Why crafted gear pricing is harder in Midnight (and why that’s good for you)
Crafted gear is one of the best gold opportunities in any expansion because it sits at the intersection of power, urgency, and identity:
- Players buy crafted gear to get stronger right now (especially early patch).
- Players recraft to chase better quality, better stats, or new effects as their build evolves.
- Players pay extra to remove friction: they want a crafter who is responsive, reliable, and can hit the result they’re aiming for.
Midnight’s profession direction also nudges the market toward clearer quality tiers and time-gated crafting power. That can scare casual sellers (“too complicated”), which is exactly what creates room for you: when fewer people price correctly, the people who do become the default choice.
The goal isn’t to be the cheapest crafter. The goal is to be the crafter who prices correctly, sells consistently, and never wonders, “Wait… why am I broke after all that crafting?”
First decision: are you selling on the Auction House, through Crafting Orders, or both?
Your pricing strategy depends entirely on where the sale happens.
Selling crafted gear on the Auction House (usually BoE)
This is a “storefront” model. Buyers compare listings instantly, and price pressure is real. Your biggest enemies are:
- the Auction House cut
- deposit loss from relisting or expirations
- undercut wars
- tying up gold in inventory that doesn’t move
You win here by controlling costs, choosing the right items, and posting at the right times—not by racing to the bottom.
Selling crafted gear via Crafting Orders (often BoP)
This is a “service business” model. The buyer is paying for your ability to craft something they can’t just buy outright. Your biggest enemies are:
- undercharging commissions (especially for high-quality outcomes)
- providing materials without pricing the risk
- getting trapped in free recraft expectations
- spending your time-gated resources for “just a tip”
You win here by having a clear menu of prices, setting expectations, and charging for guarantees.
The best approach for most players
Do both, but assign roles:
- AH gear = your consistent baseline sales (if the market supports it).
- Crafting Orders = your high-margin service sales (especially for high quality, special stats, or upgrades).
The one pricing equation that prevents 90% of losses
No matter what you craft or where you sell it, you need a true “floor” price. Here it is:
Minimum Safe Price = All-In Cost + Risk Buffer + Target Profit
If you skip any part, you eventually lose gold.
What counts as “All-In Cost” for crafted gear
All-In Cost is not just “the mats.” It’s everything you spend to create and sell the item:
- Materials you consume (whether you bought them or farmed them)
- Bind-on-pickup or currency-style costs (if a craft consumes a limited resource)
- Finishing/optional reagents you provide
- Time-gated crafting power you spend (like Concentration)
- Auction House cut (if selling on AH)
- Expected deposit loss (from relists/expirations in competitive markets)
What counts as “Risk Buffer”
Risk Buffer is your protection against reality:
- material prices changing before your item sells
- getting undercut and needing to relist
- the item moving slower than expected
- buyer asking for a redo (service-side)
- patch tuning shifting demand
If you price with zero buffer, you are basically gambling with your bankroll.
What counts as “Target Profit”
Profit shouldn’t be “whatever is left.” Decide your target:
- A flat amount per craft (easy)
- A percent margin (common)
- A gold-per-hour target (best for service crafting)
Once you decide that, your pricing becomes consistent and calm.
Auction House math you must bake into every price
If you sell crafted gear on the AH, two mechanics matter more than anything else:
The Auction House cut (tax)
When your item sells, the AH keeps a percentage of the final price. That means:
- If you list for 100,000 gold and the cut is 5%, you do not receive 100,000 gold.
- You receive 95,000 gold (plus your deposit back if it sold).
This alone explains why many “profitable” crafts aren’t profitable.
Deposits: the silent profit killer in competitive markets
Deposits are paid when you list. You get them back if the item sells. You lose them if:
- the listing expires
- you cancel and repost repeatedly
- you repost the same item over many cycles
For crafted gear with meaningful vendor value, deposits can be large enough that constant relisting turns a “good margin” craft into a loss.
The practical rule that saves your gold
If you expect heavy undercutting, don’t price your item as if it will sell first try. Price it as if you’ll pay at least one extra deposit to get the sale.
If your margin can’t survive that, you’re not selling a product—you’re donating deposits to the goblins.
Stop using “what I paid” for materials and start using opportunity cost
This is the mental shift that separates broke crafters from rich ones.
The mistake
You buy materials cheaply (or farm them), craft gear, and price based on what you paid.
Then the market spikes, and you sell an item that looked profitable… but you actually burned materials that could have been sold for more.
The correct mindset
Materials have a market value whether you bought them, farmed them, or got them “for free.”
If you use a material in a craft, you are choosing not to sell it as a raw material. That’s a real cost.
The simple rule
Always value your materials at current market value, not purchase price.
- If you bought cheap, congratulations—you increased profit.
- If you farmed, you didn’t make the materials free—you converted time into inventory.
