HomeThe Do NOTs of Merching/Flipping: A Beginner's Guide
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Page 1 of 9
Page 1 of 9 • 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9 
The Do NOTs of Merching/Flipping: A Beginner's Guide
by Watinko 1/7/2011, 9:46 pm
Watinko presents - The Do NOTs of Merching/Flipping: A Beginner's Guide
_________________________________
Hello, all! Hope you're having a wonderful day! Welcome to my first ever guide!
This is meant to be a concise and/or detailed guide that can be read in a matter of seconds, or over a few minutes, depending on your needs/experience! I currently have eight posted rules, each of which have some deeper description and examples from my own experiences if you need them! If you understand where I'm coming from just by reading the 'Short', then I encourage you to skip the 'Long'! I also am now working on a Tips section, for some advice beginners may find helpful!
I am here to teach some of the do NOTS of the merching world. There are tons of threads that open each and every day about people losing tons and tons of money over failed flips, overnight investments, and long-term merches. I am here with this handy guide to help you retain as much money as possible!
From here on out, the word 'investment' will cover merching, flipping, and investing in a general sense.
First and foremost, I am not here to tell you which items to flip, when it's a good time to invest, how to make loads of money, or anything of the sort. If you didn't read that and immediately lose interest, then I'll tell you what I am here to help you with: KEEPING your bank on a failed or scary investment, and how to avoid simple things that are easy to get BURNED on!
This brings us to the do NOTs of investment!
RULE 1: DO NOT LOSE YOUR PATIENCE!
- Spoiler:
- Short: If things rapidly turn from going well for you to going wrong for you, don't panic! Keeping a level head and analyzing the whole situation is a key part to becoming a strong flipper!
Long: An expert investor knows the difference between dumping something to save his hide, and dumping something because he's scared and impatient. He also knows that the latter is one of the biggest mistakes a beginner (or even advanced investor!) can make. I'll use one of my experiences as an example.
Watinko bought two Saradomin Swords at 5.2M each. He then sold them for 5.3M each about five minutes later. "Wow! 200K in five minutes for a 10.4M investment is great!" Watinko then proceeded to buy TEN Saradomin Swords for 5.2M each! They bought within ten minutes. He was excited to make 1M on the flip! But then...
Ten minutes...
Fifteen Minutes...
Twenty minutes goes by...
It appears as though his 52M investment is about to cost him more than it was going to make him!
Now, we've all been in that spot before. And that's the problem with active flipping. It's ACTIVE. So when we become inactive, waiting around for something to happen, we become uncomfortable. Irritable. Scared. Impatient.
What did Watinko do in this spot? He checked the buy/sell prices again! This is step one in almost any case! But he found that they were suddenly selling for less than he paid for them. What does Watinko do? Does he dump them all out for 5.1M each and take a 1M loss on his investment? That'd sure be dumb! Watinko is a safe playa. He puts the Saradomin Swords for sale at 50K over what he bought them for.
"B-b-bu-b-b-but... Watinko... Aren't you going to get stuck with 52M worth of SS!?" Phht. Maybe. But probably not. You see, Saradomin Swords are a widely-traded item. So if for some reason their price will flux over 100K in a matter of minutes, chances are it will flux back in another few minutes. So I went off to train, did some Slayer... And sure enough, I made 500K in that hour. Plus the money from Dragon Bones. Isn't that better than losing 1M? If I wanted to lose money in this clan, I'd go dicing.
Hehe.
RULE 2: DO NOT RUSH THROUGH WINDOWS!
- Spoiler:
- Short: Actually, forget I said that. Erase it from your mind. When you're completing G.E. offers, rush through all of the trade windows as fast as possible. In fact, time yourself to see how fast you can do it! Why? Because everybody needs to needlessly lose millions of dollars that ONE TIME to make them realize what a virtue PATIENCE is!
Long: Remember my Saradomin Swords? Well, when I was doing that, they were trading for roughly 100K over medium price. So if I accidentally rushed through those screens, and didn't quite adjust my prices properly, or if I even forgot to adjust them at all, I would have lost 1M on the spot. No going back and fixing it. No getting help from somebody more experienced. It's. Just. Gone. And it happens to people all of the time. They lose 100K. 1M. 10M. 100M!!! WHY!? STUPIDITY!!! Am I saying that everybody who has ever gone through their trade windows too fast and lost money from it is stupid? YES! Am I saying that when I did, I was stupid? YES!!! Hours and hours of work can be undone by less than half a second of carelessness. That IS stupid! But luckily, not very many people are stupid twice!
