Transmog is a well known goldmaking market, and something a lot of players get into. Sadly a lot of players also get incredibly discouraged when the sales don’t show up. So what do you do?
You quit! that’s it, that’s the whole post!
If you’re still here, then we’ll take a look at the why and what you can do about it.
Reddit examples
https://www.reddit.com/r/woweconomy/comments/jzmrki/transmog_gear_isnt_selling/
https://www.reddit.com/r/woweconomy/comments/s1z4nj/mog_selling_is_completely_dead_and_people_still/
https://www.reddit.com/r/woweconomy/comments/dppvgu/selling_transmog_gear_is_a_waste_of_time/
https://www.reddit.com/r/woweconomy/comments/ht9pkm/has_anyone_had_luck_with_transmog/
I did not have to spend much time searching to find a lot of posts from players complaining about slow transmog sales (I did also find loads of success stories and I have made gold in this market myself). Transmog in general is a very focused market. The best recipes or items will generally sell a lot faster than any generic item. Island expedition transmog is a recent example that has been very profitable. In most cases you will have to manage hundreds if not thousands of items to generate anything that resembles a steady flow of gold. This is extremely time consuming, but once you have your stock, it’s relatively easy to maintain as items rarely sell.
The allure of profit margins
I think the reason so many players do transmog is because of the very high profit margins. Crafted transmog can show profit margins as high as 10-20 times the crafting cost. In a capital starved situation this seems fantastic right. If you can sell an item for 20 times crafting cost you will accelerate your gold really quickly. Sadly that little if in the former sentence is a real profit killer. You are unlikely to realize that profit in a month, or even half a year.
Transmog is terrible for beginners
Transmog is a great market, but not if you are just starting out. The simple reason is that cosmetics in general sell slowly, and particularly for transmog, where there is a ton of different items, with no clear differentiation. Even extremely rare and valuable transmog will sell incredibly slowly. WHen you are starting out, the most important aspect by a significant margin is the sale rate, as you want to get your gold back so you can reinvest it.
What should you be doing?
Unless you already have a steady capital base or you just absolutely love the idea of being a transmog tycoon you should not focus on cosmetics. Items that are useful are always at a much higher demand. That means catch up gear, bags, consumables, max level gear etc. Anything that increases player power will always sell faster and have a higher gold per hour potential than transmog.