Your own little niches

[DR_Mechano]

Recently I've found a set of uncommon recipes that is both fairly cheap to craft and, at a certain level range, always converts into a rare BUT at a lower level range doesn't always do so. Currently I appear to be the number one buyer of these recipes which I found after the more common converter fodder has jumped up in price. However because I spend a set amount each time (10k) I've effectively opened up the market for that particular recipe since I'm buying in bulks of 10 or 20 at a time, if I wanted to I'm sure I could afford to buy out the entire stock, prior to me finding this niche the recipe price was around 1k but has since settled at my usual bidding price of 10k since nobody else is buying the bloody things and people know that their recipes will always be bought for the 10k asking price eventually.

 

So I'm curious if other marketeers have their own little niches or whether you make more of your money through constant flipping?

Edited February 18, 2020 by DR_Mechano

[Ura Hero]

I used to have niches, but I have priced out of most of them.  Right now I am doing random buys that convert with one flip into a rare.  Broad range and low bids.  Takes a lot of slots, but I am not posting new stuff at the moment so it doesn't really matter.  Trying to bleed off inventory.    Ya'll need to buy more so I can get back to making influence.

[Major_Decoy]

I had a time where I was buying Exploited Vulnerability because they're guaranteed to convert into Achilles's Heel.

[Troo]

  

Here's an example using: Jaunt (teleport) = Yellow (uncommon recipe) and not so spendy

 

Teleport just happens to have only two enhancement sets Jaunt (uncommon) and Time & Space Manipulation (rare).

Due to level ranges of enhancement sets and their overlaps it is not uncommon to find similar situations throughout the enhancement set categories.

 

Converting

Spoiler

1. Buy some recipes and craft them.
2. Acquire some enhancement convertors through reward merits or purchase.
3. Convert the uncommon enhancement to a rare enhancement.
4. Convert that rare enhancement to another more desirable enhancement set.
5. Sell that new more desirable enhancement.

2 convertors change them to a guaranteed orange Time & Space Manipulation (also teleport)

• using Convert > Out of Set Conversion > Category: Teleport

1 convertor can the change that orange Time & Space Manipulation into any other orange set

• using Convert > Out of Set Conversion > Category: Rare

If a recipe cost 25k, salvage costs 10k and convertors cost 100k (prices could be more or less) that's a total investment of 335k to get something to sell.

Selling for 1M doubles your investment less market and crafting fees. Selling for 2M works out to about 5 times the investment. Sometimes the convertor randomizer grants something worth even more.

 

Spoiler

 

[Troo]

patience is a primary key.

[Yomo Kimyata]

But do you pronounce it "neesh" or "nitch"?

 

[Unknown Magi]

On 2/19/2020 at 3:40 AM, Troo said:

 

  

Here's an example using: Jaunt (teleport) = Yellow (uncommon recipe) and not so spendy

 

Teleport just happens to have only two enhancement sets Jaunt (uncommon) and Time & Space Manipulation (rare).

Due to level ranges of enhancement sets and their overlaps it is not uncommon to find similar situations throughout the enhancement set categories.

 

Converting

  Reveal hidden contents

1. Buy some recipes and craft them.
2. Acquire some enhancement convertors through reward merits or purchase.
3. Convert the uncommon enhancement to a rare enhancement.
4. Convert that rare enhancement to another more desirable enhancement set.
5. Sell that new more desirable enhancement.

2 convertors change them to a guaranteed orange Time & Space Manipulation (also teleport)

• using Convert > Out of Set Conversion > Category: Teleport

1 convertor can the change that orange Time & Space Manipulation into any other orange set

• using Convert > Out of Set Conversion > Category: Rare

If a recipe cost 25k, salvage costs 10k and convertors cost 100k (prices could be more or less) that's a total investment of 335k to get something to sell.

Selling for 1M doubles your investment less market and crafting fees. Selling for 2M works out to about 5 times the investment. Sometimes the convertor randomizer grants something worth even more.

 

  Reveal hidden contents

 

 

The "gotcha" to this is that you sometimes have to do the later conversion step several times to arrive at a set that will sell.  Also, need to take into account the not-insignificant consignment house fees when factoring in total profit.  It's still generally profitable to do the thing you're describing, but not at the level of "doubling your money" consistently.

[Troo]

6 hours ago, Unknown Magi said:

The "gotcha" to this is that you sometimes have to do the later conversion step several times to arrive at a set that will sell.  Also, need to take into account the not-insignificant consignment house fees when factoring in total profit.  It's still generally profitable to do the thing you're describing, but not at the level of "doubling your money" consistently.

market fees definitely add up. that's a good point and something to keep in mind.

 

if you look closely you'll notice I tried to inflate some of the costs a bit. also,

335k x 2 =1M doesn't really pencil out.

