Guild Wars 2

Im relatively new to GW2, and so far it seems to me that crafting isn’t very viable.

In general it just seems like the items you can make are not as good as those of equal lv being sold on the market, and then if you do make an item someone will purchase, the price is so driven down that it seems like you actually lose a small amount of copper.

Am I wrong? I really think that crafting overall needs some tweakage, or the economy in general seems problematic.

Any suggestions thus far Ive attempted to tailor, and wife tried to fool with cooking (haha thats right hunny work that oven=) but she gave up quick seeing her small amount of coin dwindle and I have yet to really feel like tailoring is profitable. (I think the exception is if you harvest 100% of needed materials, there then maybe a small amount of profit).

Items you can craft are the exact same stats as equal level items you find on the market. Blue level items will have the same total stats as other blue’s same with green’s to greens and so forth.

Now that being said most crafter will see 0 profit till 400 and even then most have issues finding the money. That being said it is possible to make bank it just takes some research on the player’s part to find it as those that make bank will not say what it is there making it on for obvious reason’s.

Crafting, especially in a new game, is rarely profitable. There is way too much competition. All one needs to do is look at the TP and see how many people take a loss on an item compared to what they could have vendored it for.

You need to (1) enjoy crafting for itself and (2) look it as a leveling mechanic.

If you don’t enjoy (1) and/or (2), then you really should just sell your mats and buy your gear. It will most likely be cheaper.

On my server I do make a modest earning from crafting. I make more gold per hour just adventuring or grinding Plinx with an Omnom buff. Way way more. Don’t skimp on the magic find gear and food buffs—you will make it back easy.

It’s possible to make money crafting, but you have to find things most people are not doing. In order to figure that out, look at the crafting guides. Then don’t follow them, at least if you want to make money.

Many people craft the least expensive thing in order to level their craft up, and dump them on the TP at a loss. So certain intermediate parts can be ordered for much less than it would take you to craft them from purchased raw materials. Also, fine and masterwork insignias and inscriptions can often be ordered at a discount from raw materials costs. You will have to have patience while you wait for the order to be filled, but the savings is worth it.

Take your purchased parts and do discovery. Unfortunately, the fine and masterwork items are made by everyone and dumped, so it’s rare to be able to sell any for more than vendor price.

So where can you make money? Many people follow database sites like gw2spidy to figure out what is profitable. You will have to be nimble and actively reacting to the market, so that you can jump in and sell before the whole internet piles on. You will repeatedly see a nice profitable item get flooded with more copies a couple hours after you notice it, each one undercutting the next by a copper. Be prepared to reprice if your item does not move in half a day (unless it looks like you can wait out the price dip). Corollary is, you won’t make much profit on a whole bunch of the same item.

You can get a feel for the supply/demand balance by looking at the number and pricing of offers to buy and sell. Some items have lopsided markets, either on the demand or supply side. Some are more even, and you can see an ebb and flow in some if you watch that market.

A further thing to look at is the player level curve, as reflected in raw materials pricing. Right now, raw materials are peaking in the third tier, and the fourth tier is starting to rise. The first tier was very high at the beginning of the game, with its materials going for 7-10 times those of the comparable second tier items. That bulge is gradually going up the tiers, and spreading out.