My Merchanting Guide

MERCHANTING GUIDE


BEFORE GETTING STARTED:

Before you can make money you have to understand what you are buying and selling. You need to know the current market value (which by the ways is always changing for some items) and you need to know how long it take to find a buyer at the price you are going to ask. What is the demand for this item? What have I seen a lot of people buying this item at? The most useful and reliable resource for this information is to read forums which I will get into more later on.

You also need to get a decent amount of GP (money) to begin your merchanting career. Try start off with as much as possible I would say try to have at least 100K in cash to be successful quickly. If you do not have this much cash sell your stuff. Anything armor, weapons, anything else in your bank account because if you are serious about making money you will not need any weapons, armor, or anything else you might have in your bank.

If you still do not have enough money to get started then go to the last section, OTHER WAYS TO MAKE MONEY.

Once you have a decent cash account and have familiarized yourself with the items you intend on merchanting you are ready to get started.

GETTING STARTED:

If you are not a member then the first thing I would suggest is to go out and get members. Have it will open up many more merchanting capabilities because of the use of the Runescape forums, along with richer players on members servers, and more items that you can buy and sell for huge profits. However there are many players who have been successful at merchanting without being a member. I am just saying that it is easy if you are a member.

Forums are a good place to find good deals, but you have to be quick. You must check the forums constantly if you want that good deal. All successful merchants use the forums and they will be just as quick as you in trying to close on the deal that will make you big money.

One of the best merchanting areas is behind varrock west bank. I have found that this is the best place for selling high priced items like phats and other rares. This is because a lot of free to play (f2p) really don't know the value of something and you can either get a good deal on something or sell something for an above average price. If you are a member then you have another great place to buy and sell. In front of the East Falador bank on either world 2 or World 16 is full of buyers and selling 24 hours a day. Which would it is depends on what time of day it is. World 2 is from about 4 PM to 4 AM EST and world 16 is during the rest of the time, 4AM to 4PM EST. This is the difference between when a lot of the European and USA player are playing as to which world is full. This is the best place to sell items that you have in bulk, such as ores, bars, arrows, fish, bones, ECT. These items are usually sold in bulk amount to rich players who will pay the market price for the item in cash. Although this is also a good place to sell phats.

BUYING CHEAP:

You can't make money unless you can sell for cheaper so you must be able to get the seller to give you a great deal. There are 3 types of sellers:

1. The ones who don't know the value of an item. These are sometimes my favorite because you get a great deal on an item or bulk quantity of an item for dirt cheap. And after you trade you both are happy. They feel like they got a good deal because they have cash in their pocket and you know you got a good deal.

2. Desperate sellers. These sellers are great because they are willing to negotiate the price of an item because they want had to have the cash at that moment. You can get great deals this way. If someone looks to be in a hurry to sell an items always negotiate with them. They will take less than what they are asking and sometimes a lot less.

3. Repeat sellers. These are also great sellers because they will continue to bring you an item in bulk over and over again. This can make you rich quickly and you don't have to do any work. If someone is a repeat seller make a good relationship with them. Pay them enough so that you make a decent profit but you also want to pay them enough so that they will come back to you to sell again. Doing this can create a network of sellers because they will tell their friends about you, who also will sell to you regularly. Soon you are making huge profits without even spending time looking for the good deals.

With all sellers there are ways to get the price you are looking to pay most of the time. Sometimes there are a few stubborn sellers who know what the market value is and will not sell for less. But most of the time they aren't. If you can avoid it don't offer. If the seller insist that you offer, then take what you know you can sell it for and subtract at least 40%. The seller might take the deal or might counter offer you, Try if possible to make at least a 25% profit on all trades. A lot of times you will make over 100% or even 250% the price you paid for the item. And sometimes you will only make 5%. If it is an item you know moves quickly then go ahead and buy it for a smaller profit. It might be only 50K profit but still that's a quick 50K.

Always try to negotiate the price, and if they refuse walk away a short distance and wait. A lot of times they are trying to push you into what they want and when you show you are no longer interested they will come running over to you to sell at the price you insisted.

Also I can't say this enough, USE THE FORUMS. They are the most useful tool to a seller in my opinion.

MAKING THE PROFITS:

As long as you bought for cheaper than you know you can sell for you will always make some profit. A little profit many times over will add up quickly. Don't turn down any trade were you can make a quick 50K or more. Sellers work the same as buyers really. You will have buyers who are willing to pay a lot more than it is worth, buyers who are desperate for an item and will pay you more because they have to have it now. And regular buyers who will come back to you over and over to purchase an item from you. Try to accommodate to the regular buyers. If they need to buy for slightly less every now and then go for it. You have already made so much money from them and if making a lesser profit means they keep coming back then please them

When you are selling to just anyone never negotiate your price. Go into it knowing the marking price and that you will not sell for anything less than that. Always ask them to offer first and if they offer less than what you want then tell them what you are wanting. And do not give into selling for less. If they say no then walk away a short distance and wait a minute. A lot of times if they really want the item they will come over to you and pay what you are asking.

As before the forums are a great way to sell your items for the market price. And the best thing about it is that you do not need to do any work to sell the item. Sometimes just looking at the first few pages on the forums will present a buyer to you. And BOOM you just made a quick profit without any work at all. If you are unsure about the price of an item, or if it is an item that has an uncertain value just tell them to offer. A lot of times this will get people into bidding wars and they will pay a lot more for the item.

Sell in bulk brings greater profits. Not only do you selling 1000's of items each for a small percent which adds up to a huge profit but it usually brings you the repeat buyers. And a lot of times items in bulk will sell for greater prices than regular. Arrows and bones are great example of items selling for more when in bulk.

Hope you enjoyed my guide

 

Nice guide! It explains it very clearly in depth.

 

Thanks Anthony.

 

Solid copy and paste, even the typos and bad grammar were copied:

kornfrk1986.tripod.com/id1.html
http://www.thetechguide.com/forum/lofiversion/index.php/t25950.html
http://forum.free-games.com.au/foru...ts_F23/Mercanting_Money-making_guide_P394116/

 

its a good idea... for classic. in rs2 everyone has the little balenced trade price checker, so unless someone is in desperate need of a law rune for 1k, this wont work that well. but hey, thats just my opinion.

 

This.

 

nice guide, but need patience