6 Lessons to Playing Diablo 3 For Money

Recently I recorded this live video with Sixen (skip to 9:30 if you watch it), who is a famous Diablo3.com VIP and original founder of Diablofans.com. He wanted to know my thoughts on making gold and real money playing Diablo 3, and we discussed a few other issues as well with the game. It was prior to patch 1.0.3, so all the craziness about repair bills and nerfs weren’t really talked about at all. We did, however, focus heavily on the RMAH and how you can be successful with it. So for today’s post, I’d like to go over a few lessons from the video, as well as a couple of extra ones I’ve learned recently from playing the real money auction house for hours every day.

Personally, I’ve made over $400 playing the RMAH since Diablo 3′s launch on May 15th. I know many who have made much, much more, and I am working very hard to help you learn how to do the same.

Here are 6 Lessons to Playing the RMAH in Diablo 3:

Lesson #1: Determine a Value for Gold to Dollars

You need to figure out what 100,000 gold is worth to you. To me, I know that I can flip 100,000 gold in items for around $6.50. So I would never ever buy gold, because there’s no way it will reach that price per 100,000, but I still have to check each new strategy I find to make sure it is up to par. You only have 10 auction slots, so every single one needs to be worth your time and effort. If I find an item that will flip from 100,000 gold into $2, then there’s no way I will use that strategy because it’s not even close to $6.50. Each person will find different markets at different prices, so you will need to discover your own internal value for 100,000 gold. I can guarantee that it will be far more than the going rate on the commodity RMAH.

Lesson #2: Use Patches to Your Advantage

Monks got 2h weapons in patch 1.0.3, and I took advantage of that immediately. Whereas two handed dexterity weapons were garbage before the patch (minus daibos), now they were worth quite a bit more. I bought dozens of 2h level 60 weapons and have since sold them all. Use patches to your advantage, especially if you can prepare for them!

Lesson #3: Never Lock Yourself Out

Though we will be getting a patch eventually where you will be able to cancel all auctions at any time, for the moment you cannot cancel gear/weapons after 5 minutes. Never, ever have every slot locked with gear or weapons. Instead, sell a few commodities which can be canceled any time, or just leave the slots blank.

Lesson #4: Market Research is King

Researching and playing with the three search fields are key to becoming a better auctioneer. You need to get to the point where you can say “yes, this item is definitely going to make me money” without having to flip back and forth between auction houses. This takes time, and research. A lot of research. Actually, you should never stop researching, so get used to it!

Lesson #5: Use All Three Balances

You will want to keep all three of your balances up, which are your paypal, battle.net, and gold currencies. Never let one drop too low, and be sure to compensate by selling items for the currency you’re lacking. There are many deals on the RMAH for flipping back to the gold ah and vice versa, so you will want all three balances high to take advantage of these deals. Whenever you are selling items for super cheap, send them to Battlenet balance in order to avoid the 15% fee. If you’re going to be flipping on the RMAH anyway, why take a fee on those funds that you’re going to reinvest with later?

Lesson #6: Get Bigger Margins

This is the most important lesson of all. If you flip items for small profits, then you’re going to pretty displeased with the results for your efforts. However, if you find great deals on the auction house and then flip them for a discount to the buyer, now we’re talking! I call doing this “buying low and selling normal” and I know it doesn’t seem like it at first glance, but there are hundreds of great deals on the auction house every second. You can find ridiculous deals which enable you to sell awesome gear at “normal” prices. This is the secret to being an efficient and successful auctioneer.

If you’d like to learn more about playing the Real Money Auction House for profit, be sure to check out my Diablo 3 blog as well.

Good Luck and Have Fun!

~Markco