Diablo 3 Gem Profitability Guide

Diablo 3 Gem Profitability Guide by pepsi

So quite a few people have been asking on this forum if Gem crafting is in fact profitable. To answer this question myself I have come up with a quick profitability chart that can be adjusted by the user for personal use (and all you need is Microsoft Excel!).

As of now is Gem Crafting worth it on the North American Gold Auction house?

Short answer: No
Long answer: Noooooooooooooooo

Here is why:

Currently (as of June 22, 2012 on the North American Gold Auction house) the cost of finished gems are less than the sum of its parts (or simply put it cost more to make gems then the finished item is worth)! But ‘hold on there Pepsi’ you say! ‘I find most my mats anyway so they cost me nothing!’ and to that I respond that you are somewhat correct. In basic economics everything you do or create has what’s called opportunity cost attached to it. Simply put the opportunity cost is the is the cost of any activity measured in terms of the value of the next best alternative forgone (that is not chosen) ((Thank you Wikipedia!)). What this means is though it may seem free for you to craft gems that are worth less than the sum of its parts it also costs you slightly more in terms of the money you could have earned simply selling the individual parts off (to those morons who refuse to check the forums, as you the intelligent reader has done!, or do price calculations themselves)

So how do I  make money while the inverse price situation takes place?

1. Simple! as stated above sell the parts of the gems. Don’t worry about there being enough morons to buy the parts; there always are! As Einstein once put it “There are two things that are infinite, the universe and human stupidity. I am not sure about the universe though”

In doing so you will also be creating favourable future economic conditions for yourself and here is why:
As more and more people enter the gem materials market (selling parts that are used to make up viable end game gems) the price should fall! (Supply goes up while demand either remains stagnant, or is more likely the case, fall) meaning somewhere down the line you’ll finally be able to make money by crafting gems!

2. Sell to order! if you can find a moron willing to provide you materials AND an awesome tip your in luck! Though they are rare to find you will often find them lurking the forums in search of instant gratification. Beware though in the coming days you are going to see more and more people selling their crafting mats and simply buying the finished products they seek on the Auction House.

But Pepsi I’m a gamer! how dare you even imply that I would be willing to waste my time putting together an excel sheet that would only benefit myself?

Not to worry. Here is a free excel sheet that almost anyone (including 9/10 types of cabbage) can use. Simply adjust the market price for the different variables
1. Gem Prices listed B2-O2 (I recommended you update this at least once per week)
2. Page/book costs Located B4-B6 (same recommendation as above)
3. Vendor costs to be adjusted with patch changes between B24-O24 (currently up to date for 1.03)

https://www.dropbox.com/sh/ywrb255lfijk47y/eTtnTK8v3y

To use the file simply take the gem prices (located between B2-O2) multiply the number by 0.85 (to account for 15% auction house cut for THE MAN!) and see if the number you get is lower than any of the corresponding numbers in the collumn below it) ((if you’re confused as to what a collumn is think of the structural support beam. It stands top to bottom))

Please feel free to post any questions, updates, or angry rants about Justin Bieber below. And remember to tell all of your friends about this page!

Thanks
Pepsi