Hey folks!
I had a comment on one of last weeks posts about making a post on Expanding Markets. Since that can be taken a few ways, I will work on answering an email as well:
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Alto,
I have a guy in my AH that I compete against quite often. The worst thing about this guy is that he is on for 16 hours a day straight (except for server maintenance) 7 days a week. Does this seem odd to you? I am not sure how to check if he's a bot, some guy in china, or if it's just someone with lots of time. If you wanna check him out on TuJ, the server is XXX and his name is XXXX.
Any thoughts on this?
Thanks a bunch man,
Joe
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After receiving this email, I shot right over to TuJ and checked it out. What did I find?
Yup, Joe's right on the money. His competition is on. All the time. Or, as you might be thinking, he is a pro using such tools as the
Remote Auction House or even the "new"
TuJ Seller Notifications (which I would advise any AH'er to get set up!). Or, he could just be getting beat from some cat in a china prison.....we really don't have much to decipher this issue, but we can work around it by Expanding Markets. Let's drop down the page and look into what he is selling:
Looks like a taste of a few different pies. Not really heavy in any main area, and here is where you can take advantage. Like I mentioned above and below, instead of playing the defense, roll into offence and take on new markets that he isn't selling in. He has some
Shadowspirit Diamond cuts, but not uncut. Go there. He has only a few Enchants posted. Get the others on the AH. Yup, go there too. Unless this guy/gal reads you, or stalks you, then you have many options for some sales....until they mirror you. So get up, get out, and make some gold!
7:54 AM
Admin
2 comments:
"[R]oll into offence[sic] and take on new markets that he isn't selling in" That isn't offense. That's the Karate Kid in action. "Best defense: no be there."
The advice being presented here is: don't compete! Accept that you have been run out of your chosen market and find something else to sell. Presumably, repeat as needed.
I'm not certain I agree with this advice-- once you tuck tail and run every time there's competition, the terrorists win.
It's better in my opinion, that while you should ALWAYS be trying out new markets and expanding your business, you need to protect your own going interests. Going on the offense would be to strategically deep undercut the competition on his biggest profit items. Make his "go to" market unprofitable long enough (or at the very least, make his margins slim enough) and he'll cast his nets in other waters and you can return to your "normal" prices. Vigilance is key.
Offense:
Let's look at football. Coaches don't pick plays to score points where the defense are. Why throw your ball to a receiver when he is covered already? QB calls an audible because he reads the defense and sees an opening or gap in the D to leave his receiver open to score. i.e No competition. Solo run. Sure there might be a few that try to get in, but with a juke here and there (new market), you can still score.
Baseball. When the batter is at the plate, he/she is told by the coach to hit a ground double to push in the winning run. Why? The coach says hit midfield, because the [fat] left fielder can't run, it's 110 degrees out, and he's ogling some fan in the stands between plays. Multiple reasons...
So I guess it all pertains to how you look at offensive and defensive plays. You have to know both sides to be successful, and how to blend a mix of the two.
See where I am going with this?
In WoW markets, just like in RL, sports, business, whatever, there are different times for different situations. The situation that I explained above was direct. You are playing against your major competitor that is all over the field, at all times.
You cannot continue to fight against him and still keep your sanity. Unless you want to be on as much as him, as he will consistently undercut you. Branch out, go on OFFENSE, instead of fighting his worn out markets on goods (DEFENSE), get into new markets he is not in, and go for it. There is probably new competition in these markets, but you hopefully dont run into a 24/7 AHer.
You make some good points, but not sure if you are understanding the full extent of offense in wow. Offense does not just pertain to fighting the same markets (as you said deep undercuts). Although there are times when that does work, it doesn't work at all times.
The good thing about AH'ing, is we KNOW our competition. We can see what they are selling (their playbook; what they sell, what times, what days, what professions, what mats, etc) and can play against them. And win.
You said it right, Vigilance is key.
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