Addons & Tools

Core Features: Pricing, Groups, and Operations

TSM’s power comes from its pricing engine. It uses price sources like dbmarket (region market value average), dbregionmarketavg (region-wide average over 14 days), dbglobalmarketavg (global average across all realms), and vendorsell (vendor price). These are combined into custom price formulas. For example, a common crafting operation might use: max(0.95 * dbmarket, vendorsell * 1.1) to set a minimum price that is 95% of market value but never less than 110% of vendor price.

Groups are collections of items that share the same operations. You can create groups for herbs, ores, enchants, gems, flasks, etc. TSM comes with default groups (e.g., “Herbs”, “Ores”, “Enchanting Materials”), but you can create custom groups. For instance, a group called “My Flipping Items” might include items you regularly flip, such as Wildercloth (item ID 152541) or Frosty Soul (item ID 204636).

Operations define what TSM does with a group. There are four main types:

• Auctioning operations, Post, cancel, undercut, and manage stacks.
• Shopping operations, Set maximum buyout price and quantity for sniping.
• Crafting operations, Define profit thresholds for crafting.
• Mailing operations, Automate sending items to alts.

For example, a basic auctioning operation for herbs might be: post at 95% of dbmarket, undercut by 1 copper, cancel all auctions if the price drops below 80% of dbmarket. This ensures you stay competitive without giving away too much profit.

Sniping and Flipping with TSM Shopping

One of TSM's most famous features is the Sniper tool. It scans the auction house in real-time (every 1-2 seconds) and highlights items listed well below market value. The Sniper window shows the item, current bid, buyout, market value, and potential profit. You can set custom filters: for example, only show items with a profit margin above 20% or a minimum market value of 500 gold. The Sniper is particularly effective on patch days or during off-peak hours when players list items quickly and often misprice them.

Flipping with TSM involves buying low and selling high. The Shopping module allows you to search for items within a price range. For instance, you can search for Eternal Crystals (item ID 22446) with a max buyout of 50 gold and then relist them at 80 gold. TSM's Auctioning module will handle the reposting. The key is to use region-wide price data to identify undervalued items on your realm. For more details, see our flipping basics guide.

Sniping is not without risk. You may accidentally buy items that are hard to resell, or you may face competition from other snipers using similar addons like Auctionator. However, TSM’s custom pricing formulas give you more control. Many gold-makers report earning 20,000-50,000 gold per hour of sniping on high-population realms like Area-52 (US) or Tarren Mill (EU).

Crafting and Profit Calculations

TSM Crafting is a game-changer for professions. It calculates the cost to craft an item using current reagent prices from the auction house. For example, if you want to craft a Potion of Frozen Focus (item ID 191383), TSM will sum the market value of its components: 2 Hochenblume (item ID 191465), 2 Bubble Poppy (item ID 191466), and 1 Awakened Frost (item ID 204635). It then compares the total cost to the current sell price of the potion. If the profit margin exceeds your threshold (say 15%), TSM will show a green checkmark and allow you to craft with one click.

This is especially useful for professions like Alchemy, Jewelcrafting, and Enchanting. For instance, Alchemy transmute profits can be tracked using TSM: you can see whether Transmute: Primal Might (item ID 23571) is profitable by comparing the cost of 3 Primal Air (item ID 22452) and 3 Primal Water (item ID 21886) to the sell price of Primal Might (item ID 23571). TSM even accounts for procs (extra crafts) from specialization.

Similarly, Jewelcrafting prospect guide shows how TSM can calculate the expected value of prospecting ores like Draconium Ore (item ID 201711). By entering the drop rates of rare gems (e.g., 2% for Illimited Diamond), TSM computes the average value per ore. If the ore price is lower than the expected gem value, prospecting is profitable.

For Enchanting, TSM's disenchant strategy helps you decide whether to disenchant a green item or sell it on the auction house. The addon shows the vendor price, disenchant value (based on average dust and shard prices), and market price. You can set rules: if disenchant value > 1.5x vendor price, disenchant; otherwise, vendor.

Advanced Strategies: Resets, Market Timing, and Operations

Beyond basic flipping and crafting, TSM enables advanced market manipulation. Market resets involve buying out all of a particular item below a certain price and relisting them higher. TSM’s Auctioning module can be set to “Buy all” up to a price cap. For example, if Greater Flask of the Currents (item ID 191382) is being sold for 200 gold each but the region average is 400 gold, you can buy all flasks under 250 gold and relist them at 380 gold. This requires significant capital (often 100,000 gold or more) but can yield huge profits. See our reset strategies guide for more.

Market timing is critical. On patch days or raid release days, demand for consumables (flasks, potions, food) spikes. TSM’s price history graphs (available via the desktop app) show you when prices are lowest (usually Tuesday/Wednesday for US realms) and highest (Friday/Saturday). You can schedule your crafting and posting accordingly. Our market timing patch days article explains how to use TSM’s data to anticipate price surges.

Operations can be nested and chained. For instance, you can create a “Crafting” operation that sends crafted items to a bank alt via TSM Mailing, then the bank alt uses an “Auctioning” operation to post them. This automates the entire pipeline from raw materials to gold in your pocket.

