How do casual players make gold without a trading guild?

MrGlad8 · January 3

Heya! I Just hit level 50 (PC/EU)
I’m used to WoW-style AH trading where you list stuff and make gold over time. In ESO it seems like selling “properly” is mostly through trading guilds with a good trader spot (and many have dues/requirements).

If I’m a casual player and don’t want to commit hard to a trade guild, what’s the best way to make gold?
Are there reliable casual methods, or is it mostly farming/quests/dungeons + vendor gold?

Thanks!

WhiteCoatSyndrome · January 3

Robbery works. The Daggerfall docks have an Outlaw’s Refuge nearby and lots of cupboards to loot.

Tandor · January 3

Much depends on whether you need gold. I don't do any trading and very rarely need to buy anything so I have a million gold sitting in the bank on each of my accounts/servers with really nothing to spend it on. It just accumulates over the years through normal gameplay without any need to go out and earn it as such.

tomfant · January 3

Crafting dailies. Easy 5k gold per char per day if you do all 7.

DenverRalphy · January 3

If you're dead set against Guild Traders, then your only options are farm it (that's a slow slow slog), or sell stuff. Since you won't be using any guild traders your only recourse is to sell in chat channels. Though that'll likely end up with you landing on a lot of ignored/blocked lists.

Honestly though, there are bajillions of guilds out there that don't require dues. And the majority of guilds have members who never ever ever say a peep in guild chat or participate in any guild activities whatsoever. You can easily join 5 guilds and still maintain a casual solo lifestyle.

scrappy1342 · January 3

you don't need to commit hard to a trade guild. there's plenty out there that are just casual guilds that keep a trader ^.^ go through your guild finder and sit around some of the big capital cities (vivec, wayrest, etc). you'll see ppl advertising. look for guilds that don't require dues. i'm in a couple (was 3 before the economy really tanked, but one does not keep a trader anymore) that don't require sales or dues and always keep traders. all that is required is that you log in every week to stay "active."

although the guilds that keep a focus on trading are also nice for learning. they will help you figure out things to sell. some of them even have mentors. most will have some good tutorials in their discords.

whitecrow · January 3

Honestly if you just play and don't think about it you will have tons of gold before you know it. I always think questions like this are strange.

Zodiarkslayer · January 3

I started out as a loner, too. And then quickly realised that I do not have to commit to a pro trading guild. Just a small one with no dues and a trader in the middle of nowhere is enough.
The important part is too have TTC add-on and it's companion app running, so that your offers are visible on the website and your players will visit your out of the way trader location.

Also, making as many crafting toons as possible (considering time and real life money) and having them do daily crafting writs, is the best basis for prosperity in this game.
Collecting enough skill points to do that is a big bummer, though. Especially if you want the ressource mails, too. They are a gods end for getting a constant cash flow.

Everything gets more profitable with scale. The more toons you have, the more gold you rake in.

spartaxoxo · January 3

Crafting Writs is a good way to make coin if you don't want to join a trading guild.

But honestly, there's casual trading guilds with no dues. If you prefer to solo play casually, those guilds don't mind. They usually don't have the best traders so you'll need to list your stuff at lower prices than the good traders to get it to move. But you'll get coin selling stuff while maintaining a solo casual experience.

tomofhyrule · January 3

I don't understand why so many people are dead set against joining guilds.

There are numerous guilds without dues, and most people who join any trading guilds can just play casually and list sales while keeping the guild chat on mute in the background. I went for years where my only "trade guild" was a social guild that had no dues or requirements and got an out-of-the-way trader about 60% of the time and it was fine. Once I was more involved in the game, I got a legit trade guild in a good spot, and the requirements it has are not at all an imposition.

There are a lot of benefits to joining guilds beyond being able to sell stuff. And if you don't like them, you can leave and find another.

Northwold · January 3

Can't speak for anyone else, but just to illustrate the flipside of the view, personally I don't want to be involved with any guilds because I don't want to be involved with a player controlled system when doing something I "need" to play the game (in this context, making gold). That's all there is to it, really, in my case. I want to dip in and dip out of the game whenever I like and do what I want to do whenever I like without ever having to deal with something like that.

Certainly, it's not everyone's view. But people are different and there's not much there that needs understanding any more than one needs to understand why some people like and some people don't like chocolate. Although, obviously, the latter are a crime against nature.

Soarora · January 3

I was a poor casual, mostly getting my gold from writs and quests. But eventually I had so many extra motifs from worldboss/delve dailies, events, dungeons, etc. that I had to join 2 trade guilds for the sake of my inventory. I never cared about dues, if I get kicked for not making dues I’d just find a new guild.

