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9.30.2011

Raw Cataclysm Gems Can't Be Vendored On PTR



As reported on twitter by @JoshDJX Cataclysm uncommon and rare gems on the PTR currently show as having "No Sale Price" and can not be sold to vendors.

I hopped on the PTR and can confirm I am seeing the same thing. It seems that lower raw gems may not be affected as raw Tigerseye and Malachite still have a vendor price. The same was true for the cut uncommon and cut rare Cataclysm gems I tested.

After Patch 4.3 you may have to cut each and every gem in order sell it to a vendor. So what if anything should you do before the patch if we have large stocks of undervalued rare and uncommon Cataclysm gems we were planning to vendor? Head past the jump for PTR prices, maths and some suggestions.

Dirty Math!

Here is what I found by visiting a vendor in Stormwind with a copy of one of my jewelcrafting characters on the live realms and the PTR.

  • Raw uncommon Cataclysm gems sell to the vendor on live realms for 50 silver each. On the PTR they can't be sold. 
  • Cut uncommon Cata gems sell  sell to the vendor for 75 silver on live. It appears their sell price to the vendor has been raised to 93 silver 74 copper.
  • Raw rare Cataclysm gems sell the the vendor on live realms for 3 gold 20 silver. On the PTR they cannot be sold.
  • Cut rare Cataclysm gems sell the the vendor on live realms for 3 gold 75 silver. It appears their sell price to the vendor is the same at 3 gold 75 silver.

Uncommon Dilemma

So the vendor price for cut uncommon Cataclysm gems may get a increase of 18 silver and 74 copper each or roughly +25%. This increase comes at the expense of having to spend time cutting each one before vendoring them. No more selling raw uncommon gems to the vendor. Period.

If you have a large amount of uncommon Cataclysm gems you are planning to vendor (for what ever reason) you will make about 25% more profit after patch 4.3 if you are willing to spend the time cutting each and every one. 

For some perspective 20-stacks of raw uncommon Cataclysm gems will sell quickly to the vendor pre-4.3 for 15 gold. After 4.3 the same gems in cut form will net you 18 gold 75 silver.

If the increase in vendor value makes it worth your time to cut them then wait until after 4.3 to sell. If you value the ability to sell them all to the vendor very quickly then sell them to the vendor before 4.3. 

Medium Rare

With cut rare cataclysm gem prices staying the same the choice of whether to vendor any severely underpriced rare Cataclysm gems comes down to if you're willing to trade time and convenience for profits.

Pre-Patch 4.3 you have the option to vendors stacks and stacks of raw rare Cataclysm gems for 3 gold 20 silver each gem. Cut rare Cataclysm gems sell for 3 gold 75 silver. That is a difference of just over 17%. 

Similar to uncommons if you are willing to sacrifice 17% profit for the ability to unload huge stockpiles of raw rare Cataclysm gems you may need to do it before Patch 4.3. After Patch 4.3 any huge stockpiles of underpriced rare Cataclysm gems may become huge steaming piles of repetitive time-wasting annoyances. You'll have to cut them one by one to sell them to the same vendor (for the same price) that used to buy them in bulk with a tip of the hat and a smile.

Not Like This

After beating it repeatedly with a few huge nerf sticks it appears Blizzard is driving the final nail in the coffin of fast and easy vendor-based shufflin'.

Hopefully none of us are sitting on so many raw uncommon and rare Cataclysm gems that we would need to vendor them rather than do something more useful with them but I just know out there someone is sitting on just such a stockpile.

The thought of having to cut each and every one of those gems simply to get rid of them is enough to drive even the most sane gold-maker straight to the looney bin where they will be given an nice rubber room and all that will be heard in the dark and dusty night will be the faint *tap* *tap* *tap* as shattered once-great gold-maker repeatedly presses their finger on the imaginary crafting button over and over and over again. 

The choice of whether to vendor now or wait it out is up to you. At least now you have a heads up so you don't get caught holding a Bulging Sack of Gems that will take until next expansion to cut and vendor.

If by chance you are reading this after patch 4.3 and either a) you didn't know about the change or b) you chose to wait it out and are now stuck with tons of gems to cut and vendor check out my previous tutorial "Quickly Vendor Jewelcrafting Gems With The AutoVendor Addon".

Update 1: Consortium forum poster Mansch pointed out that the lowering of vendor price might also affect the auction house deposit fees. I jumped on the PTR to find out.


  • 48 hour AH listing fee for a raw uncommon Cataclysm gem
    • Live realms = 30 silver. 
    • PTR = 1 silver. 
  • 48 hour AH listing fee for a raw rare Cataclysm gem
    • Live realm = 1 gold 92 silver
    • PTR = 1 silver

So if this change is indeed intentional and makes it to the live realms we will all be spending a lot less on auction house deposits for raw Cataclysm gems. This beings raw Cataclysm gems much more in line with how enchanting materials are handled in the game. I guess Blizzard wants us selling these to other players rather then to a vendor.

Update 2:  I have tested it on the 4.3 PTR and Wrath raw uncommon gems (Chaledony) still have a vendor value of 25 silver. Evidence Cataclysm raw vendor price change is for real?

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5 comments :

  1. Damn on you picky vendors >_< Maybe I should do cleanh my guild bank, that is full of gems 8/

    ReplyDelete

  2. I wonder if this is simply because on the PTR if you do a copy of a PREMADE they give you all those gems and thus one could just make those and vendor everything they give you and then send the money to yet another toon and just make gold so maybe they are trying to get people to actually use all contend and not just make gold on the PTR?

    ReplyDelete

  3. I'm amazed noone here has even thought of turning them into green rings and neck's and disenchanting those.
    As we speak im getting 10's of offers, when i shout in trade for double the npc price per stack. And still make 100g profit or more per stack of raws. Yes it takes some extra time, but stockpiling enchanting mats for when 4.3 hits can only mean an even bigger profit.

    ReplyDelete

  4. @Emily What does it matter if people have lots of gold on the PTR?

    ReplyDelete

  5. @Emily
    You may be correct.

    @Jimmy M
    They really don't care.

    @Terdle
    Everyone who has a JC and Enchanter does this already. What they need to do is add in a ring or necklace that can be used to dump all that useless Zephyrite that either gets vendored or sits in banks.

    In any case this is either because it's the PTR, (and they tend to do weird stuff like this on the PTR so I'm not too worried).

    Or...

    They're going to start treating raw gems like enchanting materials. Which would make sense if you ask me. In fact I've often wondered why they didn't do this in the first place. It seems to me that the benefit would out weigh any negatives, and more than likely reduce the amount of information the server has to store and retrieve for those items.

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