¤ The Ultimate Flipping Guide™ ¤

by **Elf Archere** 16/7/2012, 2:40 am

The Ultimate Flipping Guide

Hello everyone, and welcome to The Ultimate Flipping Guide!
This guide will be updated continually - so the contents of this guide fully benefits the similarity to how it really is when you attend to use it. I know there are many flipping guides out there, but they are all very different formulated and some are easier to understand than others. I hope this guide will be easy to understand and well-written enough for you as I will try to make it short & basic, but still straight to the point. I might add more details and deeper explanations if the feedback points in that direction. I will use the spoiler as an option to skip parts you already know and also to keep it plain and formally.

Spoiler:

» Introduction
» Grand Exchange & Usefull Info
» Flipping in general
» High Risk Flipping & Rares
» Limits & Acronyms (Abbreviations)
» Tips & Tricks
» FAQ
» Feedback - Look for your name if you posted a feedback

» Introduction

There are many ways to make money on Runescape. One of those ways is called
Flipping, which is one of several merchanting methods used to make money. Flipping is a act of purchasing an item at a low price and then selling that item at a higher price to generate profit. This guide will take you trough that progress. Before you start flipping there are things you need to know that will make your chances of succeeding a lot higher.

Getting Started
Many are those who try flipping for the first time don't know where to start. Getting started therefore also is the end for some. Giving up to fast is a common problem for new flippers. Don't worry, I'll do my very best to prevent that from happening to you.

• How does the Grand Exchange work?
• How do i flip?
• What do i flip?
• When do i flip?
• Limits on items?

Personally i'd say flipping is the safest way of merching on Runescape, and it's fun! Flipping has a very wide spectra, and the more experience you gain - the better you get! Don't give up if you fail, because you gotta fail to learn sometimes - and it gets easier.

To start flipping I recommend at least 10M cashpile to really take the fully advantage of flipping. Lower cashpile than that and other ways of making money is faster (skilling, pvm, collecting etc).

Flipping in the simplest and shortest way can done in 3* actions

Flipping in 3 steps
1) Find the Prices
2) Buy as low as possible
3) Sell as high as possible

1 - It is NOT recommend finding price on low limit items by buying at instantly price
2 - Buy up the whole limit if you can, unless the item is easily affected/unstable
3 - Make sure you don't adjust the price to early. That makes the profit lower, and 1 minute could make a big difference to a flip sometimes. Also make sure you don't wait to long so the flip gets totally nerfed**

*3 actions is the minimum. Does not apply to all flips
**nerfed - when the margins are totally killed

» Grand Exchange & Usefull Info

To flip it's very important to understand how the Grand Exchange works, as it's the most usefull "tool" we use to flip items with.

All items have a maximum amount limit that can be bought every 4 hour.When you put in an offer in the GE, the GE starts searching for all offers meeting your price. If it don't find a meeting offer you will have to wait until it does.

All items got a guide price, which is the price that also appear in the trade interface with other players. This price is a guide price only and the buy/sell price on items can be under, guide price or over it.

In general prices constantly keeps changing and it's therefore imporant to stay upate your prices with it.

It is helpful to illustrate the buying limits with an example. The limit on flax is 25,000.
Suppose I make the following purchases:

Buy 1 flax ore 00:00:00
Buy 10,000 flax 01:00:00
Buy 14,999 flax 03:59:59

I am now on limit because I bought 25,000 flax in 4 hours. However, I will be able to buy another 25,000 flax at 04:00:00 sharp because this is 4 hours after I bought the first flax. The four hour limit starts ticking as soon as you purchase the first item.

»Flipping in general

Finding items to flip aren't always that easy. Some items have larger margins between the sell and buy price then others, and some items are harder to flip then others. Populare items that are flipped by many, often makes it harder to gain the profit you'd get if less flipped it. When you understand how to flip in basic, I recommend looking at the Tips & Tricks on page 5

Finding prices
Before you start the flip, you gotta find the price to buy and sell at.
It's done in few short steps.

1) Buy 1 at 5% over guide price
if it dont instantly buy, raise your offer til it does.

2) Sell it 5% under guide price
if it dont sell, lower your offer til it does.

3) Note down the prices as you go, or check the GE History

The price you bought it for is estimated to be what you sell it for.
The price you sold it for is estimated to be what you buy it for.

To get the item you put in offer for, you need to make your offer better then the prices you noted down. It still doesn't mean your offer have to a lot better, in fact you can sometimes offer only a few coins more.

¬ Example
You buy 1 item for 500K, then you sell it for 450K.
You then buy the rest of the limit on this item for 451K and then sell it for 499K.

¬ Overview
499K - 451K = 48K
That means you gain a profit of 48K pr item!