JustLovely · January 3

Northwold wrote: »

Can't speak for anyone else, but just to illustrate the flipside of the view, personally I don't want to be involved with any guilds because I don't want to be involved with a player controlled system when doing something I "need" to play the game (in this context, making gold). That's all there is to it, really, in my case. I want to dip in and dip out of the game whenever I like and do what I want to do whenever I like without ever having to deal with something like that.

Certainly, it's not everyone's view. But people are different and there's not much there that needs understanding any more than one needs to understand why some people like and some people don't like chocolate. Although, obviously, the latter are a crime against nature.

ESO is an MMO. That means guilds and other players and interactions with them are considered the norm.

Northwold · January 3

JustLovely wrote: »

Northwold wrote: »

Can't speak for anyone else, but just to illustrate the flipside of the view, personally I don't want to be involved with any guilds because I don't want to be involved with a player controlled system when doing something I "need" to play the game (in this context, making gold). That's all there is to it, really, in my case. I want to dip in and dip out of the game whenever I like and do what I want to do whenever I like without ever having to deal with something like that.

Certainly, it's not everyone's view. But people are different and there's not much there that needs understanding any more than one needs to understand why some people like and some people don't like chocolate. Although, obviously, the latter are a crime against nature.

ESO is an MMO. That means guilds and other players and interactions with them are considered the norm.

I've no intention of engaging with the exact same replies attempting to rationalise why people should have to conform to the way some people think everyone should have to play that get trotted out every time this topic comes up (despite the other major MMOs conspicuously NOT doing trading this way). I'm simply pointing out the other view. Like it or not, it makes no difference to me.

spartaxoxo · January 3

Northwold wrote: »

. I want to dip in and dip out of the game whenever I like and do what I want to do whenever I like without ever having to deal with something like that.

There are plenty of casual trading guilds with members with exactly this pov who don't require dues and barely socialize. They're just together because they wanted a trader and maybe the occasional conversation/help with group content. You can literally just shut off the chat and nobody would care.

Ingenon · January 3

I play on PS/NA, and there are several guilds that have a guild trader every week, and do not charge required dues. If you play ESO regularly, you will get stuff you could sell. Consider joining one of these guilds that does not charge required dues and list those items. If you list for a bit less than the trading guilds that charge required dues, usually other players will find you and buy your stuff. And you end up with much more gold than you would get from selling those items to a merchant.

AcadianPaladin · January 3

My elf is an adventuress, not a merchant. She makes a comfortable but steady income from doing one set of 7 writs per day, questing, adventuring, looting, exploring, dungeons, etc. Her bank currently has over 19 million gold. Two subtle factors help account for this. First, as an adventuress her needs and costs are small so she simply doesn't spend much. Friends tell me housing can be quite draining on the old coin purse and my elf is happy with just a couple small and modestly decorated homes. Second, is the power of time. She's been playing ESO daily for over ten years - slow and steady wins the race.

Northwold · January 3

spartaxoxo wrote: »

Northwold wrote: »

. I want to dip in and dip out of the game whenever I like and do what I want to do whenever I like without ever having to deal with something like that.

There are plenty of casual trading guilds with members with exactly this pov who don't require dues and barely socialize. They're just together because they wanted a trader and maybe the occasional conversation/help with group content. You can literally just shut off the chat and nobody would care.

Trying not to wade off the topic but the issue is less the players than that people like me just want a do and forget automated system. If I want to sell, I want to put something on the system (whatever it is) and that's it. I don't want to have to find a guild, apply to join it, wait, and then do what I wanted to do two days ago.

I'm not saying this in a terse way (least of all to you, your comments are always insightful, constructive and never adversarial), I just think there can be a bit of a gap in understanding in where some people's irritation at the trading system comes from. I've kind of accepted that ESO has a split personality when it comes to its welcome of casual players, but if you want to play casually and ONLY casually a player administered trading system does not allow that as far as trading is concerned.

freespirit · January 3

The answer to that question really depends on what you want the gold for?

If you are truly casual and just play now and then, your need for gold will be quite low.

If you have a crafter and want to learn Motifs, Style Pages and Furnishing plans for achievements and suchlike, your need for gold might increase or you could just learn what you find on your travels, neither is the wrong way of doing things.

Even one maxed crafter doing a daily set of seven crafting dailies, over a month, will earn well in excess of 100k. plus loads of rewards to sell too.

Stealing works but quickly begins to take up too much time for a truly casual player.

Now if you are even thinking of getting in to housing, imo you will not be able to avoid joining at least one trade guild..... open that cheque book and watch the gold disappear!!

