If you still consider yourself a novice when it comes to trading in ESO, then I would highly recommend taking some time to properly understand the foundation of trading before delving into the topic of flipping items on ESO.
However; if you’ve already made a bit of money for yourself and have established a steady stream of revenue, perhaps you may be looking to take your gold making endeavors up a notch. If so, this ESO flipping guide is just what you are looking for.
What is “Flipping”?
The notion of “flipping” entails purchasing items at a given price (usually a price that is lower than market standards, although sometimes you can still flip items that you have purchased at the going market price) and then subsequently re-selling these same items for more, resulting in a net gain in gold!
Evidently, this method of making gold on ESO requires that the player interested in “flipping” already has expendable funds to invest in the items that they are looking to flip.
You certainly do not need a lot of money to start flipping items in ESO. If you do not have the means to be flipping more inherently expensive items – that’s fine! Stick to flipping items whose prices fall comfortably within your spending range!
Check out this neat trick to help you always know what items are ideal for flipping at any given time!
Do recall the fact that a portion of your guild trader sales are siphoned away as “taxes”. It is important to keep this in mind when flipping, as you want to make sure you are getting your money’s worth. When deciding on whether or not you should buy an item (or items) with the intent to flip, make sure that the value that you are going to relist this item for is going to result in a profit for you – after taxes!
What To Flip in ESO
Generally speaking, players tend to flip materials, motifs and housing recipes. By going to a Guild Trader and utilizing the search tools, players can search for “All Materials”, “Consumables, Motif” and “Consumables, Furnishing Plan” and quickly scan all of the entries to see if any items are being listed for less than market price or what have you.
If you know what sets are currently popular in ESO, you can also look to flip set pieces!
Believe it or not, you can actually get away with purchasing materials at market price and then re-selling them at above market price if you list these materials in large stacks. By listing materials in large stacks, you are providing the seller with convenience, which allows you to charge more per unit. For example, I have been flipping Dreugh Wax by purchasing individual units at 8k each (current market price) and relisting them for 12k each in bundles of 10. Of course, if I can find Dreugh Wax for even cheaper, that means I make even more profit!
By understanding what consumables and items are currently “meta”, you can utilize this information to point you in the right direction when it comes to finding items to flip in ESO. Items that are part of the current meta are always perfect candidates for flipping given the fact that they are likely to organically increase in value anyways because of the heightened demand for them. By purchasing large quantities of these items while their prices are still low and then re-selling them once they have become part of the meta or once it has been realized by the general public that these items have become “meta”, you can really rack up a lot of profit.
I try to make an effort to compile some of the hottest items to sell in ESO every patch, so be sure to check out that page to get an idea for the kinds of items that you should strive to flip for any given patch.
When To Buy Items In ESO
Find out more about how you can be efficient when flipping in The Elder Scrolls Online!
Useful Addons For Flipping in ESO
Often times players utilize addons such as Master Merchant and Awesome Guild Store to help them throughout the process of flipping. These addons provide useful charts and data that showcase the worth of any particular item, and even it’s percentage over or under market price. This allows players the convenience of receiving all of these market statistics while they browse guild traders so that they can locate a deal on the spot.
While tools like these can definitely aid a trader looking to flip items in ESO, they are not integral to the flipping process. While I play on PC/NA and use a handful of addons myself, I do not use any trading addons and I have made hundreds of millions from flipping items on ESO. I personally use Tamriel Trade Centre’s website if I ever need to get a rough idea for a price for an item. Plus, once you are a serious trader, you likely already know the going prices for many things and do not need an addon to tell you this information.
It has kind of been perpetuated in the trading community that “flipping” is a thing that only occurs on the PC servers because these players have access to addons, when the reality is that while these addons are definitely useful, they are not a necessity. Don’t let the fact that you can’t use addons stop you from flipping!
Don’t Take Advantage of People
Don’t you do it! I’ve come across countless videos about flipping in ESO that all suggest going from zone to zone and copy-pasting a “WTB” message. This sounds inherently harmless, but the fact of the matter is that the people that are spamming these messages in zone chat are willing-to-buy their particular items for ludicrously low prices in hopes that no one will be the wiser and subsequently end up giving away their wares for horrible prices.