If you are reading this, and you have never made this mistake, I implore you, be patient in your trade windows! Both in person-to-person trades and G.E. trades. If you never have to lose money senselessly, don't! That's what dicing is for! (Hehe! I've been ragging on you dicers this whole thread. I don't mean it. I like to dice.
)
RULE 3: DO NOT FALL IN WITH HYPE!
- Spoiler:
- Short: Everybody wants to benefit from something big happening. And if you're careful and crafty, you can pull it off. But most flippers will see something like an update coming, or a small teaser, and as soon as one person tells them it's a good idea, they'll jump on board with all they've got. This can absolutely ruin you, so it's very wise to keep a level head.
Long: My good old friend, the Ring of Stone. This is an example that is happening right now, as I write this guide, so let's use it! I jumped on board with this thing the second I heard that it may give me millions upon millions of profit. Bought tons and tons of these at about... 3.7M each. You're lucky to get 2.7M for them right now, I believe. If I were to sell them all, I would lose millions upon millions. So hopefully, they rise.
Now, my point. These items are about as unstable as liquid nitrogen. If I had used my money to flip them, I could have already made millions. And then, I could STILL have stockpiled them before expected updates and STILL made even more millions! So why do I call this rule, "Do not fall in with hype"? Because I got so caught up in the mob mentality of buy, buy, buy, that I lost almost all sight of common sense or self control. I left myself almost penniless outside of these Rings, therefor sacrificing tons of wealth potential! And if all this ever turns out to be in the end is hype, then boy oh boy am I in for it, eh? Keep this rule in mind. Never let a 'sweet deal' cloud your good judgement.
RULE 4: DO NOT TIE UP YOUR WHOLE CASH PILE!
- Spoiler:
- Short: No cash means not being able to jump on deals that may come your way, as well as missing out on unique training/PKing/WINNING opportunities!
Long: Alright, I'm putting this right behind rule three because of the end of my little story. This is actually quite long, and a little boring. Bear with me. I tied up my whole cash pile on the RoS, and now I'm making money very slowly. Slow enough that it may not even be worth it for me to have invested in those Rings in the first place! But this is an important rule to remember at all times.
Sure, I sometimes use my whole cash pile to active flip, and often it isn't a problem. But to use my Saradomin Sword example again, remember that once they weren't selling, I had to buy and sell another one to find the high and low prices? How would I have done that if I didn't have any money left? I couldn't have. And having that ability is one of the most fundamental and important parts of all investing. It's step one! Hehe. But there are other reasons.
Say that a friend is one of the first guys online after an update, and he tells you that Robins are able to be coloured with the new Loyalty Programme. Almost nobody else knows this, since Jagex got raped in the ass with people overloading the system, and nobody can look at what can be bought/coloured yet. But thank goodness, you only tied up 80M or 90M out of your 100M bank into flipping, and you snatch up three to six Robins at their med price. See, NOW it's a safe time to have your money tied up, because there is no doubt that you are maximizing your profits with the available cash.
Now, it seems as if this whole rule is based on what-ifs and maybes and luck. Well, it is. But how many people do you know that built entire fortunes on one or two lucky breaks? Are you willing to completely take yourself out of those chances?
There are more practical sides to this rule, of course. On a longer term investment, you may decide you want to go to the GWD. It's nice to be able to afford armor/pots/food! Say that you see somebody selling something for a little less than you know you can get for it. Nice to make that extra little profit! And let's say, that for some tragic reason, your investment completely falls apart. And you lose almost everything on it. Isn't it so damn nice, to know that you don't have to rebuild everything from absolutely nothing?
RULE 5: DO NOT DISREGARD RULE 1!
- Spoiler:
- Seriously... It's the most important rule to the entire activity...
RULE 6: DO NOT FORGET THE FUNDAMENTALS!
- Spoiler:
- Short: You built yourself up upon a foundation. If you ever lose that foundation, you WILL fall.
