Phase 1 Classic WoW Auction House Guide
This page contains information relevant for Phase 1 of Classic WoW. During this phase you only have access to Molten Core and Onyxia, none of the other raids are released yet. As you can imagine, during Phase 1 almost everyone is leveling up and racing to 60. The players with a lot of free time will reach 60 pretty early during Phase 1 but the casual players who only play on weekends will be much slower.
Youtube Video (Phase 1) Auction House Tips
Youtube Video (Phase 1.5) Auction House Tips
Youtube Video (Phases 1, 2 and 3) Big Ticket Items To Watch For/Flip
Engineering Materials: One of the most popular professions in Classic WoW is Engineering. This is even more true on PvP servers since most people who use Engineering do so for PvP purposes. Due to this, any items used in raising the skill of Engineering or for consumables will typically sell for more.
Fire Resistance Items: Items that give bonus Fire Resist normally retain value throughout this entire phase and the next. They will start to lose value once the majority of guilds get Ragnaros and BWL on farm. By the time Ahn'Qiraj is released almost no one cares about Fire Resist gear anymore and the value of it plummits.
Twinking Items: During Phase 1 everyone is focused on leveling up and almost no one is thinking about BG twinks yet. This is a good time for people to stock up on any twink gear that would be valuable once BGs are released. You really have two options, sell the gear now for less but immediate gold (most people go this route) or put it in your bank for a few months until BGs come out and sell it for a premium.
Elemental Fire: One of the most farmed items for all of Classic is Elemental Fire. These are used in many recipes but most commonly you'll find them used in Greater Fire Protection Potions. Until everyone gets Ragnaros on farm these items sell for a premium. They get a renaissance when BWL is released since some people consume them in that dungeon too. By the time Ahn'Qiraj comes out Elemental Earth will be the 'new' thing everyone wants.
Elemental Earth: These are used in Greater Nature Protection Potions and Field Repair Robots. The nature potions aren't going to be used until Ahn'Qiraj, at which point the price of Elemental Earth will skyrocket.
Winterspring E'ko: E'ko are items that drop in Winterspring once you complete the Luck Be With You quest and you carry the necklace. The Juju Power (Winterfall E'ko) is probably the most valuable one, but the Winterfall Furbolgs are basically perma camped in this era since they give reputation with Timbermaw and drop Winterfall Firewater (a raid consume). Other E'kos which are worth money include Juju Might (Frostmaul E'ko), Juju Escape (Ice Thistle E'ko) and Juju Ember (Shardtooth E'ko).
Grilled Squid & Tender Wolf Steak: Two of the best foods during this phase include Grilled Squid and Tender Wolf Steak. You can only fish up the Squid during the winter months, it's the best agility food for all of classic. The Tender Wolf Steak is best until Dirge's Kickin' Chimaerok Chops are added in a later phase.
Raid Consumables: During Classic WoW most raiders abuse the consumable system and stack tons of different potions/buffs to maximize their DPS. You can take advantage of this in two key ways, first is to learn what consumables most people use and the second is to learn which day most guilds raid. Typically (the lazy players) will log on and buy the consumables they need on raid day which typically results in them paying more. Consumables I normally track include ones I use + tank/melee ones like Elixir of Giants, Elixir of Greater Defense, Elixir of the Mongoose, Elixir of Fortitude, Mighty Rage Potion, Greater Stoneshield Potion, Greater Fire Protection Potion, Arcane Elixir, Thistle Tea and Greater Arcane Elixir. You also have non-crafted consumables like the Winterspring E'ko, Winterfall Firewater and all of the Blasted Lands buffs.
Hardcore/PvP Consumables: Technically the consumables in this section can be useful in PvE too but I notice that most people use them on Hardcore WoW or on the PvP servers. Free Action Potions, Limited Invulnerability Potions and Target Dummys are the main three which come to mind.
Tradeskill Recipes: There are a few recipes that you can get which will sell for hundreds (usually thousands) of gold or help you control the market if you decide to learn it. I won't list them all here, but basically every Flask recipe for Alchemy, many high level Enchants like Crusader, Fiery Weapon, Lifestealing (raid ones like Spellpower are good too). Blacksmiths get a few too like Arcanite Reaper and Lionheart Helm. Circling back to Alchemy, getting your hands on Greater Fire Protection, Greater Nature Protection or any of the popular protection potions will be a huge boon for money making. Buy up the reagents for cheap and convert them into potions which you sell on raid nights/weekends.
Upcoming Phase 2: Dire Maul
When Dire Maul is released on your server you'll see some price changes with the items mentioned below. Almost every guild will be running Dire Maul Tribute weekly multiple times for raid buffs which means the items used in that run will constantly be consumed.
Essence of Water, Larval Acid, Living Essence: These are all used to craft Hide of the Wild which is one of the best healing capes that you can get.
Dire Maul North Tribute Items: Frost Oil, Thorium Widget, Rugged Leather, Large Seaforium Charge (optional) and Truesilver Skeleton Key (optional).
Dire Maul Warlock Mount: Dark Iron Ore, Large Brilliant Shards, Elixir of Shadow Power, Black Dragonscales.
Dire Maul Paladin Mount: Arthas' Tears, Runecloth, Arcanite Bars, Azerothian Diamond and Pristine Black Diamond.