A Genuine Guide To Making Gil

THIS GUIDE IS STILL A WORK IN PROCESS, IT SHOULD BE FINISHED LATER THIS WEEK. THIS GUIDE IS STILL A WORK IN PROCESS, IT SHOULD BE FINISHED LATER THIS WEEK.

This is a personal guide, if you disagree with anything feel free to leave comments on the talk page, but please don't remove, change, or add anything. All the information provided here has been tested 1st hand by the author: IconicIdea.

=A Quick Q&A Session=


 * Q: Everyone knows that crafting just isn't that profitable any more, no one can really 'get rich,' so what's the point?
 * A: This jaded belief exists because many players (innocently) believe ANYTHING they craft, (regardless if it's in demand or not) will explosively sell. This creates discouragement & a false impression that the system is against them. For Example: If you flood the market with Bone Subligars and Wax Swords you will be heart-broken. You will make little - to no money, feel like a failure, and likely never try an AH sell again. If this sounds like you, don't despair. Patience and a bit of homework (30 minutes should be enough to start) will get you profits within a couple sales.


 * Q: Every time I've tried to sell something... Every Time! Everyone under-cuts me, and it doesn't matter if the product is selling like crazy, I never make a sell!
 * A: At most, this make the process slightly more challenging. It doesn't matter if "they" can under-cut you, you can still make money by the truck-load. Under-cutting other sellers is a very valuable tactic to make sales. This tactic is used in Real Life constantly. You can use under-cutting to your advantage, without destroying the market value of the product (read more on how to do this below).


 * Q: Other people with 100+ craft skill can get HQ3 for almost pure profit. I can't compete with that!
 * A: Then become 100+ skilled and make the HQ3 profits yourself. If you're dedicated, and have saved up a "Nest Egg" of "Crafting Capital," (read more on how to do this below) you can level a craft from 0-110 in a weekend. There is nothing difficult in becoming 100+ skilled in any craft, and making money while doing it. To be a skilled Crafter... all it takes - is patience.


 * Q: My friends "Cooking" skill is 110 and they rarely make any money... If they're not successful, why would I be?
 * A: Let me be Blunt, you may not like the answer... The failures of others are often far from Truth. You like your friend, so you assume they know how to sale at the Auction House. They don't, & that's why they're not successful. Follow the stratagems below, then decide for yourself if they don't work.

=Tapping the Records of Eminence Keg=

Records of Eminence: the gateway to gil in the Hundreds of Thousands.


 * Every 1,000 Sparks you earn can be converted, roughly, to 10,000 Gil by selling items purchased with Sparks, to NPC Merchants (this won't work with Rare/Ex items). Whether you're a High or Low level player, gaining Sparks isn't difficult. Running through "Repeat" quests can be very profitable: “Kill 200 enemies,” “Crystal acquisition” etc... You can typically make 5-10 thousand Sparks per hour, which equals 50,000-100,000 gil. High level players can get even better results.


 * You may find this method alone - to be enough for your needs, and not bother with the Auction House. It's certainly an easy method, but it feels a lot like grinding and can get old. However! This is a phenomenal way to save up a "Nest Egg" of "Crafting Capital." Then skill-up to 110 on your favorite craft in a couple of days.

NOTE: ''You should only skill-up a single craft to 110! All other sub-crafts should max at 70, otherwise your craft at 110 will start losing points. I'd recommend you follow any Crafting Guide by Ctownwoody. His guides have fairly solid advice.

NOTE: Some crafts require more money to level than others. For Example:Cooking will be very cheap until you hit 80-110. On the other hand Goldsmithing (my favorite craft) will be four times more expensive from the start, so the size of your "Nest-Egg" needs to reflect that.''

=Be An Auction House Boss (or AH "Bawse")= The Auction House: Making gil in the Millions, stacked with Millions, padded with Millions, swimming within Millions...


 * 1rst You Must Choose a Craft: Browse through each, and pick the one(s) destined for you.


 * How To Research Your Target Product(s) - Open any crafting category on this site, in another window (such as this one: Alchemy). Now, scroll down until you see Alchemy/All Recipes (It will be towards the bottom). Click it! & you will be rewarded with a list of Alchemical Recipies, from basic, to the most advanced. Now open this site in another window: www.ffxiah.com - in the upper left hand corner make sure your server is selected. Then take at least a half hour and start looking them up, one by one. You will be looking for the following trends: How Quickly the items sells, & How Much they sell for. For Example stacks of Holy Water tend to sell 'Very Fast' for 10,000 while single Quake Grenades sell at an 'Average' rate for 20,000-30,000. Both of these sell quickly enough, and would both be profitable enough, to synth & sell. Find at least 5-10 items like this, you can do this in half an hour or less. Doing your homework pays off.

Note: Holy Water is an Alchemy level 51 synth and Quake Grenades are an Alchemy level 58 synth with a requisite level 29 Smithing skill attached. If you're not at this level of crafting yet, shoot for lower synths, there are many that are easily as profitable, if not more so. AGAIN - Do Your Homework - It Pays Off.


 * Don't Specialize - How others will quickly destroy your market.
 * Why You Should Diversify - Quick, consistent small sales vs. slower "Big Sales."
 * How To Under-Cut Without Destroying Market Value - A diverse daily sales limit
 * What To Do If Someone Crashes Your Market - Storing your product and restoring market confidence.
 * Farming vs. An Outright Purchase - Time is money.
 * Dedicating Synth Time - Keeping fluid sell-able product on hand.
 * When to liquidate - Don't become attached to any one product. The difference between a "selling fad" and a "main-stay staple."

=Gardening - The Smart Way=
 * Arcane Flowerpots - & How To Obtain Them.
 * Tree Cuttings & Tree Saplings - They're like globs of sticky money! :)
 * Reishi Mushrooms - & Why They Are Filled With Golden Tartar Sauce.

=Chocobo Digging - It's Like Slowly Falling In Love=
 * Chocobo Digging Can Be Very Profitable - but mostly I do it for fun.
 * How To Train a Digger - Not that difficult or expensive.
 * The Chocobo Digging Guide - Read this thingy.
 * The Chocobo Hot and Cold Game
 * Why Chocobos Taste Like Chicken.

THIS GUIDE IS STILL A WORK IN PROCESS, IT SHOULD BE FINISHED LATER THIS WEEK. THIS GUIDE IS STILL A WORK IN PROCESS, IT SHOULD BE FINISHED LATER THIS WEEK.