The Merchant's Guide to Merchanting

[aj926]

Merchanting is a skill in Runescape 2 unmeasurable by experience points. It is often done behind the scenes, and has led to firm and reasonable prices in most raw materials, as well as continuous rises in Discontinued Items. There are several different types of merchants: Raw Material Merchants, Pseudo Rare Merchants, Short Term Rare Merchants and Long Term Rare Merchants. The common stereotype for a merchant is a Short-Term Rare Merchant.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Raw Material Merchants, or RMM's are very beneficial to the stable values of nearly any material in the game. Without these players, items like coal, yews, and sharks would have a much more varied value, and would therefore be much more difficult to buy and sell. RMM's tend to be players with lower amounts of gold, as it is a very profitable method of making GP no matter how much you have to spend. Common materials to merchant are Bowstrings, Herbs, Runes or Yew Logs. A good material to buy and sell is any one that has a high demand and a good amount of sellers who do not use forums. A good place to buy materials is around a bank (such as Seers) where the sellers are usually the same people that found the items, and therefore are not middlemen.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Pseudo-Rare merchants, or PRM's were a dying breed in Runescape2 until Barrows were introduced. However, with this new armor, many players are beginning to buy and sell these powerful new items. PRM's also buy and sell Dragon Armor and high-value items such as Robin-Hood Hats and Whips. As the items they are selling are quite expensive in comparison to Raw Material Merchants, it is suggested that a player has at least 3-4 Mil before entering the Pseudo-Rare Market. The real problem with these items is that they continue to drop in value as more are introduced into the economy, so a PRM is forced to sell his items very quickly after he/she purchases them. Sometimes hanging around the Barrows area and buying some fresh items off the runners is the best way to find this stuff cheap.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Short-Term Rare Merchants, or STRM's, are some of the most hated players in Runescape 2. They are often low level, and tend to be quite arrogant about their acquisitions. However, it is important to note that these players are just as hard-working as any other player on Runescape2, and that they face plenty of competition at all times when buying and selling items. Most of these merchants have enough to buy 1-2 Rares (whatever's the most expensive and affordable), and will devote their time to reselling it as soon as possible. The best items to merchant as a STRM are, of course, Party Hats. These are quite easy to sell and will often allow for profit margins as high as 3-5 Mil per Hat. However, there are also the overlooked smaller STRM's who deal Santa Hats, Masks and Non-Holiday Rares who can also rake in good cash. The real downside to being an STRM is that it is very difficult to capitalize on the natural rise of Rares when you are trying to get rid of them in (as the more you sell, the more you buy, the more profit you make). As an STRM I liked to buy my Rares in not-so-common areas like World 1, on Tipit Rares Forums. I'd even wait sometimes in the duel arena as high leveled players staked and then offered on their winnings after their duel. As an STRM, and more specifically a Party Hat seller, every little advantage you can get is crucial. It is never a bad idea to have several different forums open, and to be ready to adjust to the economy. I also found that it was better to buy items cheap and sell for normal prices, instead of high prices. The sooner you sell something the faster you can buy another. Short-Term Rare Merchanting is what I believe to be one of the most enjoyable activities on Runescape, as it takes a lot of research skills and negotiating skills. Skilled STRM's can make upwards of 5 - 10 Mil per day.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Long-Term Rare Merchanting is also known as investing. It is most suggestable for players with enough cash to buy at least a Party Hat Set, but it works even with only an Easter Egg. Basically, LTRM's will just bank these items and wait for them to rise, sometimes he/she hold onto their Rares forever. It is most effective for players who do not have the time nor the patience to buy and sell Rares on the open-market, or those who have so much money that they can average nearly 10M a day if the economy is healthy. I myself like to combine Long and Short Term Merchanting to maximize my profits. Some days I'll sell 5-10 Party Hats, and some weeks I won't get around to selling any at all. Long-Term Merchanting, if done correctly, is EXTREMELY profittable. If one was to have spent 100 Mil on Santa Hats exactly one year ago when they were 100-150K each, they would have 4 Bil today. That's an average of 10 Mil per day without even having to click once. However, if one was to have spent 100 Mil on 3 Party Hat Sets one year ago, they would only have around 660 Mil today. This basically shows that the better items to buy for long-term are actually the smaller rares, such as Santa Hats, or Masks. These items have a much higher rate of increase.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Increase Rates Since Last Year

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

2004 Easter Eggs - 100k each

 

 

 

2005 Easter Eggs - 1.5M each .. Peak of 2.5M in June

 

 

 

Easter Egg increase rate - 1500% today, 2500% at peak

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

2004 Pumpkins - 200k each

 

 

 

2005 Pumpkins - 2.5M each ... Peak of 4M in June

 

 

 

Pumpkin increase rate - 1250% today, 2000% at peak

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

2004 Disc of Returnings - 250k each

 

 

 

2005 Disc of Returnings - 4M each ... Peak of 5M in June

 

 

 

Disc of Returning increase rate - 1600% today, 2000% at peak

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

2004 Half Wines - 1 Mil

 

