Every once in a while I am asked how I made my money. I suppose this question comes up because my outfit of choice consists of gold trimmed rune bodyplate and shield, dragon boots, legs, and helmet, a combat bracelet, a ring of wealth, and an amulet of fury. All together my day-wear outfit runs about 5 million gp. I don’t wear this kind of outfit to show off and be flashy, I simply like how it looks with the golds and blues and reds. But people do get the impression that I am rich, which compared to many other players, I am not. But I am comfortable and when people ask me how I make my money I refer them to my blog. That is part of the reason I started this blog in the first place, so I wouldn’t have to go into long stories in chat during the game. So here is my story and some very basic tips (which I may expand on in later articles) about making Runescape money.
First, the story about me. When I first started Runescape I was pretty antisocial. Actually, I still am. I did not (and still do not) want to interact directly with other players. At least not much. A simple hello to someone I know is all I really want to muster. In the old days there was no Grand Exchange so I was restricted to the stores for any sales I might want to do. I knew I could get more money by player trading, but I just didn’t want to have to haggle with people. My public trade option has been permanently turned off for four years now. Because of this I had no real desire to even sell anything in the stores for the piddly prices they provided. But I am a pack-rat. So for years I just stored stuff in my bank account, never knowing how valuable it would eventually become. I kept collecting seeds, and herbs, and ores week after week. I only used what I needed for skills or combat. I never sold runes even though I never used runes because I did not like the magic skill. My bank was just getting fatter with clutter and junk every progressive year.
Finally the Grand Exchange opened and I decided to check it out. It was a way to make player to player trades in a fair market system without having to deal directly with other players. Essentially the Grand Exchange is a brokerage system without the fees (yet). Plus, even better, there is no timing or world requirements. Someone on world 3 at four in the morning could sell me, for example, rune platelegs on world 103 at ten in the evening. It makes for a perfect system for me.
Then I decided to see what some of my stuff was selling for. I had no idea that some the “junk” I had collected was so valuable. I had a couple of million gp in Ranarr alone. A few more million in other herbs. Well, of course, that tipped me off to using Chaos Druids as a money maker. I had tens of millions in even the most basic of runes and ores. When the Grand Exchange opened I basically won the lottery and had a whole new world open up to me. Now I could play Runescape to make gp. Prior to the Exchange I would play just simply to train skills and perform quests (which are still fun things to do). But I had new options of play.
So that is how I made my money, at least initially. But I have also spent a lot of my wind fall and will sometimes drop a quarter million off at the party room in Falador. I’m now down to a reasonably simple personal value, with maybe a net worth of only twenty million gp. But I try to add about a half million each week. I call that meager because there are many players who have hundreds of millions of gp, and quiet a few billionaires. I would say I am middle class in the Runescape world.
But you have to be smart about money if you want to make it rich in Runescape and hold on to that money. Just like the real world. Screenblazer mentioned some of these tips in his entertaining blog. But they are worth repeating here.
First, fish your food people. If you have the level to fish swordfish and/or lobsters and you are broke, then stop paying for the damn things and fish it yourself. Plus you’ll get fishing experience.
Second, stop spending every gp you got. There is nothing more annoying than some level 95 dipshit who is bagging at the Grand Exchange because he/she spent all their money. My policy when I encounter these people is to tell them that if they need money to sell the freaking dragon chainbody they are wearing for 8.8m gp. Don’t go asking me for money if you are wearing more expensive crap then I am.
Third, have patience. Yes fishing takes time, Yes farming takes time, Yes mining takes time. Guess what people, it’s gonna take time to make money.
Forth, if you are trying to sell something on the Grand Exchange at market price and it doesn’t sell instantly, then give it some time. Drop the price after a day or two. Part of the reason the Runescape economy is on a downward spiral right now is because no one wants to wait for their trades to complete, so everyone is selling for minimum value. Almost everything I have mentioned in this blog over the last few months has dropped in value by almost ten percent because people want instant gratification. Have patience people.
Fifth, look for little hidden tricks of making money. I have some listed here on this blog. While passing through the Lumbridge swamps collect ten or twenty swamp tars. It only takes a couple of minutes and you walk away with a couple of grand. Or when passing by unicorns, kill them and take their horns. If you saw a large pile of 900gp worth of coins on the street in Varrock would you just walk by? Hell no. So why walk by that unicorn.
Sixth, you need to be smart. Most mid level players while fighting combat should be filling up their inventory with only items worth 400gp or more. Ignore that friggen bronze longsword when that inventory slot could be holding an uncut ruby. At the same time don’t go ignoring those 9 mithrel bolts. Each one is worth 90 gp and are stackable. For the most part, if it is stackable or noted I will pick it up. There are a few exceptions like body runes. But most importantly think about what drops you are getting, what drops you can get, and which ones are worth your time picking up. Also, you must invest in a ring of wealth (25k on the Exchange). The ring is a simple addition and well worth the money.
Seventh, stop frigging asking for price checks. Good grief people, do you have any idea how annoying that is? Most browsers have multiple tabs. Open up another tab to the Grand Exchange database and look up that price yourself. Most of the time it will be faster. Plus it is a wonderful source of information on which drops are truly worth picking up.
And finally, experiment with new things. If you are not making enough money then maybe you aren’t doing the right things. Maybe try out a few mini games. Quite a few have money rewards and many also reward xp. Look at quest guides on the Internet to see which quests have monetary rewards and try those quests if you can. Fight different monsters then usual. And don’t fall into the trap of thinking that a monster has to be powerful to have decent drops. Chaos Druids and Cockroachs can make you are small fortune and are easy to kill.
Good Luck
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good read like always 3 thumbs up (ok i know that makes no sense but roll with it but man your frigging rich i’m a 98 and got like 3 mill net )
Nice post, really. The problem is people usually buy food than fish it by himself. But you know, it takes so long to fish swordfish, sell it and buy sharks.