Long: If you are like me, you learned the modern style of flipping directly from the helpful guides of Smokin' Mils. The reason I loved these guides is because they taught me as if I had never dealt with a modern online economy. And honestly? I hadn't! So I got to learn right from the ground up with some of the most helpful hints and tips available!
Now, you may ask why I'm going on about this. The answer is simple. If I built a tower on sand, it would crash to the earth. If I built that same tower on a concrete/steel foundation, it would last for hundreds of years. And yet, if at any point during those hundreds of years, I removed that foundation? *CRASH!* The tower would topple.
What I'm saying is, never ever forget the basics. The fundamentals that helped you get started. Remember how when you started out, you were always looking at graphs? Trying to see if you could find the double peaks so you might predict a market shift? But eventually you learned to be profitable without doing that. Well, it only takes one market shift to completely screw you, and it can even happen right smack in the middle of an active flip.
This was a last-minute rule I added, but I figured that it shouldn't be over-looked, despite how obvious it is.
RULE 7: DO NOT SPREAD YOURSELF TOO THIN!
- Spoiler:
- Short: Maybe a deceptive title for this rule. The true meaning is to not search too far for flippable items. Every time you test prices without flipping the item at least once afterwards, you lose money! So try and make sure you don't test too many at once.
Long: I am adding this rule because I just made this mistake today. I did so many tests on items that I actually took a loss of ~300K, and that was after some fairly successful flips!
I was buying/selling those sets of books every five minutes, so that's about 900K, and I think I made anywhere from 400K-800K on that Spirit Shield. So how many items must I have blown my money and time on, to have LOST money? (Okay, I bought 400K worth of nats/gold ores, but phht.) So learn from my mistake. The best way I can really sum this whole rule up, is once again, patience! There is money to be made on slower flips, if you don't lose your cool. You also don't dwindle away your profits.
RULE 8: DO NOT BE SCARED TO ASK FOR HELP!
- Spoiler:
- Short: The Smokin' Mils community is full of tons of nice people, who are ready and willing to help. Just be respectful when asking, and follow forum rules.
Long: I did say at the top of this that I was writing it because I see tons of threads open up every day about how people get burned, or that they are really losing faith in an investment... Well, a lot of those people are really just asking for help. And that is a damned good thing to do. Smokin Mils is the most superior merching clan in all of RuneScape. The first reason is because the guides here, the information, the mentors to help you get started, is all so helpful.
The second reason is because of the community. The other members are here for the same reason you are: To get good at investing and make as much money as possible! And believe it or not, they almost all joined this clan as n00blets, too! So they know what it's like. Please feel free to ask questions if you find yourself in a tough spot. Nobody here wants to see you lose all of your money. Nobody gives +rep for making a topic about how you lost 500M. That's why there are Mentors. That's why there are these guides. You aren't alone, so don't get boned!
TIP 1: Do not flip above market on a falling item!
- Spoiler:
- This is not a rule, since it is usually only beginners who will suffer from this, as they don't have the skills to yet see/predict a change during an active flip. I'm going to use the good ol' Mages' Book as an example here.
As you can see here, the book is not buying at market value. Usually, a falling item will buy instantly right at (or just a few GP above) market value.
This is how much higher the buy price actually was. This is often due to people not knowing yet that a G.E. update has just taken place. And this is why you have to be careful while flipping items in a situation like this. As soon as people find out and the prices drop, you could be stuck with a ton of items (I was flipping about fourteen of these at a time) that you can't sell for even what you bought them for. That translates into: LOSS. D:
Even though they were above market, they were still flipping not too bad. However, the margins were decreasing, AND the price was slowly but steadily lowering to market (and likely below). This is why I say that beginners may have the most trouble with this. A more advanced flipper will be able to see that the prices are lowering, and be able to still flip while keeping up with the descending price. Just be careful that you don't get stuck with items you can't profit on.
There is how much it lowered, IN THE MIDDLE OF MY FLIP after the G.E. update. Luckily, I had seven of eight Books sold already, and I still made profit on the flip. Again, this is why it is great to flip UNDER market on a falling item! When the G.E. updated, I still made more than the new price, and would have had minimal losses if I hadn't. So be careful when doing this, and remember that practice and patience is everything. A level head will always keep you in the lead.