 

 

2005 Half Wines - 30 Mil ... Peak of 70M in June

 

 

 

Half Wine increase rate - 3000% today, 7000% at peak

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

2004 Santa Hats - 100k

 

 

 

2005 Santa Hats - 4 Mil ... Peak of 4 Mil

 

 

 

Santa Hat increase rate - 4000% today, 4000% at peak

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

2004 Green Masks - 200k

 

 

 

2005 Green Masks - 4 Mil ... Peak of 4.5 Mil in June

 

 

 

Green Mask increase rate - 2000% today, 2250% at peak

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

2004 Blue Masks - 350k

 

 

 

2005 Blue Masks - 5 Mil ... Peak of 6 Mil in June

 

 

 

Blue Mask increase rate - 1420% today, 1710% at peak

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

2004 Red Masks - 350k

 

 

 

2005 Red Masks - 6.5 Mil ... Peak of 8 Mil in June

 

 

 

Red Mask increase rate - 1850%, 2290% at peak

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

2004 Purple Party Hat - 3 Mil

 

 

 

2005 Purple Party Hat - 24 Mil ... Peak of 27 Mil in June

 

 

 

Purple Party Hat increase rate - 800%, 900% at peak

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

2004 Yellow Party Hat - 3.5 Mil

 

 

 

2005 Yellow Party Hat - 26.5 Mil ... Peak of 31 Mil in June

 

 

 

Yellow Party Hat increase rate - 760% ... 885% at peak

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

2004 Red Party Hat - 4 Mil

 

 

 

2005 Red Party Hat - 35 Mil .. Peak of 45 Mil in June

 

 

 

Red Party Hat increase rate - 875% ... 1125% at peak

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

2004 Green Party Hat - 5 Mil

 

 

 

2005 Green Party Hat - 29 Mil ... Peak of 34 Mil in June

 

 

 

Green Party Hat increase rate - 580% ... 680% at peak

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

2004 White Party Hat - 6.5 Mil

 

 

 

2005 White Party Hat - 45 Mil ... Peak of 55 Mil in June

 

 

 

White Party Hat increase rate - 692% ... 846% at peak

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

2004 Blue Party Hat - 8 Mil

 

 

 

2005 Blue Party Hat - 62 Mil ... Peak of 80 Mil in June

 

 

 

Blue Party Hat increase rate - 775% ... 1000% at peak

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

2004 Christmas Cracker - 15 Mil

 

 

 

2005 Christmas Cracker - 60 Mil ... Peak of 100 Mil in June

 

 

 

Christmas Cracker increase rate - 400% ... 666% at peak

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

**All prices are based on my personal observed values of Tuesday August 29th, 2005. All prices are subject to change and should not be depended upon when buying or selling items. They are simply rough estimates.**

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Basically from this you can see that Half Wines were the best investments from last year. However, due to their extreme rareness at the time and the difficulties in selling them, I believe the best investment from 2004 was the Santa Hat. These are very easy to sell items and they rose a whopping 4000% from last year.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

im a pseudo merchant and make 2500K+ a day.

[XrunesX]

Nice guide you have here.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

What are your thoughts on Party hats..Do you think they will keep rising or drastically drop?

[cyclonetwist]

Pease do not bump 2-3 month old posts in the future :)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

OMG? what wrong with bumping aslong as its not spam? its like, they make a new topic everybody say use search so they do, and post in a older topic then they get told of AGAIN but for bumping old topics thats really confusing.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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On-topic, do you think me buying a santa hat now and saving it for a few months b4 x-mas06 is a good idea? i hoping it was a good investment

[SenorTamale]

 

Pease do not bump 2-3 month old posts in the future :)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

OMG? what wrong with bumping aslong as its not spam? its like, they make a new topic everybody say use search so they do, and post in a older topic then they get told of AGAIN but for bumping old topics thats really confusing.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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On-topic, do you think me buying a santa hat now and saving it for a few months b4 x-mas06 is a good idea? i hoping it was a good investment

 

 

 

it's just very annoying to see, as it keeps on happening more and more often nowadays.. there's no reason that these forum noobs need to post on the months-old topics as if it's helping anything..

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

and i really think that rares market is starting to stagnate (at least for small rares), so it might not be a great idea to buy. i could be wrong though, and there might be massive manipulation coming up in the near future, who knows :roll:

[Genome]

merchants just sell the rares to other merchants who think they will get a better price for them

[Sypher05]

Your prices on santa peaks are wrong.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

They've maxed peaked at 6m, and 4m is not their current price.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Otherwise nice statistics

[hohto]

Your prices on santa peaks are wrong.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

They've maxed peaked at 6m, and 4m is not their current price.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Otherwise nice statistics

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

That guide was written in august, so of course the prices are out of date :P

[Uula]

Your prices on santa peaks are wrong.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

They've maxed peaked at 6m, and 4m is not their current price.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Otherwise nice statistics

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

**All prices are based on my personal observed values of Tuesday August 29th, 2005. All prices are subject to change and should not be depended upon when buying or selling items. They are simply rough estimates.**

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

As hohto said.