Pricing by market value keeps your math honest and protects you from “fake profits.”
Quality, ranks, and the ‘guarantee premium’ (why the best crafters charge more)
Modern crafting systems reward specialization and stats, and Midnight continues that direction. Higher outcomes are not just “press craft.” They come from:
- specialization investment
- profession gear investment
- optional/finishing reagent decisions
- time-gated pushes (like Concentration)
That means a high-quality craft is a premium product.
Why you should charge more for guarantees
If a buyer wants a guaranteed high outcome, they are asking you to bring:
- the right build
- the right setup
- the right resources
- the right risk tolerance
Guarantees reduce uncertainty for the buyer, which is valuable. If you price a guaranteed outcome like a casual craft, you are undercharging for the most valuable part of your profession.
The “two-tier” pricing model that works almost everywhere
Offer two clear options:
- Standard Craft (no guarantee): lower commission, whatever result your baseline setup produces
- Guaranteed High Quality: higher commission that includes your best pushes and your time-gated power
Buyers love choices. And you protect your gold by charging correctly for certainty.
How to price Concentration so you never waste it
If Concentration (or an equivalent time-gated quality push) matters in Midnight, you need to treat it like a currency you mint slowly.
Here’s the problem: many crafters spend Concentration for tiny tips because they don’t know what it’s worth.
The correct way to value Concentration (simple version)
Pick the best use of your Concentration this week—your highest-profit craft that requires it.
Calculate:
Concentration Value (per point) = Extra Profit From Using It ÷ Concentration Spent
Now you have a real number.
Example logic (numbers are illustrative):
- Without Concentration, your profit is 6,000g.
- With Concentration, your profit is 18,000g.
- Extra profit = 12,000g.
- If it costs 60 Concentration, value per point = 200g.
Now you know: if a buyer wants you to spend 60 Concentration, your commission must cover at least 12,000g (plus your normal profit), or you’re losing value.
The “daily budget” method (even easier)
If you don’t want math: decide what you want to earn per day from Concentration crafts.
If you want 30,000g per day and you refill enough Concentration to do 2 big crafts, each one must produce ~15,000g profit or better.
What this changes in your pricing
- You stop saying yes to low-tip “max quality please” requests.
- You start charging a premium for the limited resource you control.
- You become the crafter who stays profitable even when competition is loud.
Artisan’s Moxie and profession currency costs: don’t ignore the ‘hidden bill’
Midnight testing and discussion points toward profession currencies being important for recipes and systems (and similar systems have historically mattered for recrafts and progression). Even if you don’t spend that currency on every craft, it still affects your business.
The key pricing idea
If a craft consumes something limited (a currency, a charge, a weekly-gated reagent), that resource has value because it competes with your other uses.
You don’t need to itemize it in your sales pitch, but you do need to include it in your floor price for premium services like:
- high-quality guarantees
- repeated recrafts
- priority/fast-turnaround crafting
- anything that consumes limited currency directly
If you ignore limited costs, you end up with great reviews and empty pockets.
Optional reagents: pricing when the buyer changes the recipe
Optional reagents are where crafted gear pricing gets spicy because they do three things:
- They can raise the value of the output.
- They can raise the difficulty (making a high quality harder).
- They can change who provides the mats (buyer vs crafter).
The rule: your commission depends on what YOU provide and what YOU risk
Before you quote a price, sort the craft into one of these buckets:
- Buyer provides everything
- Buyer provides core mats, you provide finishing mats
- You provide most mats (full-service craft)
Your pricing must rise as you move down that list.
The “full-service markup” that keeps you safe
If you provide materials, don’t charge “AH price + tiny tip.”
Charge a markup that covers:
- the AH cut you paid to acquire mats (or the time you spent farming)
- price fluctuation risk
- the convenience you’re offering
- the chance the buyer flakes or delays
A common safe approach is to add a service premium on top of materials, then add your crafting fee.
Recraft pricing: how to avoid the ‘infinite free redo’ trap
Recrafting is amazing for the game and great for crafters—until you treat it like customer support instead of a paid service.
Why recrafts are not “free”
Even if the buyer provides most of the mats, recrafts cost you:
- time
- attention
- sometimes limited currency-style costs
- sometimes Concentration (if they want a quality jump)
- opportunity cost (you could be crafting something else)
If you do unlimited recrafts for tips, you turn your profession into a job that pays in compliments.
The clean recraft pricing model
Offer one of these three structures (pick one and stick to it):
Option A: Flat Recraft Fee
- Simple: “Recraft is X gold, + extra if you want a guaranteed high quality.”
Option B: Tiered Recraft Fee
- “Basic recraft (stat change / reagent swap) = X”
- “Quality push recraft (uses Concentration / premium mats) = Y”
Option C: Bundle (Best for closing deals)
- “Initial craft includes one recraft attempt within 48 hours.”