Alright, so those are a few simple do NOTs of the merching game. They are all very simple, but also very easy to lose sight of! Just remember to keep your head on your shoulders, and you should always do fine! If you only take one thing away from this whole guide, once again I tell you that it is PATIENCE!!! Patience will save you millions! It will almost instantly bump you from amateur to advanced, if you know your way around the rest of the activity!
Thanks all for reading! If you have anything more to add, then please post it right in this thread! I'll gladly add and give +rep for anything useful, and I'll gladly field any questions/disputes you may have.
If you feel that you've got a good grasp on these rules and investing in general, make sure you check out my good friend DURC's Inactive/Overnight Flipping Guide! Click me! Great to help maximize your profits!
Like I said in the beginning, I know that this guide is most useful to beginners, so don't forget to come back and +rep me when you can.
Happy flipping!PS: Thanks Bom for a very short, helpful suggestion that made my guide look a thousand times better!
Also thanks to hmm ninja for the awesome banner.
Thanks DemonsGrace for helping giving me the Short/Long idea!
Thanks Lightning for a short, but helpful time as my Mentor.
Last edited by [ADMIN] Billious on 28/9/2014, 9:38 am; edited 23 times in total (Reason for editing : Lots!)
Watinko- Grandmaster (2000 posts)
Re: The Do NOTs of Merching/Flipping: A Beginner's Guide
by DemonsGrace 1/7/2011, 10:27 pm
Nice guide, Its king of a reminder to people, as most people should know most of this. Thanks for taking the time to write this though I can see it took time to write.
I would consider shortening it up though, its pretty long.
+rep
I would consider shortening it up though, its pretty long.
+rep
DemonsGrace- Forum Addict (750 posts)
Re: The Do NOTs of Merching/Flipping: A Beginner's Guide
by a2z 1/7/2011, 11:51 pm
Nice guide, useful for beginners.
a2z- Tier 4 (500 posts)
Re: The Do NOTs of Merching/Flipping: A Beginner's Guide
by syprs 1/7/2011, 11:55 pm
Nice guide. I break rule 4 constantly 
I think iv got like 5m cash right now that isnt being tied up.
Id also add accepting a loss. It goes a little against patience, but its something you just need to do sometimes.
+rep
I think iv got like 5m cash right now that isnt being tied up.Id also add accepting a loss. It goes a little against patience, but its something you just need to do sometimes.
+rep
syprs- Forum Fanatic (1000 posts)
Re: The Do NOTs of Merching/Flipping: A Beginner's Guide
by Mackie JZ 2/7/2011, 12:34 am
Really nice.
Advices for experts and beginners alike. Good job. +rep
Advices for experts and beginners alike. Good job. +rep
Mackie JZ- Tier 3 (300 posts)
Re: The Do NOTs of Merching/Flipping: A Beginner's Guide
by Hmm Ninja 2/7/2011, 1:13 am
Very nice guide i think this should be made into a sticky, only one problem that i saw and thats the blue text i couldnt read it without highlighting it +rep
+rep
Hmm Ninja- Tier 4 (500 posts)
Re: The Do NOTs of Merching/Flipping: A Beginner's Guide
by Watinko 2/7/2011, 1:25 am
hmm ninja wrote:Very nice guide i think this should be made into a sticky, only one problem that i saw and thats the blue text i couldnt read it without highlighting it
Thanks, fixed.
And thanks again for your help. ^_^
Watinko- Grandmaster (2000 posts)
Re: The Do NOTs of Merching/Flipping: A Beginner's Guide
by D3fault 2/7/2011, 2:30 am
Thanks for the first tip Watinko. I've said it a million times myself that people just need to be patient when it comes to flipping. In fact, I've had to relearn that lesson a few times on my own!