¤ The Ultimate Flipping Guide™ ¤ FindPrice-1

¤ The Ultimate Flipping Guide™ ¤ FindPrice-1

» High Risk Flipping & Rares

Flipping high valuable items is risky. There are those out there that take advantage of the inexperienced ones. I don't want that to happen to you, so therefore I will post some guidelines here that will hopefully prepare you better.

» Rare Items Prices & Discussion * - link

With hundreds of active contributors, the "R Quark" friends chat strives to provide
accurate and up-to-date prices on all discontinued items, all of the time.

Rare Flip Example
¤ The Ultimate Flipping Guide™ ¤ White

Note: Flipping rares takes time, be patient!

» High Valuable Items* - link

Since this is in the item discussion section on the forums, talking about trends and predictions on the future is allowed on this forum as long as you provide a proper argument for your reasoning.

The current official items of this forum are:
-Nex Armour
-Spirit Shields
-Glacor Boots

High Valuable Flip
¤ The Ultimate Flipping Guide™ ¤ Elyy

» Limits

Spoiler:

» Acronyms (Abbreviations)

Spoiler:

» Tips & Tricks

The thing about flipping is that you can do it anytime you want. A general rule I have is that anything is flippable, you just gotta buy and sell for the right price at the right time. The ge market is constantly variation from being active to dry or just in the middle. If you wanna flip items at the most active time you gotta take a look at the time. The time I estimate to be more or less the most active time is around EST 07:00-11:00 AM and 02:00-10:00 PM. This has it's natural reason due to most players being online at that time, and therefore the sell/buy offers are larger in GE. If you understand the market activity it's so much easier not panic selling, giving up, offering to high/low compared to what you could of. Overnight flips or slow flips are good to place at times your either offline or you are aware of the duration of your flip(s). Overnight's and longer flips are recommended to be sold around active market time (EST 07:00-11:00 AM and 02:00-10:00 PM) - due to the demand offers being significantly larger in amounts.
There is also another time i wanna highlight here. Around EST 09:00 AM - 02:00 PM and 10:00 PM - 07:00 AM. This is the timezone of the older and adult gamers i recon. Ask yourself why? Younger players been sent to bed already and at that time there are many players that just got home from work or IRL stuff we adults do. These players are know to just buy what they need, whenever then need, for instant price. That'ss where you come in! Margins are great and market is more or less not over flooded by other flippers.
- When your knowledge on this matter is higher then average, you can use it as an advantage to find better profits and faster flips.
NOTE: Always make sure you know the GE update times, it's crusual if your close to a GE update while flipping without knowing the outcome of a update. You might end up losing money here if your not aware of it!

Don't end up with ½ of what you could of got if you had waited a little longer. Wait at least 5-10 minutes before updating an offer - unless your offer starts very quickly after u put it in. That often means you can get offer a better price than the current price.

Never risk more then what you can afford to lose.

Use as many slots in GE as possible

Don't hold junk, items u don't need/use or other expences. The more money you have to flip with, the more you make.

Never give up, and keep trying. If you fail a flip, move on to another one!

Keep in mind that finding a price on a item by buying and selling for instant prices - you will lose money. Thats why you only test 1 item!

Giving up doesn't always mean you are weak - sometimes it means that you are strong enough to let go. Giving up on merchanting does not mean that.

Note that items with lower limits (especially the ones limited at 2 or 1) often have larger margins because people just can't buy and sell very many.

I recommend every merchanters out there to take notes trough the whole progress. Keeping track of prices/price changes, profit/profit in %, margins, predictions and more makes it A LOT more fun! Also make your own merch log, so you can look back at your own merch history. This is a great motivation tool, and it's also easier to share with others Smile

» FAQ

What does margins mean?
- Margins are is the amount between the sell and buy price.

What is undercutting?
- Undercutting is when someone sells lower than you

What is overcutting?
- Overcutting is someone buying higher than you

What does blocking means?
- Blocking is when you get over/undercut

what does nerfed means?
- Nerfed is when someone completly kills the margin.

. ~ † »Feedback † ~ .

Thanks for feedback! Smile

imperfectpur wrote:Nice one, this should most definitely come in handy!

Kitemaster wrote:Thanks for the guide, it was really usefull for me!

Mégas Aléxandros wrote:This seems like a solid guide, thanks for posting

phildalt wrote:Awesome guide ! You must have passed alot of time on that. Really really good work from you !

Thanks alot.

Minimum wrote:Nice decent guide. +rep

shady_patron_ wrote:nice guide, i will certainly use it

N I S wrote:Very nice detailed

Payness wrote:Elf<3 You pro flipper aweomse guide

cornears wrote:Nice guide. Very useful info for beginners and veterans alike

I am sorry for the spelling errors if there are any, I'm not the best with English grammar, but I'm learning Smile

Sources:
http://services.runescape.com/m=forum/sl=0/forums.ws?98,99,971,63310859
http://services.runescape.com/m=forum/sl=0/forums.ws?93,94,505,63742134
http://photobucket.com

• † The Ultimate Flipping Guide † • © May 2012 by: Elf Archere

by **Jorsin Alkes** 16/7/2012, 4:19 am

Awesome guide ! You must have passed alot of time on that. Really really good work from you !

