How Can We Learn The Art of Flipping (Part 3)
This is the final episode of the flipping series. You’re highly advised to check out part 1 and part 2 before proceeding with this piece. With a considerably amount of effort being put into research and testing when it comes to flipping for profit, some of us are concerned as to whether is it worth it. Definitely, some of us would be more interested to grind our way through the game and earn a decent amount of profit by slaying monsters and completing quests. Some players might even argue that you will get more profit by doing so, however the allure of flipping is that the return-on-investment is almost passive once the research is done. Instead of only earning with an active input of playtime, flipping allows us to generate additional income even when we’re sleeping. When it comes to grinding, how much you earn depends on how long you play. There is a limited amount of time you can spend in a game which limits grinding income.
When it comes to flipping, how much you earn depends on how much you have, and how much you have increases exponentially when flipping is done right.
Previously, I’ve written about what types of items to aim for. Mainly, the item would most probably be a (1) powerful equipment, (2) beautiful skins/mounts/pet, (3) useful consumables, (4) rare requisite for a quest or a combination of these qualities. Once an item fulfills these criteria with a potential 10–30% profit when it is being flipped, the best way to know its daily volume would be testing a couple of them in the market. I believe, with enough time and effort, everyone is able to pick a couple of winning items to flip. However, many of us are often stuck in a particular stage where we don’t grow and expand. Specifically, we simply flip the same items. As our buying capacity increases, the volume of the same item may not necessarily increase. Hence, we need to grow and expand our list of items to flip.
In my opinion, there are three main phases of flipping dependent on how much you have.
Phase 1: Poor
Profit: 10–20%
To Note: Low profit margin, High volume
To-Buy Item 1: Cheap consumable (E.g. EXP Boost)
To-Buy Item 2: Cheap consumable (E.g. Healing Potion)
To-Buy Item 3: Cheap quest material
To-Buy Item 4: Cheap crafting material
Phase 2: Average
Profit: 10–30%
To Note: Average profit margin, average volume
To-Buy Item 1: Cheap consumable (E.g. EXP Boost)
To-Buy Item 2: Cheap consumable (E.g. Healing Potion)
To-Buy Item 3: Cheap quest material
To-Buy Item 4: Cheap crafting material
To-Buy Item 5–8: Common powerful equipment
Phase 3: Rich
Profit: 100–300%
To Note: High profit margin, Low volume
To-Buy Item 1–2: Consumable / quest / crafting material
To-Buy Item 2–4: Common powerful equipment
To-Buy Item 5–7: End-game powerful equipment
To-Buy Item 7–10: End-game skin / mount / pet
I believe many of us are usually stuck in Phase 2: Average where we have more than sufficient to get by in the game. We may not have the best gears or cosmetics around, but it is enough for us to battle it out in most parts of the game. We’re still in the pursuit of end-game skin, mounts and pets, but we know that particular day where we accomplish our full set will not come anytime soon. Our dilemma would most often be struggling between (1) Should I save up 2,500 gold for the legendary weapon, or should I spend 300 gold on this beautiful skin that will pull us further away from the legendary weapon. This dilemma would be resolved when we transition from Phase 2: Average to Phase 3: Rich.
The most efficient way to transition from average to rich is to find a end-game winning product to flip than to remain average with most profits coming from common powerful equipment.
Like I said, if you often bid and buy an average of 30 armour a day, having more money to bid for the same piece of equipment makes little sense as there is a limited volume per day. The additional amount of money is put to better use when you accumulate enough to go for the next tier of equipment which will potentially generate better profits, despite lesser volume. If you’ve picked the right end-game item, the cost (or worth) will speak for itself. When it comes to pampering ourselves with the profits we’ve earned, the rule is to always have sufficient for us to continue flipping.
I hope we’ve learned a thing or two from this flipping guide, and it goes without saying (ironic, I know) that whatever we can learn from flipping for profit in-game applies to real life too. The poor becomes average by drawing a monthly salary and the average becomes rich by drawing a monthly salary and diversifying the additional money on top of living costs into different assets. The safe assets yield them 2–4% and the average assets yield them 4–12%. With enough time and dedication, the average assets will eventually turn someone from average to rich. Alternatively, it would most probably be flipping businesses or properties. Whether it is in-game or real life, we got to bear in mind that such a semi-passive way of earning money always comes from thorough research.