+rep
+rep
D3fault- Tier 3 (300 posts)
Re: The Do NOTs of Merching/Flipping: A Beginner's Guide
by Lightning 2/7/2011, 2:34 am
Lol Skrub and Watinko have both been my mentees. Patience is what I emphasize the most
Lightning- Forum Addict (750 posts)
Re: The Do NOTs of Merching/Flipping: A Beginner's Guide
by Speshul 2/7/2011, 2:54 am
very nice, and the patience part cleared alotta stuff up for me
id rep if i could btw
id rep if i could btw
Speshul- Tier 2 (100 posts)
Re: The Do NOTs of Merching/Flipping: A Beginner's Guide
by king justus 2/7/2011, 4:51 am
i shouldve read this before lol now im a bout to lose on my flip item =[ patience patience
king justus- Tier 1 (Registered)
Re: The Do NOTs of Merching/Flipping: A Beginner's Guide
by xSick 2/7/2011, 11:34 am
Yea, i just encounter someone crash with me and keep lower down the price when I lowered mine, so i decided to put it back to the destinated price and it sold =)
Nice guide there.
Nice guide there.
xSick- Tier 1 (Registered)
Re: The Do NOTs of Merching/Flipping: A Beginner's Guide
by Lepage Eh 3/7/2011, 8:16 pm
This was fantastic really.
Lepage Eh- Tier 2 (100 posts)
Re: The Do NOTs of Merching/Flipping: A Beginner's Guide
by lukien 3/7/2011, 8:20 pm
BEST FREE GUIDE ON THIS SITE!!!!!!
lukien- Tier 2 (100 posts)
Re: The Do NOTs of Merching/Flipping: A Beginner's Guide
by Forge1 3/7/2011, 9:13 pm
+REP now you have 9 reps from this thread..
Forge1- Grandmaster (2000 posts)
Re: The Do NOTs of Merching/Flipping: A Beginner's Guide
by Watinko 3/7/2011, 10:17 pm
Forge1 wrote:+REP now you have 9 reps from this thread..
Hehe! Thanks! And I know! Wow! I really had no idea people would like it so much! I'm very... Honoured. :$
Watinko- Grandmaster (2000 posts)
Re: The Do NOTs of Merching/Flipping: A Beginner's Guide
by D3fault 3/7/2011, 11:55 pm
lukien wrote:BEST FREE GUIDE ON THIS SITE!!!!!!
No one should charge for merching knowledge IMO. Merching in itself is just a collaboration between individuals whether they know they're working together or not. Thanks again Watinko for a great guide
D3fault- Tier 3 (300 posts)
Re: The Do NOTs of Merching/Flipping: A Beginner's Guide
by patches5 4/7/2011, 1:05 am
Wow really insightful. And yes patience that's what I lack as a merchant. Thanks for it all it's been helpful.
that's what I lack as a merchant. Thanks for it all it's been helpful.
patches5- Tier 1 (Registered)
Re: The Do NOTs of Merching/Flipping: A Beginner's Guide
by west brid 4/7/2011, 5:56 am
Thanks for this, acctually helped alot
west brid- Tier 2 (100 posts)
Re: The Do NOTs of Merching/Flipping: A Beginner's Guide
by ignota 4/7/2011, 6:40 am
Very helpful You should consider becomming a mentor, I am in need of one.
You should consider becomming a mentor, I am in need of one.
ignota- Tier 4 (500 posts)
Re: The Do NOTs of Merching/Flipping: A Beginner's Guide
by Alterlife 4/7/2011, 9:30 am
Very well written & good advice. Especially rule number 1. Too bad I've been learning that the hard way .
.
Alterlife- Tier 1 (Registered)
Re: The Do NOTs of Merching/Flipping: A Beginner's Guide
by Watinko 4/7/2011, 5:55 pm
Hehe. If I get enough reps, I think I may begin mentoring. We'll see.
Watinko- Grandmaster (2000 posts)
Re: The Do NOTs of Merching/Flipping: A Beginner's Guide
by djmudbutt 5/7/2011, 4:38 am
damn nice guide, you forget about the do nots of something when all you wanna do is do:)
djmudbutt- Tier 1 (Registered)
Re: The Do NOTs of Merching/Flipping: A Beginner's Guide
by HiddenVice 6/7/2011, 5:39 am
Great post. Loved the comments about the dicing considering I recently lost my bank (only 60m) to SM dicing haha.
HiddenVice- Tier 1 (Registered)
Re: The Do NOTs of Merching/Flipping: A Beginner's Guide
by Ironcloud72 6/7/2011, 11:08 am
Nice guide for beginners
Ironcloud72- Tier 1 (Registered)
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