Layered Profit

There are a few popular Chain Crafting routes that many goblins take. You start with a base mat like an Ore, Herb, Eternal or Leather and end up with a finalized product 3 to 6 steps later using multiple professions.

The post popular of these is the Saronite Shuffle. The only other materials needed are Eternals to craft disenchantables and Metas. To experienced goblins, this flowchart is a practiced and proven method of profit. A problem arises though for those that just copy the process and don't understand the reasons behind it. Goblins know the markets of each step and can constantly evaluate their effectiveness.

Beginners though, will blindly follow the list assuming it works for their sever, timing or base mat costs. Chain Crafting doesn't always finish with the highest profit step.

Saronite Ore

Prospected Smelted

Rare Gems Uncommon Gems Titanium Bars

Cuts Metas JC Rings

Disenchant

Enchant Scrolls

Quite often, the middle steps have the highest profit margin. Additionally, each step's product has it's own supply and demand and requires different amounts of each to fill the needs of your server. If you become familiar with the demand for each step's product, you can better estimate how much Saronite Ore you need to complete them all without flooding any markets.

A Titanium Bar requires 16 Saronite Ore and Rare Gems have a 20% proc rate from prospecting. The Uncommon Gems are a given with each prospect and you have an even chance at all 6 of the colors.

Let's use another Chain Craft as an example with the most popular gold-making profession, Inscription.

Adder's Tongue

Azure Pigment Icy Pigment

Ink of the Sea Snowfall Ink

All Other Inks Vellum Off Hand Runescroll Darkmoon

Glyphs

Most goblins use up all the mats to mass produce Glyphs for bulk sales. There are many other venues for profit though and each should be utilized. Very few people save pigments to sell. It's even worth it to keep an eye on lower herbs to mill for pigments as leveling toons can't always find the herbs themselves.

All Inks are available in Dalaran from the Scribe shop at a turn in rate of 1 Ink of the Sea for 1 of any other type. I have a Quick Auctions group set up for Pigments and one for Inks. Ten of each Ink(except IoTS) are listed on 48-hour cycles with a fallback of 8g and a threshold of 2g. There are rarely competitors though and they sell out to Inscription levelers. Azure pigments and others that I can mill for low costs are in another group for a fallback of 3g and threshold of 1.5g.

Snowfall Inks sell constantly in a QA group for 25g fallback and 10g threshold. Save some of the Icy Pigments used to create Snowfall and sell those as well. I consistently get 50% more profit for the pigments that turn into the inks than than the inks themselves.

The important concept to remember is the base value of the Herb you choose to mill. Each step should result in a profit, otherwise not only did you lose money, but you wasted time crafting a step to do so. Instead of crafting all those glyphs that don't sell because there's an undercutting war going on, why not put your mats into earlier steps in the chain?

You're now turning over your base mats at a faster rate and you're making profit by supplying the goblins battling each other with exceedingly low glyph thresholds. It's like the old saying - focus on the journey, not the destination.