Long Term Investment: Pets

Almost any item that will have a demand in Cataclysm can net you amazing profit if you stockpile it now. Pets are a great example, namely the pets from the Oracles' Cracked Egg Sholazar Basin. This Egg requires you to be revered with the Oracles, and requires you to wait three days until it hatches into something.

 

The only people who will be in Northrend in Cataclysm are ambitious players or levelers. Without the portals it will actually take effort to go to Northrend and back. The average player will not go to this effort to obtain the pets rewarded from this Egg and would much rather head to the Auction House to find their favorite pets there.

The pets that you should be stockpiling now are:
Cobra Hatchling
Tickbird Hatchling
White Tickbird Hatchling
Proto-Drake Whelp


 The first three hatchlings listed all have a 20% drop rate, but the Proto-Drake Whelp has a much lower drop-rate. It will sell for far more than the others because the demand is the same but the supply will be far less than that of the other pets.

You should be thinking about selling these pets slowly any time after the release of Cataclysm, and there's really no reason you shouldn't be doing this on your main character! Hope this tip helps you!


::Xalted

Things you should be doing before Cataclysm!

Stockpiling!

There are many items in game right now that if stockpiled carefully before Cataclysm, will make you a massive profit, and more than enough gold to buy flight training on all your characters, and max all of their professions to 525.

List of items:

All Cloth

Saronite Ore and Saronite Bars

Glyphs

Vanity Pets

Items that are being removed in Cataclysm 

Herbs, mainly low to mid level

Netherweave and Frostweave Bags
Profession Specific Bag
BoA Enchants or BoA Enchanting Materials

Note: These items will be hot the first week of Cataclysm's release, I have been stockpiling all of these items, and will be liquidating them within the first few weeks of Cataclysm.

Leveling Alts!

It has never been easier to level an alt, and now is the best time to finish off your last alt(s) to either 75 or 80. I recently finished leveling my Druid to 75 in preparation to max his Tailoring and Enchanting up to 525 in Cataclysm. With fully enchanted BoA gear, it has never been faster to take an alt from 1 to 80. Level your alts now and be a step ahead of everyone else when all the Goblins and Worgen hit the servers.

Organizing and Prioritizing!

Any time is a good time to fine-tune your 'system' for making gold, but now is a better time than ever, before Blizzard releases their largest expansion in history. Look for ways to trim the edges and fine-tune your system so that you are able to make the most out of the time you put in. 

Some examples could be:
- before you launch into a new gold-making idea, plan it out carefully step by step
- understand what opportunity cost is

- try new AddOns that will make your gold making more profitable, Add-Ons Post

- take the time to organize your banks and bags

- put links like Wowhead, Thottbot, ZAM, WoWArmory in your bookmarks toolbar for ease of use rather than always typing it in
- enabling your bank alt to move faster from the AH to the Mailbox and to your Bank (boot enchant)

Don't Procrastinate!

You have 3-4 weeks before the perverbial poop-hits-the-fan, prepare yourself NOW for the end of the world as we know it!

::Xalted