How to make gold in WoW Burning Crusade Classic

WoW Burning Crusade Classic gold farming
(Image credit: Blizzard Entertainment)

Looking for a reliable way to make gold in Burning Crusade Classic? Gold should be much easier to earn in TBC, but it still pays to know the best way to go about raking in cash. And with the introduction of flying mounts, you'll want to make sure you have enough gold saved to take to the skies in as little time as possible.

You can expect to earn a fair bit while leveling in Burning Crusade Classic, but if you want to supplement that income, this guide will point you in the right direction. Here are some tips for making gold in WoW Burning Crusade Classic so you can unleash your inner goblin.

WoW Burning Crusade Classic gold farming tips

Loot everything

You'll pick up a lot of junk when you loot enemies. You may also be tempted to only loot the stuff that looks worthwhile, but money you can make by selling grey items will soon add up. 

Get into the habit of checking how much items are worth on the auction house, too. It may be tempting to sell unwanted stuff to a vendor for convenience, but you may get way more for it by selling to other players.

Optimise your bag space

Having lots of bag space as you can get is always worthwhile, but it's especially important if you have a gathering profession. The materials will quickly take up room in your bags and you don't want to have to make needless trips to offload at a bank or the auction house. Even if you don't want to bother with professions, it's still a good idea to clear out your bags as often as you can. 

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Make a second character 

Having a second character is useful for a few reasons. You won't have to level the character to 70, but standing them next to a bank and mailbox means you can send any excess stuff from your main character to them easily. There's no auction house in Outland either, so if you're planning on selling stuff, it might make sense to use an alt camped next to one in Azeroth.

Of course, if you're planning on actually leveling another character, all the better. Choose a couple of WoW Classic professions that complement your main character's choices and put them to work, too. A third could be your glorified personal banker.

Craft items to sell 

Aside from giving you the option to craft consumables or items for yourself, many crafted items can be sold on the auction house for a profit. There's a lot more involved if you're serious about making gold from crafting—not least the initial expense of leveling the profession—but it can still be lucrative.

Jewelcrafting is a new addition for Burning Crusade Classic, but it's pretty expensive to level. Tailoring is another choice that could see some benefits, not least of all because cloth drops aren't particularly difficult to come by. And, of course, you can make your own bags—or sell those, too. TBC-specific items such as Spellcloth are used in various crafting recipes and generally sell well. 

Most crafting professions are viable though it's worth having a look at what sells well on your server before committing.

(Image credit: Blizzard Entertainment)
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Or pick up gathering professions 

If you'd rather not go to the bother of having to craft items to sell, picking two gathering professions can be just as lucrative—if not more so—providing you can set aside the time to farm the materials if you want to continue making gold with them at level 70.

All gathering professions work well, as the associated mats are generally sought after. Also bear in mind that TBC Classic introduces Jewelcrafting, so demand for ore is likely to be high. You can usually find buyers for lower-level stuff on the auction house as players will want to level their own crafting professions and may not have time to farm all the materials needed.

If you play a druid, or you're thinking of leveling one, herbalism is almost a given for one of your professions. The introduction of flying and the druids' ability to gather herbs while in flight form makes it an obvious choice.

Learn to fish

Fishing is one of the secondary professions and can also be fairly lucrative, especially in the new Outland zones. As well as the fish, which can be used in various endgame cooking recipes, you have to chance to fish up 'Mote of Water' which can then be turned into a Primal Water and sold on the auction house.

Fishing may not be the most exciting activity in the world, but it's handy to have if you're at a loose end and just want to chill for a while.

Do your dailies

Burning Crusade Classic introduces daily quests, and while they're an endgame way of grinding reputation and unlocking items with various factions, you shouldn't ignore the gold reward offered by many of them.

The daily dungeon quests offered in Shattrath generally offer the most gold, but other dailies can give a decent amount of gold, too, so you should decide which ones you want to prioritise with the time you have available.

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Use the auction house effectively

If you're planning on making gold through the auction house, it pays to know what's in demand on your server. You might be surprised by how much this can vary and you'd do well to start small and keep an eye on your chosen market to see how it performs over time. 

It's also worth considering how much effort you want to put in. Primals, for example, should sell well, but the elementals that generally drop them are likely to be heavily farmed. The time spent might not justify the gold earned.

If you're just looking to sell a few items every now and then, you don't really need to go to so much trouble. But you might also be surprised by how much gold can be made from just watching the market and buying low and reselling at a higher price, all without ever needing to learn a profession.

Use addons

There are various WoW Classic addons that can help with your gold-making:

  • GatherMate2: An obvious choice if you have gathering professions. It marks the map with a coloured node whenever you gather, mine, or fish from a school, so you know where to look for them in future.
  • Auctionator/Auctioneer: Makes the auction house easier to navigate. 
  • TradeSkillMaster: Has a fairly steep learning curve, but if you're serious about making gold, this addon is invaluable. It allows you to set up groups and assign rules to each for easier auctioning. It also gives you a separate crafting UI, showing which items are profitable at a glance.
Sarah James
Guides Writer

Sarah started as a freelance writer in 2018, writing for PCGamesN, TechRadar, GamingBible, Red Bull Gaming and more. In 2021, she was offered a full-time position on the PC Gamer team where she takes every possible opportunity to talk about World of Warcraft and Elden Ring. When not writing guides, most of her spare time is spent in Azeroth—though she's quite partial to JRPGs too. One of her fondest hopes is to one day play through the ending of Final Fantasy X without breaking down into a sobbing heap. She probably has more wolves in Valheim than you.