You can find good guilds with low or no requirements, the time it takes to list items for sale is negligible and then you can carry on doing what you want to do, that is literally all you need to do in many guilds!

allochthons · January 3

There are other great reasons to belong to a guild, and you don't have to interact with them at all.

You can travel to them when you need to get to a zone you don't have a wayshrine in, or just to get to a zone period. You can use guild houses to craft sets you don't have. And often you can get access to a guild bank where you can get/give recipes/furnishing plans/set pieces you don't have or have too many of. And usually you can get a werewolf of vampire bite free.

Another trick to reduce your guild interaction, is to turn off in-game chat altogether. If, for some reason, you don't want to do that, make the guild chat dark green. It's really hard to read, and your brain (usually) learns to ignore it pretty quickly. I've found dark green is better than black for this. I think PC has add-ons to make this easier, but I haven't seen/used any on console.

And I make zone chat dark green everywhere.

I resisted guilds for a long time, played as a solo player. I'm an extreme introvert, and I thought guilds would be way too much. But for me, the benefits outweigh the costs, and I don't regret joining. Some I interact with a lot, and I've made some real friends. Some I only use for the things I mentioned above: guild house/traveling/guild bank.

I have encountered some pretty bad drama, though. It does happen. I do regret those, but still, the benefits outweigh those isolated incidents.

SkaiFaith · January 3

Playing since 2017.
First five years I played solo and made 3 millions in the bank (not counting those spent) farming Public Dungeons and doing solo stuff but NO writs.
I then joined a guild and in just one year I made more than the triple of that.
I won't say exactly how much I have, but if the market and the population wouldn't have taken a hit, I'd be well over 60 millions by now.

I'm in 4 guilds with 500 players; 2 guilds always have Mournhold spot - I see maybe 30 players per guild active in chat; everyone else just doesn't participate.

I'd advise anyone to join a guild asap IF you plan to play regularly. If you play once a week or once every two weeks, you'll have to find a guild that doesn't kick you: there are many, but maybe you won't get the sweet Mournhold spot.

loaganb16_ESO · January 3

Stealing. I have 4 characters and Lootwall configurated to steal only green stuff and above. Selling with them means about 100k per day.

tsaescishoeshiner · January 3

MrGlad8 wrote: »

If I’m a casual player and don’t want to commit hard to a trade guild

You don't need any commitment at all. Most traders are owned by guilds with no dues or sales requirements and are perfect for casual players—you usually just need to log on once every 1-4 weeks to stay in the guild. That's it lol.

When you see a guild in zone chat or the guild finder, it'll say if they own a trader from the guild menu (even if they don't mention it in the listing). If they don't have dues, that's your casual ez money. You vastly increase your income by having even a low-traffic trader (although, ideally not one in an Outlaws Refuge). Otherwise, when you get cheap motif worth 10k, you're gonna have to try and sell it in zone chat. Might as well post it on a trader for more gold.

If you want to farm pretty actively, you'll probably have no issue with a guild with a sales minimum (instead of dues). They're rare, but they're like the entry level to serious trade guilds (I personally just don't like having to remember to pay dues—active farmers definitely earn way more than their dues tho).

SeaGtGruff · January 3

When I was still getting on my feet in the game (as far as maxing out inventory pack space, mount pack space, bank account space, and obtaining all available storage containers), one of my main methods for farming gold was stealing and fencing the stolen goods.

There's a daily limit on how much the character can fence each day, so it's best to DESTROY (or just don't loot) white or green items, and focus on blue or better. You might even want to ignore blue items as well, and just loot purple and gold items-- but gold items are usually furnishings, so you might want to launder them instead.

You can use Skill Points to upgrade the passive skill that lets you fence and launder more items per day, but in my experience it's best to invest in just the initial upgrade, because the initial upgrade results in a nice increase to the daily limit, whereas the additional upgrades result in smaller increases that aren't worth it if your character has a limited number of Skill Points.

Crafting writs are a steady source of daily gold, but in my experience it takes up more of my daily gametime than I'd like, so these days I'm just doing them on my two main characters (one per server).

Soarora · January 3

allochthons wrote: »

There are other great reasons to belong to a guild, and you don't have to interact with them at all.

You can travel to them when you need to get to a zone you don't have a wayshrine in, or just to get to a zone period. You can use guild houses to craft sets you don't have. And often you can get access to a guild bank where you can get/give recipes/furnishing plans/set pieces you don't have or have too many of. And usually you can get a werewolf of vampire bite free.

