Diablo 3 has a fantastic feature that was added a while ago called the Real Money Auction House (RMAH). Players have the opportunity with either Diablo currency or Paypal to be paid money for their virtual items instead of in game gold. This provided a very interesting opportunity for players to potentially make an income from playing a video game, something that hasn't really been common and available to the average player. Through the RMAH you can sell any item you want just like the gold auction house and set a bid and buyout (optional) price for how much you want to sell it for. Let's tackle some ideas and concepts to help get you started.
Once you are verified and have your Battle.net account fully set up to sell on the RMAH...where do you begin? A lot of people have the false impression that they can just take all of their junk and slap a low price and they'll be flowing in riches fast. This is not how it works and I don't want disappointment to settle in instead of fulfillment. We first have to understand market value and demand for an item
Let's look at market value first. If you have an item that has average stats and is very common, then you probably will never be able to sell it on the gold auction house let alone the RMAH. The RMAH is for items that have real value people want. For example, a one handed weapon with over 1100 dps (damage per second), vitality, and a primary stat (strength, dexterity, intelligence), that very desirable because it's what people want. If you have a 900 dps weapon with bleed damage over time as the only mod, well nobody wants that because the damage is much lower and there's no desirable stats on it. Generally people want open sockets, crit damage, vitality + primary stat, and lifesteal on their weapons so look for those. Learning the game and learning what people want is the first key to being successful on the RMAH. Look for what sells and what people want and price accordingly and see those items sell!
Second let's look at demand. We talked about that nice weapon that people would want, but now you have to check the demand. Sometimes we might have a sweet item that someone would want but when we do a search we see 50 other items of the same or similar quality. Now the market is flooded, so prices are going to be driven down and your item may not even sell! Demand fluctuations and movements are important to monitor. You need to pay attention to what is selling. Is a new patch coming that's buffing or nerfing a certain stat? Start to gather up items with those stats and wait for the patch to hit and sell them.
This action can seem risky to the average player, but when you have an awesome item drop that you know is rare, sometimes it can be advisable to dominate the market. This is accomplished by purchasing all items of similar quality (or if it's a legendary, buy all lower priced ones) and then hold onto that inventory and drive the price yourself. This won't work for rares unless it's an extremely good stat roll, but for legendaries that are hard to find this is certainly doable. Try to locate trends of resells that aren't selling and look to snipe items and then resell them. This means using the age old strategy of buy low and sell high.
Sometimes we can get so focused on the equipment that we have drop that we lose sight of the bigger picture. There is a market out there for gems, crafting materials, and recipes as well. Be sure to keep an eye on them because people don't want to have to farm up all the materials and then combine them up to make a better gem, or gather them together to craft a nice piece of Bind on Account gear, or they are looking for a rare plan they can't find that you might have. All of these things be conscious of, you never know if you discover an untouched market that you can dominate! All of these tips can get you started in making some money on the RMAH, and once you take these tips and advice in and you get experience you can take your earnings much further!