- After that, recrafts are paid.
Bundles feel generous, but still protect you from endless unpaid work.
The single sentence that prevents drama
“Happy to help—recrafts are priced separately because they still use time and resources. Do you want basic recraft pricing or a guaranteed quality push?”
Calm, professional, and it sets the boundary.
Public vs Personal orders: pricing changes because the rules change
Crafting Orders aren’t all the same, and your price should reflect that.
Public orders (usually buyer-supplied materials)
Public orders tend to be more price-sensitive, and many systems historically limit what the buyer can demand through public listings. The buyer often wants a fast fill at the lowest commission.
How to price them safely:
- Only take public orders that meet your minimum commission floor.
- Don’t spend premium resources on bargain public commissions.
- Treat them as volume work, not boutique work.
Personal orders (your premium lane)
Personal orders are where serious buyers go when they want:
- a specific crafter
- a specific outcome
- a fast turnaround
- advice on reagents and best setup
That is premium service. Price it like premium service.
Guild orders
Guild orders can be priced lower if you want, because you gain value in other ways (team performance, goodwill, future raid stability). But you still shouldn’t lose gold. “Discount” is fine. “Working at a loss” is not.
Your pricing menu: a simple template buyers understand instantly
The best sellers don’t negotiate every craft. They post a menu.
Here’s a menu structure you can use in trade chat or messages (adjust numbers to your server economy):
Menu structure (copy the idea, not the exact numbers)
- Standard craft (buyer mats): Base fee
- High quality guaranteed (buyer mats): Base fee + Guarantee fee
- Full service (you provide mats): Materials + Service premium + Base fee
- Recraft (basic): Flat recraft fee
- Recraft (quality push): Flat fee + Concentration premium (if used)
- Rush fee (if they want it now): Optional add-on
Why this works
- Buyers see choices instead of haggling.
- You stop underselling yourself in the moment.
- You protect your limited resources by charging for them.
If you want to be known as “the reliable crafter,” clarity beats cleverness.
How to find the right price in 10 minutes (without living at the AH)
You don’t need perfect data. You need reliable signals.
Step 1: Identify your lane
Are you selling:
- entry-level crafted gear (volume)
- premium high-quality gear (margin)
- niche pieces (lower competition, slower sales)
Don’t price a niche item like a volume item. Don’t price a premium service like a commodity.
Step 2: Check real competition, not just the lowest listing
On the AH, the lowest listing might be:
- someone dumping inventory at a loss
- a bait price that will disappear
- a single unit listed to manipulate scanners
Instead, look for the “cluster”: the price range where most listings live. That cluster is what buyers are actually seeing.
Step 3: Calculate your floor
Do your All-In Cost + risk buffer. If the market price is below your floor, you have options:
- switch to a different item
- wait for a better demand window
- sell the materials instead
- sell through orders instead of AH
The worst option is “craft anyway and hope.”
Step 4: Choose a selling window
Crafted gear sells best when players are upgrading:
- weekly reset day
- raid nights
- weekend push sessions
- early patch weeks
Posting at dead hours invites undercut wars and slow sales.
How to price crafted gear on the Auction House without getting undercut into a loss
If you’re selling BoE crafted gear on the AH, adopt a “store strategy,” not a “panic strategy.”
Post less often, more intentionally
Constant relisting is how you lose deposits. Instead:
- post in prime demand windows
- choose shorter durations if the market is fast
- avoid chasing every small undercut
Pick items where deposits won’t eat you alive
Some gear has high vendor value (higher deposits). If that item is also undercut heavily, it’s a double penalty.
A safer AH inventory often includes:
- items with lower deposit pain
- items with steady demand
- items with fewer direct substitutes
Build a margin that survives one relist
If you can’t survive one deposit loss and still profit, the listing is too thin.
Don’t tie up your entire bankroll
A classic mistake is crafting three expensive pieces, posting them, and having no gold left to adapt when materials dip (which is when you want to buy). Keep liquidity. Liquidity is power.
Service pricing psychology: why ‘cheapest’ loses and ‘confident’ wins
When buyers commission crafted gear, they’re buying more than an item. They’re buying:
- confidence
- speed
- knowledge
- reduced risk
That means you can charge more if you communicate like a professional.
What buyers actually want to hear
- “Yes, I can craft that.”
- “Here’s what you need.”
- “Here are two pricing options.”
- “Here’s what I can guarantee.”
- “Here’s how recrafts are handled.”
What makes buyers walk away
- vague pricing (“tip whatever”)
- uncertainty (“maybe I can hit it”) with no options
- hidden fees after they gather mats
- feeling judged for not knowing reagents
If you make the process easy, buyers choose you—even if you’re not the cheapest.
The three most profitable pricing models (pick one that fits your life)
Not every crafter wants the same experience. Choose the model that matches your playtime and personality.
