facto JCers on your server by grinding your skill like a madman, everyone is going to come to you for jewelcrafting and you'll make a killing.

If you can't do that, you'll likely have to time the market and turn raw gems into finished gems to find any profit in the skill. Like we said, it's very binary: Either one of the most profitable skills in the game, or one of the least.

8. Mining

On the flip side of that 'oversaturated' jewelcrafting point, we have mining. In TBC, you can use prospecting to turn the ores you get from mining into jewelcrafting mats. Because of the sheer number of people going for Jewelcrafting, there's going to be a heavy demand for materials from the general playerbase.

That's where you come in. Mine yourself a collection of 5 ores, prospect them into JC mats, sell, repeat. It's hard to say just how much gold per hour you're going to be able to yield from this method, but the more demand there is, the more gold you'll make.

Additionally, you warrior players are naturally going to want this profession anyway, so it may pay to align your money desires and resource needs and just go with mining.

7. Herbalism

For the first month of the game, herbalism is going to be an insane money maker. Flasks and potions are going to be in high demand for TBC's lifespan, so this skill is just about god-like for money making. The reason it isn't higher on the list is because after the first month or so, bots are going to take over the servers and get to all of the high-end herbs first most of the time, unfortunately.

Don't let that stop you from taking this profession, though. Especially you rogue players, who make use of this skill naturally even outside of gold making.

6. Fishing and Cooking

Similar to WoW Classic, fishing and cooking provides interesting bonuses for players who make use of the skills, or have guild buddies to provide them with their benefits. Because of this, the two skills can be very lucrative in TBC. This is one of those 'difficult to gauge' combos simply because it's going to vary from server to server based on a few things; demand, bots (demand), and how many people are already using the skills (demand).

Basically, keep an eye on the market and chat to see if these skills are worth picking up on your server. If they are, great. If not, stick to the next skill.

5. Skinning and Leatherworking

This couple is often considered one of the best for the generalist in TBC. Skinning, in particular, is undoubtedly one of the best money makers for those grinding their characters to max due to the constant need for leather as a mat to make the new drums.

Combine that with leatherworking, and you've got yourself a combo that can be used to create a host of incredibly useful items, make tons of cash, and keep your character relevant to the potential guilds around you all while you're passively leveling your character.

4. Alchemy

If herbalism was going to be lucrative, did you really think alchemy wasn't? Take those herbies you find on the market or in the world and turn them into pots and flasks. Simple enough, right?

The reason we put this higher than Herbalism is simply because of the bot issue. You might not be able to control the rate at which you find herbs in the world, but you can definitely control the rate at which you buy them off other players or the auction house. And people need pots and flasks, and therefore people need you!

3. Boosting

Is it scummy? Yes. Are you scum if you participate in this? Probably? But does it make you money? My god, yes it does. And we wouldn't be doing our readers any justice by pretending this doesn't exist.

In short, boosting is taking a player (presumably worse or lower leveled than you) and carrying them through high-level content for a fee so that they can speed through the leveling process and farm items that they otherwise wouldn't have been able to.

Like we said, it's scummy, it's controversial, but it's legal and makes players with the wherewithal required to pull it off loads of cash. But we don't need to tell you classic players that, do we?

2. Primal Farming

Motes are well known for being some of the most highly coveted items for their requirements in getting TBC players their pre-raid BiS gear. Some players speculate that a single fire mote will be going for 4k gold or more in TBC.

Similar to the issue with herbalism, you can never know if you're going to be able to grab an elemental reliably enough to get drops when their spots are being camped (Nagrand, for instance, is almost always filled with players camping elementals).

This means that the efficacy of mote farming will depend entirely on finding a good spot in your server to reliably pull the mobs you need for drops. Otherwise, you'll likely be grinding out gold in other ways to get your motes (eventually).

World of Warcraft: The Burning Crusade Classic (©Blizzard Entertainment)

1. Flipping Items in Auction House

Classic. No pun intended.

There's a reason why item flipping is considered one of the best money makers in the game: It's passive. It's really that simple. You can spend 10 minutes every day setting up deals that will gain you passive income that adds up over time.

Those 10 minutes every day will make you more money than an hour could in any part of the game, save for a lucky drop. There's just one catch: It requires a vast knowledge of server demand, normal price ranges, price habits, and the direction your specific server will be going in.

In short, it requires experience. It's for players with the wild titles and mounts, you see? When the auction house takes its cut out of your trade, you need to be sure you're trading on a high enough profit margin and with enough volume that your profits won't be eaten into too much. Additionally, you need to make sure you can actually sell your product back into the economy when you list it up. If you get burned after listing, not only will you be stuck with a product that's dropping in price, but you'll have the auction house to thank for additional fees.

The profits and risk associated with this method are closely tied to the experience of the player that pilots it. If you're a player who can't guarantee their success on the market, and doesn't want to study up, I'd heavily suggest avoiding this method altogether.

Conclusion

That's it for this top ten. Of course, some of these methods are going to be more or less profitable depending on what class you're playing, how good you are, and how geared your character is when TBC drops on June 1st. So keep that in mind when you start your new adventure. Keep your knowledge close, and best of luck on the grinds ahead.