Most Profitable Craft? (excluding fishing) (in your oppinion)

[Godson]

topic ^, i heard alchemy is =\

[thebizzy]

Depends on server and how many high level of that type there are really. Blacksmith and goldsmith make millions a day on average but i think goldsmith usually edges out since the HQ 's are such nice profit while they barely make profit off of the normal stuff.

[Fuzzbox]

alchemy and cooking will be consistently profitable (most of the items made with the skills are consumable, thus can't be resold for less than what they were bought for)

certain other items from other crafts are consistent profit (ingots from gold/blacksmithing, arrows from woodcraft, throwing items from bonecraft, etc.) due to the same reason

the profit on non-consumables (e.g. weapons, armour) will gradually decrease as more and more people get their hands on the item

pretty much any craft will be profitable longer once you can HQ some of the low- to mid-level items (e.g. +2 stat lv 14 rings, +3 stat lv 36 rings) but again, as more people raise their level they will buy the item, then sell it back at (usually) less than what they bought it for once it's outlived its usefulness.

it would be VERY difficult to crash the cooking or alchemy market by a great deal because the items are always in demand - you might see prices lower slightly because a few crafters just reached a key level (40 cooking for meat mithkabobs) but they will gradually rise again as the crafters climb still higher and may want to make a consistent profit from something that's now trivial.

of course there are still the ultra-high-level crafters who just synth for HQ and will sell just about any non-HQ items for less than the going rate simply to get them out of their inventory.

[Cali]

At low lvl, woodwork give you quite a lot of money, providing you hunt your wind crystals on your own...

19g~ Arrowwood log(at guild or airport shop)
1 Wind crystal

12x Arrowwood lumber 1k->1.2k on my server

That's just an example.

Alchemy, at start, make you lose a lot of money, but once you can say...make fire sword, you will make some money...
So far, I see bonecraft and clothcraft not too good, up to novice lvl(I want to sign contract, so I look upto novice lvl mainly)...

[Icemage]

Server economics has a huge impact on which crafts are most profitable. With that said, there are still some general observations that can be made about each craft at the highest levels.

Fishing - It is rare to see high level fishermen, and when you do see them, you often don't realize they are there. It takes an enormous investment in time to gain skill in Fishing, but one of the nice perks of this craft is that it is largely immune to server markets - you can make money just by selling fish to the guild/npcs.

Goldsmithing - Undeniably the most expensive guild to raise to high levels. Goldsmiths make a lot of money onec they reach level 70+, but getting there requires at least a few million gil, making high level goldsmiths one of the rarest of all crafters.

Blacksmithing - Nearly as expensive as goldsmithing, and with fewer opportunities to make money in the middle levels. Incredibly rare at high levels, which makes the items they can produce tend to give very high profits.

Woodworking - Moderate expense to level, but furniture is usually in pretty high demand, plus arrows and bolts can keep your cash flowing. High level woodworkers are relatively common.

Bonecraft - One of the easiest and least expensive crafts to raise, even to higher levels. High level bonecrafters are still rare, as the profit opportunity for this craft isn't that great aside from a handful of specialty items.

Leathercraft - Similar to bonecraft in many respects, except that the levelling expense is somewhat higher.

Clothcraft - High level clothcrafters are fairly common, but clothcraft produces so many good items in demand at high levels that profits are still pretty good.

Alchemy - Produces a lot of useful consumable items, and a number of interesting and powerful additional items (weapons, accessories, etc.) at all levels. High level alchemists are somewhat common, but the constant demand for items keeps prices relatively stable.

Cooking - Almost everything made with Cooking is consumable, which leads to high demand, but also a large number of people raising this craft. It is unfortunate that high level foods are not a justifiable expense in quantity, so while there are many high level culinarians, the profit margins are the lowest of all crafts.


Icemage

[maytrix]

Don't believe the naysayers hype. Pretty much every craft makes money if you're not some idiot who needs a guide to hold their hand and isn't trying to get to skill level 100 in a week.

[neosoul]

The orignal poster wanted to know what the most profitable craft was, not to be reminded that crafting = profit

[PrOBy_]

If you think about it then you could find out on your own...