Comparison with Other Addons: Auctionator, TradeSkillMaster, and WeakAuras

Many players ask how TSM compares to simpler addons like Auctionator. Auctionator is lighter, easier to set up, and great for casual posting. However, it lacks sniping, custom pricing formulas, and crafting profit calculations. TSM is more complex but far more powerful. Our Auctionator vs TSM comparison breaks down the differences: Auctionator is best for players who post a few dozen items daily; TSM is essential for those who manage hundreds of auctions across multiple professions and alts.

Other addons like WeakAuras can complement TSM. For example, a WeakAura can alert you when a particular item (e.g., Potion of Unstable Power) reaches a certain price, while TSM handles the actual buying and selling. Many gold-makers use both. For a full list of essential tools, see our best addons for gold-making article.

Setting Up TSM: A Practical Walkthrough

Here is a step-by-step guide to setting up TSM for basic flipping and crafting. This assumes you have installed TSM and logged into TSM Sync.

1. Create price sources. Open TSM options (type /tsm). Go to the “Pricing” tab. Add a custom price source like “MyMinPrice” with formula: max(0.9 * dbmarket, vendorsell * 1.2). This ensures you never sell below vendor price plus 20%.
2. Create a group. Go to the “Groups” tab. Click “New Group” and name it “Herbs”. Add items like Saxifrage (item ID 191467) and Hochenblume (item ID 191465). You can import groups from the TSM website or create your own.
3. Create an auctioning operation. Go to “Operations” → “Auctioning”. Create a new operation called “Herb Posting”. Set: Post at 95% of dbmarket, undercut by 1 copper, cancel all if price drops below 80% of dbmarket. Set stack size to 1 (or 20 for bulk).
4. Assign the operation to the group. In the Groups tab, select “Herbs” and choose “Auctioning Operation” → “Herb Posting”.
5. Create a shopping operation. For flipping, create a shopping operation called “Cheap Herbs” with max buyout of 80% of dbmarket. Assign it to the same group.
6. Test it. Go to the auction house. Use TSM Shopping to scan for cheap herbs. TSM will show items within your criteria. Buy them. Then use TSM Auctioning to post them at your desired price.

This basic setup will get you started. For more advanced operations (crafting, mailing, sniping), refer to the TSM setup guide.

Common Pitfalls and How to Avoid Them

• Over-reliance on default prices. The default dbmarket may not reflect your realm’s real-time supply. Always compare with the Undermine Journal or your own scans. Use dbregionmarketavg for stable pricing.
• Ignoring deposit fees. TSM does not automatically subtract auction house deposit fees (15% of the minimum bid for 24-hour auctions). For expensive items like Shadowghast Ingot (item ID 187707), deposit fees can be 200+ gold. Factor this into your profit calculations.
• Posting too aggressively. Setting undercut to 1 copper is standard, but on busy items, you may get undercut within minutes. Consider using “cancel all” only when the price drops significantly (e.g., 20% below market).
• Not updating price sources. TSM Premium users get automatic updates via the desktop app. Free users must manually scan the auction house (type /tsm scan) to refresh prices. Outdated data leads to bad decisions.
• Forgetting to TSM Sync. If you play on multiple characters, use TSM Sync to share groups and operations. Otherwise, you’ll have to set up everything twice.

Revenue and Profit Tracking with TSM Accounting

TSM Accounting logs every auction you post, sell, buy, or cancel. You can view your total gold earned, spent, and net profit over custom time periods (1 day, 7 days, 30 days, etc.). This is invaluable for evaluating your strategies. For example, if you spent 50,000 gold on herbs and sold 80,000 gold worth of flasks, your net profit is 30,000 gold (minus deposit fees and AH cut). The Accounting module also breaks down profit by item group, so you can see which markets are most lucrative.

Many gold-makers set a goal of 100,000 gold per week. TSM Accounting helps you track progress. It also exports data to CSV for external analysis. Note that TSM Accounting only tracks transactions made while the addon is active. If you sell items on an alt without TSM, those sales won’t be recorded. To avoid this, install TSM on all characters and use TSM Sync to merge data.

Conclusion: Why TSM is Essential for Serious Gold-Making

TradeskillMaster is not just an addon, it is a complete gold-making ecosystem. From sniping and flipping to crafting and resets, it gives you the data and automation to compete in the modern World of Warcraft economy. While the learning curve is steep (expect to spend 2-3 hours setting up groups and operations), the payoff is enormous. Players who invest the time can earn millions of gold per expansion. For example, during Dragonflight, many TSM users reported weekly profits of 200,000-500,000 gold from crafting alone.

If you are serious about gold-making, TSM is non-negotiable. Start with the basics: create a few groups, set up simple auctioning operations, and try sniping for 30 minutes a day. As you become comfortable, explore crafting and advanced operations. The community is active on Discord (TSM Discord server) and the official forums, where users share custom operations and price sources. Remember that gold-making requires patience and adaptation, markets shift with patches and player behavior. TSM gives you the tools to adapt quickly.

For a complete overview of all gold-making methods, see our complete guide to making gold legitimately in World of Warcraft. This article covers farming, crafting, flipping, and more, with TSM as the central tool.

Related Articles

• TSM Setup Guide, Step-by-Step Installation and First Operations
• Sniping Addon Techniques, How to Use TSM Sniper Effectively
• Flipping Basics, Buy Low, Sell High with TSM
• Auctionator vs TSM, Which Addon Is Right for You?
• The Complete Guide to Making Gold Legitimately in World of Warcraft
• Best Addons for Gold-Making, Beyond TSM