Pet Speculation

One of the new features for Mists of Pandaria is the new pet battle system. It is really hard to say whether this will be a fun feature or not. I personally loathed archeology as a horrible time sink, but I loved the mini-game for the sunflowers vs zombies up up in northern eastern kingdoms. I've only read a bit about it, but pets will be universal for your account, and they'll fight in mini-pet teams. This could be a great way to have fun outside of raiding or pvping. The game certainly needs alternate routes at the high end.

I am no stranger to pets. I am buy no means an expert, but I've acquired enough to know a bit about the subject. (One of the few I am missing is the accursed Tol Bard Fox.)

 

The question is if this system is fun, then how can we turn a profit from it? I mentioned in my lantern mongering post, that limited availability pets might be a good investment. If you are looking to start a business, I am sure you've heard for many of the high selling pets. This is certainly something worth farming.

Fireflies, disgusting oozlings, the whelps (crimson, emerald, dark, and azure) and the like are some of the most highly sought after pets. One my server during wrath, each pet would go between 3 to 5k. Today 15 to 20 is a common price. There's a natural increase in value as inflation. I dabbled in a few pets, mostly buying them super cheap and reselling.

Pets aren't faster sellers by any means. It takes a certain level of dedication. When buying high ticket items, it is important not to panic. Sometimes, it comes down to admitting, you can't sell an item and just using it yourself. That's always a nice backup plan.

Sometimes, it is just being patient. I had a Big Battle Bear (not a pet but a mount from the card game). I paid a king's ransom for it, 80k. Then I spent the next 4 months trying to sell the thing for 100k. The problem was there wasn't anyone on my server that was interested in such a high price item. Through the end of wrath, I maintained my faith and stuck with it and eventually partway through cata, go 85k for it. At the end of the day, 5k wasn't a huge profit—6 and a quarter present. One the other hand, I never needed the money really for anything, so it was better than having it sit idle all that time.

Pets are a nice form of speculation. Maybe every pet team will want a disgusting oozling? The value might increase. People might get more interested in pets in general because of the expansion's focus on them. For whatever the reason, pets are a pretty solid investment. It is not without risk, but that's what makes the game interesting eh?