Why do people pay millions and millions of gil to raise goldsmithing?

Cooking is the cheapest craft to skill and also the least profitable.
Goldsmithing is the most expensie craft to skill and also the most profitable.

[D0oM]

i could see cooking quite profitable at 90+. for one, u would HQ atleast 75% of meat kabob syns, and prolly 80-90% of fish bob syn's.

a stack of fish chiefs on my server runs 15k each stack.
assuming you HQ 9/12 syn's and only get HQ1, you still yeild 4 stacks of fish chiefs and 3 stacks of fish miths, meaning... 5800 * 3 + 15000 * 4 = 77400G, and you only spent around 41-42k, so profit is ~36k. now thats going by u only getting HQ1's. myself at lv70 cooking gets several HQ's per 12 syns, most are HQ1's but few are HQ2's. so going off that, in another 20+ lvls id assume that you'd get more HQ2's n HQ3's possibly.


with cooking your doing quantity over quality, same with alchemy, arrows ect

with smithing or gs'ing your doing other way around. imo, looks in the long run, they will turn out about the same.

id def say cooking is a crazy money maker at 90+ with several char's able to bazaar n sell stuff at ah ( member quantity )

also, another thing to keep in mind. smithing/gs'ing/ww/ect/ect usually require other guild skill's to syn X item. so, really you will need all lvl'ed up in order to max benefit from them.

[2.0]

Originally posted by neosoul
The orignal poster wanted to know what the most profitable craft was, not to be reminded that crafting = profit

It's the crafter that makes the money not the craft itself. I don't think there is necessarily a most profitable one.

[Peanut_Midgard]

Cooking is profitable, as with all crafts, just not as much as goldsmithing or blacksmithing at high level. A high level goldsmith can be lucky and make millions overnight due to a HQ synth. A cook don't have that chance.

But don't forget that you "make" money with cooking by saving money on food. So again, the gain is not huge amount at a time, but it adds up

[Faranim]

Assuming you were instantly granted level 100 in any craft skill you wanted, Goldsmithing would net the most profit.

However, all craft can earn profits once you get beyond level 20. You just need to know the right recipes.

[Chisum]

Just what recipies make the money? Im a 22.somethingorother Goldsmith, so Im in no position to say, but according the the Goldsmithing 101, you dont make money at all except through Balance Rings/Emeralds/such. And looking through the AH, I cant believe there are any high level crafts that will turn a profit, save the level 99 stuff, like the +5 elemental rings.
I'd really like to get to a high level in golding; I love it. But just how can I support this lifestyle, given that the leveling cost will outweigh the future profits?

[LawDawg]

sure, lets say it costs you 10 million to raise your GS to level 80... but by then, you have something that can (potentially) make EVEN MORE than 10 million!!

As for woodworking... I really dont think you can make much money off of it. Sure arrows... but the profit on the most expensive (and common) arrows is barely 1-2k (if you HQ2). And not to mention you can not quiver them... All in all, I think that the most I can profit (on a per AH space basis) is 3k, IF i get lucky.... HQ instruments don't net much profit (and usable only by bards), Bows require skill in other guilds (and demand is fairly low), Furniture has low demand, shisei loses profit if you dont HQ, and finally, staves and bows have low demand. (and almost impossible to HQ elemental staves)

[Frumply]

profits do vary from server to server quite wildly. I wouldn't recommend woodworking at all as a profit-making craft: there are many high-level woodworkers, and those striving to raise woodworking can easily crash the market. a week or two ago I made demon arrows to get to 69, and was selling the arrows for about even; i checked today (still got 3 stacks to sell off) and some hasty idiots have lowered the price to 7500 a stack. GJ!

Woodworking is basically one of a few things: a sub craft on a mule (for high-lv goldsmithers that is; they can make elemental staves for profit, though the margin is decreasing now that more people have the items), or a useful craft similar to cooking. Only difference'd be that the items are more useful for RNGs that would like to make their own arrows and bolts, NINs that'd like to make their own shiheis, and for fishers that'd like to fix their own rods. I raised woodworking for the last choice on that list... and now I have 2 stacks of light crys, a lu shang and about 10k in pocket change. Woohoo.