Model 1: Volume Crafter (fast, simple, consistent)
- Take public orders that meet your minimum fee.
- Focus on standard crafts.
- Avoid heavy guarantees.
- Best for: limited time, steady income.
Model 2: Boutique Crafter (premium margins, fewer customers)
- Focus on personal orders.
- Charge for high quality guarantees.
- Offer clean recraft policies.
- Best for: specialized builds, high skill, less spam.
Model 3: Full-Service Seller (highest revenue, highest responsibility)
- Provide materials when buyers want convenience.
- Charge a service premium and rush fees.
- Build repeat customers.
- Best for: bigger bankroll, more market attention.
Pick one first. You can expand later. Most losses happen when people try to do everything with no pricing structure.
Common crafted gear pricing mistakes (and easy fixes)
Here are the mistakes that repeatedly cause gold loss—and what to do instead.
Mistake: Pricing based on “lowest listing”
Fix: price based on your floor and the market cluster. If the cluster is below your floor, sell materials or switch items.
Mistake: Spending Concentration for tiny tips
Fix: set a Concentration value and charge it as a premium when used.
Mistake: Offering “free recrafts” forever
Fix: charge per recraft or bundle exactly one recraft attempt with clear rules.
Mistake: Providing mats without a service premium
Fix: mark up full-service crafts. Convenience is valuable.
Mistake: Ignoring deposits and relists
Fix: build at least one relist into your expected cost when competition is heavy.
Mistake: Saying “tip whatever”
Fix: give two clear prices. Buyers prefer clarity, and you stop underselling yourself.
Patch-proof pricing: how to stay profitable when everything changes
Every patch reshuffles demand. Your goal is to be stable anyway.
Keep your pricing system, not your exact numbers
Your equation stays the same even when markets move:
- All-In Cost (updated)
- Risk buffer (updated)
- Target profit (stable)
Hold inputs when uncertain, not finished gear
Raw materials are flexible. Finished gear can become dead inventory overnight if demand shifts.
Follow demand signals, not hype
The market doesn’t care what people say is best. It cares what people are actually buying. Watch:
- which items move quickly on reset days
- what buyers request in chat
- what recrafts are being spammed for
Then focus your crafting power on what is already proving itself.
Use Warband storage to reduce friction and missed opportunities
Account-wide systems make it easier to centralize materials and craft efficiently across characters. The more you reduce “running around,” the more you can craft during the best selling windows.
BoostRoom: turn smart pricing into faster progress (and less stress)
Gold is only valuable if it improves your play. The reason crafted gear pricing matters isn’t just to see a bigger number—it’s to fund the things that actually move you forward: upgrades, consumables, enchants, profession investments, and the gear path that unlocks better content.
BoostRoom helps you convert that gold into real progress without the chaos of endless grinding. If your goal is to push Mythic+, raid smoothly, or climb PvP rating in Midnight, BoostRoom support means:
- you spend less time stuck in “catch-up mode”
- you hit your weekly goals faster
- you can keep your crafting business running on a calm schedule
- your gold goes toward performance, not recovery from setbacks
Smart crafters don’t just make gold—they protect their time. That’s what BoostRoom is for.
FAQ
What’s the safest way to price crafted gear in Midnight?
Use a floor price based on All-In Cost (materials at market value, fees, and expected relists) plus a risk buffer and your target profit. If the market is under your floor, don’t craft that item—sell materials or switch products.
How do I price commissions when the buyer provides all materials?
Your commission should still cover your time and any limited resources you spend (like Concentration). For premium outcomes, charge a higher “guarantee” fee.
Should I ever craft gear to sell on the AH if margins are thin?
Only if your margin survives at least one relist (deposit loss) and the AH cut. If not, you’re risking gold for little reward.
How do I stop people from asking for endless free recrafts?
Use a clear policy: recrafts are priced separately, or the initial craft includes exactly one recraft attempt within a time window. Everything else is paid.
How do I charge for Concentration without sounding greedy?
Treat it like a premium add-on: “Guaranteed high quality uses limited resources, so it has a premium fee.” Buyers understand “limited” instantly.
Is it better to be a cheap crafter to get more customers?
Cheap brings volume but also attracts the most demanding buyers. Clear pricing and reliable outcomes usually create better customers and higher long-term profit.
What’s the best time to sell crafted gear on the AH?
Reset day, prime evening hours, and weekends are consistently stronger. Posting during low activity increases undercut pressure and slows sales.
Should I provide materials for buyers?
Only if you add a service premium. Full-service crafting is convenience, and convenience should be profitable.
How do I handle crafts that require currencies or limited reagents?
Treat that cost like a material cost: it has real value because it competes with your other uses. Include it in your premium pricing.
Does account-wide storage matter for crafting profit?
Yes. Centralizing materials reduces wasted time and helps you craft during the best market windows instead of missing them.