The prices that these people suggest are so low that it’s really ripping people off. These people are completely taking advantage of the fact that there are many players out there that have no grasp or concept of trading on ESO. Instead of taking the time to educate people or invite them into trading guilds, zone-chat-scammers (as I like to call them) strive to take advantage of those that lack trading expertise by robbing them of their wares so that they can resell them and get rich while those that they have scammed stay poor.
Often times these ESO zone chat scammers will defend their actions by suggesting that they are actually providing a great convenience to the people that they are scamming by taking their unwanted items off their hands and giving them a bit of gold in return. They claim that they are helping players out that would have never sold these items otherwise since they do not have a trader to sell their wares anyways.
There is a difference between purchasing an item that has been listed at a low price in a guild trader and suggesting a ridiculously low price in zone chat. The former supports the guild trader itself by means of taxes and providing that seller with some sales records that help them meet dues, advance, and build rank from within their trading guild. The former also implies that it was the seller’s choice, well-informed or not, to list that item at that particular price. The latter entails a well-informed trader suggesting an offensively low price that un-informed traders may then believe to be reasonable, which effectively keeps these people unaware and in the dark, instead of being educated on the matter.
Sure, these un-informed traders do get some money, but they don’t get nearly their money’s worth, and that’s just not cool to do to someone. It is totally possible to flip items and still make tens of millions of gold a week from utilizing Guild Traders exclusively. I highly implore that you go about flipping items this way. From what I gather, doing the whole “WTB” thing in zone chat takes a lot of time and effort to find victims anyways, so you are really are just better off browsing some guild traders from time to time. Not to mention the fact that it is really damaging to your reputation!
Zone-chat-scammers also tend to be the kinds of goons that heavily undercut their guildmates in their guild traders. I plan to have a thorough post on trading-etiquette in the near future, so stay tuned! I promise it won’t just be a hit piece on scammers, there are actually a lot of interesting points of discussion to be had when it comes to improper trading etiquette and the effects that it can have on the market both in the short and long term!
I have made all of my earnings without ever using unkind trading practices. Support guild traders by buying your wares through them – even if you do so with the intention to flip!
Where to Find Items to Flip
Okay Arttea, so you’re telling me NOT to flip items via zone chat – so how else am I expected to do so?
By using guild traders of course!
Chances are you are likely not going to be finding items for under market price at the major trading hubs in ESO, such as Mournhold, Rawl’Kha, Wayrest, Vivec City, etc. In order to compete with the convenience and endless supply of items that the elite traders in these major trading cities have to offer, often times sellers that are in smaller trading guilds in less convenient locations will list their wares for under market price so as to entice customers to go out of their way to browse their particular trader.
Cities that are difficult to get to or that can only be discovered by means of thorough exploration, quest completion or by owning a DLC are great spots to check for materials, housing plans and motifs to flip in ESO. Some of my favourite spots to frequent are:
- Lilmoth, Murkmire
- Evermore, Bangkorai
- Sentinel, Alik’r Desert
- Baandari Trading Post, Malabal Tor
- Abah’s Landing, Hew’s Bane
- Kvatch, Gold Coast
- Marbruk, Greenshade
Besides these major cities, I also like to visit the guild traders that are located in isolated spots in the wilderness! Or outlaw’s refuges! I tend to find the best deals here.
You also don’t have to go completely out of your way to get to these traders. Flipping does not have to eat up your time on ESO, it is a pastime that can be efficiently integrated into your usual gameplay. You can browse traders while you wait for your battleground or dungeon queue to pop. You may pass a trader in the middle of nowhere while making your way to a survey or treasure map location – you may as well take a quick peak at their wares! Or if you are already having to go out of your way to get to a specific trader to purchase a piece of gear that you need or what have you, it just takes a minute or two to check out the rest of the items that the guild has to offer; you are there anyways, you may as well!
You can also use TTC to search up a specific item that you are currently flipping to quickly locate all of the cheap instances of that particular item.
Tamriel Trade Secrets 