Thanks alot.

by **Elf Archere** 16/7/2012, 4:26 am

phildalt wrote:Awesome guide ! You must have passed alot of time on that. Really really good work from you !

Thanks alot.

Thank you

Tried to make it as easy to understand, short as possible but still containing all the important factors.
And yeah it took awhile :p

Elf Archere

by **Imperfectpur** 16/7/2012, 9:54 am

Nice one, this should most definitely come in handy!

by **Kitemaster** 16/7/2012, 3:34 pm

Thanks for the guide, it was really usefull for me!

by **Mégas Aléxandros** 18/7/2012, 2:52 pm

This seems like a solid guide, thanks for posting

by **Minimum** 18/7/2012, 9:59 pm

Nice decent guide. +rep Very Happy

by **shady_patron_** 19/7/2012, 9:09 am

nice guide, i will certainly use it Smile

by **N I S** 20/7/2012, 5:14 am

Very nice detailed Smile

by **Paynes** 23/7/2012, 2:39 am

Elf<3 You pro flipper aweomse guide Smile

by **cornears** 25/7/2012, 3:32 am

Nice guide. Very useful info for beginners and veterans alike

by **hadezzz** 11/8/2012, 5:35 pm

GOOD guide!keep up the good work

by **mypet tr0ll** 24/8/2012, 2:45 am

Awesome guide mate, moved into the rated section.

by **Elf Archere** 27/8/2012, 6:47 pm

mypet tr0ll wrote:Awesome guide mate, moved into the rated section.

Thanks! Means a lot coming from you Smile

by **mr_cl0** 31/8/2012, 7:49 pm

Wicked guide man, brand new to flipping so i think this will really help me out, shall let ya know! Smile

[quote]

by **liortulip** 1/9/2012, 3:53 pm

Thanks for the great guide! It is simple to understand while at the same time having a complexity level that is perfect for someone with my experience! I know how hard these guides are to make and it seems you put a lot of effort in. Good work! +rep

by **Elf Archere** 2/9/2012, 8:20 pm

liortulip wrote:Thanks for the great guide! It is simple to understand while at the same time having a complexity level that is perfect for someone with my experience! I know how hard these guides are to make and it seems you put a lot of effort in. Good work! +rep

Thanks you sir! It's a lot of effort in it ye, but I'm glad to help you know Smile

- And for the record, I've tried to addapt this guide as good as possible to both new AND more advanced merchers Smile

Took awhile to crack that "code" Razz

by **Elf Archere** 2/9/2012, 8:21 pm

[quote="mr_cl0"]Wicked guide man, brand new to flipping so i think this will really help me out, shall let ya know! Smile

Yeah plz do Smile

by **asapwnz** 6/9/2012, 3:59 am

very in depth dude! gonna apply this to what i know now.

by **G3neral AIK** 17/9/2012, 4:38 pm

awesome guide man, helped med out alot! thanks! Very Happy

by **mag2kid** 17/9/2012, 9:21 pm

verry nice and helpfull guide voor beginners, i hope to see your merching log soon Smile

by **Elf Archere** 18/9/2012, 5:15 am

mag2kid wrote:verry nice and helpfull guide voor beginners, i hope to see your merching log soon

Thanks you mag2kid! =)

Unfortunately I decided to end my Runescape chapter for good not long ago. With over 10 years of joy along with it, the things I experienced is now what we call memories. The decision was extremely hard for me to make, but unfortunately necessary.

But hey(!), I do have a merching log already. It's not big at all compared to what I've done. It does not complete who I am and what I possess of knowledge about merching. There are things I never logged, a lot of it - but thats just how it goes. What I can share with you and everyone through my merching logs is very little and god I wish it was more, but that's not for me to say anymore;

Elf Archere Merchanting Log (link in signature as well)
http://www.smokinelite.com/t62298-elf-archere-s-flip-invest-merch-logs#876349

Glad to see the guide was helpful to you somehow, and I wish you all the best.

Yours,
Elf Archere
Retired Veteran Runescape Merchanter

by **Elf Archere** 18/9/2012, 5:20 am

G3neral AIK wrote:awesome guide man, helped med out alot! thanks!

Thanks G3neral AIK! Means a lot =)

by **joe_s_m** 20/9/2012, 2:12 pm

Cheers top guide.

by **F2P Buyer** 20/9/2012, 2:39 pm

Awesome guide,keep on Smile

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