335k x 2 = 670K with room for 1 or 2 additional conversions and market fees while still remaining profitable.

with thousands of items sold, i can say with absolute certainty, more than doubling would and should be considered the objective.

(while not what someone starting should expect, i currently shoot for at least a 10x avg return on profitable items,

it takes much more time and is not always successful)

[Yomo Kimyata]

7 hours ago, Unknown Magi said:

The "gotcha" to this is that you sometimes have to do the later conversion step several times to arrive at a set that will sell.  Also, need to take into account the not-insignificant consignment house fees when factoring in total profit.  It's still generally profitable to do the thing you're describing, but not at the level of "doubling your money" consistently.

My rule of thumb is that if I can get any rare IO that cost me less than 500k to produce or buy, I can expect on average to net 3-5x that after taxes.  It's difficult to spend more than a few converters at "rare" without ending up with something worth over 4mm.

[Myrmidon]

The last couple of days, I have noticed that someone must be playing salvage mark-up with Uncommons. That’s a level of complete tedium for chicken feed that I could never do (and I email entire builds to my alts).

[EmperorSteele]

Right?! I figure someone is trolling the other marketers, and taking a small bite out of their "craft an uncommon to make a rare" money.

 

Also, it seems as though all the demand for enhancements are lowballs. I'm trying to sell a 5m enhancement for 4.75m, with hundreds of bids, and I haven't been able to move it all week. This market is screwy (though it certainly beats everything costing billions of inf)!

[Ukase]

I wouldn't really know if I have a niche - as I have no idea what anyone else is doing. I do think that, presently, I must be the only person selling Shield Walls that are not the 5% resist(all) +TP protection. 

There's hardly any of them for sale, so I'm selling them at what I think are a fair price, given this ridiculous increase in price for uncommon salvage. I'm trying to keep the prices to 10M, but some crazy person keeps buying them for 12 or 14m. No idea why, but I'm not complaining. 

[MunkiLord]

43 minutes ago, Ukase said:

I wouldn't really know if I have a niche - as I have no idea what anyone else is doing. I do think that, presently, I must be the only person selling Shield Walls that are not the 5% resist(all) +TP protection. 

There's hardly any of them for sale, so I'm selling them at what I think are a fair price, given this ridiculous increase in price for uncommon salvage. I'm trying to keep the prices to 10M, but some crazy person keeps buying them for 12 or 14m. No idea why, but I'm not complaining. 

I bounce in and out of the PvP recipes because it's been my general experience that they are crowded niches. But Panacea has been holding steady. Jumped in a bought 20-30 various Shield Wall recipes a few days ago and they all sold for like 12-16 million. I was kinda surprised, but didn't complain. 

 

Most of my marketing is converting in set for Luck of the Gambler, Miracle, and Numina. 

[Yomo Kimyata]

14 hours ago, Ukase said:

I wouldn't really know if I have a niche - as I have no idea what anyone else is doing. I do think that, presently, I must be the only person selling Shield Walls that are not the 5% resist(all) +TP protection. 

There's hardly any of them for sale, so I'm selling them at what I think are a fair price, given this ridiculous increase in price for uncommon salvage. I'm trying to keep the prices to 10M, but some crazy person keeps buying them for 12 or 14m. No idea why, but I'm not complaining. 

I have two alts that deal in the PvPs, but I only log in with them once every week or two.  But I generally book a billion or so each time I log in.

[VV]

You guys want complete tedium? Here's a "fun" thing. Bid low on common salvage. Like 100. Put in massive bids. Come back next day, they are all filled. Sell to vendor. Profit. The profit is tiny, and the salvage carrying capacity limit is annoying, but it works consistently with no risk. You make about 100 per piece, so if you buy 1000 pieces, you get 100,000 Inf. Totally not worth it.

 

Anyway, I used to be a big marketeer back on Live, when the market was tight. I was even a founding member of "The Luck Charmers". We were a cabal of arbitragers who worked together to manipulate the market. Well, just drunk BSed in channel, mostly. Anyway, nowadays I don't even bother. You play the game and Inf just seems to pour down like a monsoon. I got into marketeering to tweak out my first 50, but after that, it just seemed pointless. Run a few MSRs, TFs, iTrials, WSTs, and storylines for the heck of it, and boom, more than enough to trick out your next one. And, so on. All without spending too much time dealing with that infuriating AH interface.

[Obus Form]

On 2/22/2020 at 1:00 PM, Yomo Kimyata said:

I have two alts that deal in the PvPs, but I only log in with them once every week or two.  But I generally book a billion or so each time I log in.

A billion?  Only?

 

I used to look up to you...

[Yomo Kimyata]

18 minutes ago, Obus Form said:

A billion?  Only?

 

I used to look up to you...

I've been sick...

[Obus Form]

33 minutes ago, Yomo Kimyata said:

I've been sick...

Joking aside, I hope you feel better, from 1 internet friend to the other 🙂