Another trick to reduce your guild interaction, is to turn off in-game chat altogether. If, for some reason, you don't want to do that, make the guild chat dark green. It's really hard to read, and your brain (usually) learns to ignore it pretty quickly. I've found dark green is better than black for this. I think PC has add-ons to make this easier, but I haven't seen/used any on console.

And I make zone chat dark green everywhere.

I resisted guilds for a long time, played as a solo player. I'm an extreme introvert, and I thought guilds would be way too much. But for me, the benefits outweigh the costs, and I don't regret joining. Some I interact with a lot, and I've made some real friends. Some I only use for the things I mentioned above: guild house/traveling/guild bank.

I have encountered some pretty bad drama, though. It does happen. I do regret those, but still, the benefits outweigh those isolated incidents.

On PC, we can turn off individual chat channels from our chat tabs. I turn off the chats of trade guilds. I’m not interested in being spammed during auctions or trying to socialize in a mega large guild. I only keep the guilds I’m actively participating in enabled.

SilverBride · January 3

whitecrow wrote: »

Honestly if you just play and don't think about it you will have tons of gold before you know it. I always think questions like this are strange.

I barely kept 100k in my bank from just playing before I joined a trading guild, which I don't consider tons. But I wanted to get into housing which can be very expensive. The only way I've been able to afford it is by trading. So how much gold we need to play the way we choose depends on what our goals are.

Vonnegut2506 · January 3

This game throws gold at you, and there is very little to actually spend gold on. I'm not in any trade guilds at all, and I still have enough gold to never worry about it again. Just play the game, sell to vendors, craft and improve your own gear, and you never need to worry about trade guilds.

DoofusMax · January 3

MrGlad8 wrote: »

If I’m a casual player and don’t want to commit hard to a trade guild, what’s the best way to make gold?
Are there reliable casual methods, or is it mostly farming/quests/dungeons + vendor gold?

Thanks!

Here's my usual routine:

1. Daily crafting writs: ~5K per character per day (takes 2-3 minutes per character)
2. Guild dailies: ~3K per character per day, plus 3K daily for guaranteed scripts, plus however many other 1K scripts drop at the 25% rate (another 10-15 minutes; it's a bit grindy, but it's still roughly 3K-4K per characer)
3. Theft: usually good for ~3K per character per day, sometimes more if RNG works for me rather than against me (maybe 5-10 minutes of playtime to run the route and hit the fence)
4. Zone dailies: good for another couple of thousand, plus guaranteed scripts, plus any 25% scripts, plus any motifs I don't want/need (there have been many days with zero motif drops from this). Seldom more than one of each type (delve/WB/incurision) since the bang from rest of the daily rewards aren't worth the buck in terms of time spent, but the guaranteed script drop can be.

Bonus income from Master Writs. All characters are maxed crafters and most are still under 10 when it comes to known motifs, but one or maybe two Master Writs per day from each is about average. Change writ vouchers into something that can be sold (furnishing plans, attunable crafting stations, or whatever) and sell those.

Bonus income from surveys and refining. I try to keep at least a stack of gold mats for writs and personal crafting and will generally sell anything over, so minimum 200 mats kept and sell 100 when anything gets over 300.

Note that there isn't much that I spend gold on, so the Bank balance mostly just creeps upward unless I go wild on weekends with The Golden vendor.

agelonestar · January 3

I run Sunfire’s Sect - PC/EU - based in Daggerfall. We’re a “low effort” trade, social, and player support guild. No fees or minimum sales, you just have to be active (I.e. log in) at least once every 14 days.

There are a quite a few guilds like ours - I would recommend considering joining one as anything sells and it’s the fastest way to make larger sums of gold.

Failing that, crafting dailies give good gold, as does theft (crime pays!) You can also vendor duplicate stuff to raise some cash.

You can /z to sell items in zone - tends to work best for higher value and rarer items.

Hope that helps!

tohopka_eso · January 4

I've been playing since beta. Still to this day I have never been in a guild for any reason mentioned. I just never saw a benefit to join one and just stay clear of invites.
I've played other games like EQ where you needed to join a guild for raids and what not all the way to FFXIV where I discovered it's more of a social hub. Since I fully play only this now, i prefer to keep to myself. Which is probably why I like housing.
As far as making Gold, I do the crafting writs daily. I can solo most normal dungeons and I occasionally play around in Infinite Archive.
Guess what I am getting at is there is a lot of ways of making Gold. It's up to the individual if they want to go the Guild route or just do other means.

redlink1979 · January 4

https://forums.elderscrollsonline.com/en/discussion/681425/how-do-i-make-money