[Luke]

Very nice guide :)

[jessy87]

i don't think rare prices can rise to much more before they become "redicuously high"....

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

heard that soooo many times before

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

yes, this guide is about 2-3months old. this should be in the archieve of wisdom.

[oddfaery2]

You're forgetting 1 type of merchant, at least according to the views of those who have called me a merchant... call it what you want but it's a skill-based "merchant"

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This kind of "merchant", no matter what level in skill they are, buys supplies for various skills, uses these items for experience in a skill, then sells the product for profit.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

For example, buying bars and smithing for profit (sellin cannonballs, sets, arrowheads, whatever)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Buying herbs and 2nds and selling potions for profit

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Buying gems and bars and selling jewelry

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

buying rune essence and making natures

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

among other things.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Raising combat and getting valuable drops

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The key difference between this kind of "merchant" and the kind you listed is that they make their money from skills by selling products to players. There are several players who make all their cash from raising skills in profitable manners or drops from clues and other monsters. The benefit of this kind of "merchant" is that they get experience that CAN be measured by more than just their GP.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

If you want to be technical unless you get all supplies yourself and alch or use every product you make, you're a merchant.

[residentev23]

Added to Favorites! :wink:

[Bloodveld]

You're forgetting 1 type of merchant, at least according to the views of those who have called me a merchant... call it what you want but it's a skill-based "merchant"

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This kind of "merchant", no matter what level in skill they are, buys supplies for various skills, uses these items for experience in a skill, then sells the product for profit.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

For example, buying bars and smithing for profit (sellin cannonballs, sets, arrowheads, whatever)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Buying herbs and 2nds and selling potions for profit

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Buying gems and bars and selling jewelry

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

buying rune essence and making natures

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

among other things.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Raising combat and getting valuable drops

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The key difference between this kind of "merchant" and the kind you listed is that they make their money from skills by selling products to players. There are several players who make all their cash from raising skills in profitable manners or drops from clues and other monsters. The benefit of this kind of "merchant" is that they get experience that CAN be measured by more than just their GP.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

If you want to be technical unless you get all supplies yourself and alch or use every product you make, you're a merchant.

Aaarrg you beat me to it, I do that with ranarrs/prayer pots all the time :D

 

 

 

Added to Favorites! :wink:

Stop spamming.

[FuBai]

Long-Term Rare Merchanting is also known as investing. It is most suggestable for players with enough cash to buy at least a Party Hat Set, but it works even with only an Easter Egg.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

but that means that you need at least twice the amoutn you invest to start with, as u need cash to play with - if it costs u all ur cash then it only woks if either u dont play or u just train raw material gathering. Thats the reason i can't do this. How ever for rich "ÃÆââ¬Å¡Ãâã$%^*&)(! like your self it would be a realy good way

[yomom1919]

could you post buy/sell prices for phats and barows items? thanks

[Rock Hard]

Sorry for the bump, but I was wondering if how you guys think people who merchant from shops - EG Runes and Arrows fit into it all...

 

 

 

:?

[Jimmy_Kak]

yeh this is a way old topic...

 

 

 

they fit into the first category, the raw materials section... i thought that was obvious

[Rock Hard]

yeh this is a way old topic...

 

 

 

they fit into the first category, the raw materials section... i thought that was obvious

 

 

 

But both Runes and Arrows are finished products. The raw materials in this case would be Essence and Wood/Arrows/Ore...

 

 

 

I thought that was obvious.

 

 

 

-Gid.

[Noproblem22]

yeh this is a way old topic...

 

 

 

they fit into the first category, the raw materials section... i thought that was obvious

 

 

 

But both Runes and Arrows are finished products. The raw materials in this case would be Essence and Wood/Arrows/Ore...

 

 

 

I thought that was obvious.

 

 

 

-Gid.

 

 

 

He didn't really mean just raw materials. Raw materials pretty much involves anything that someone uses to level. Take it from there.

[indalecio]

If it helps, when I joined RuneScape in

 

November of 2004, santa's were 300k.

[gonpost]

Speaking of merchanting, what do you all think about the recent phat price hike?

 

 

 

I'm seriously thinking about selling my white phat for 195-200 mil right now, but I'm not sure if I should...

[Darkduellord]

Oh and I made a good investment. 8) I bought most of my 19 santa hats when they were 500k each. :wink: Now they are like 4m each... 8)

 

 

 

dude your rich as hell now...

[Wachtwoord]

After reading this I thought two things.

 

 

 

1. Woow I'll never have the patience to try to buy and sell stuff for hours

 

2. OMFG, if I started 1-2 years earlier, even I could afford some nice rares then! :wall: :cry:

[Kejixu]

Money making was easier today than it was back then, so it probably balances out a bit.

[Krieger99]

Since there is so many SantaÃÆââââ¬Å¡Ã¬Ã¢ââ¬Å¾Ã¢s in circulation, I cant ever imagine them going for over 5m each. What do you think?

 

 

 

It's interesting reading old posts. :P