OK I am secretly obsessed with World of Warcraft (I guess not so secret now...doh!).
If you don't know anything about World of Warcraft (WOW to us!), it is the most successful Massively Multiplayer Online game (MMO). Over 10 million people pay each month to play, interact, and have fun.
I started playing in October of 2005, and you might think, what the heck does this have to do with Personal Finance??
Well I hate to say it, but my favorite part of the game isn't the leveling, Battlegrounds or Arenas. It isn't the great people you meet, even that is a close second...nope I really enjoy the player economy.
There is a robust auction system for buying the things that you win or receive in the game. Get a weapon you can't use? expose it to the rest of the server that might be looking for that item! You get money, they get the item they need...Adam Smith is pleased :)
But there are a small group of us players that like to basically day-trade. If you put something up that we feel has a higher value we buy it and flip it. When I was really working on it at one point I had 3% of all trade involving me!
From this I have learned the following:
- Invest in what you know - I only buy and trade those thing that I have bought and traded I have in the past well.
- If it looks too good, it is...run! - I have seen thing that look like they are trading cheap but it really is a function of a very limited supply and demand. See rule #1!
- Treat others as you want to be treated - I have folk that directly send me items to buy, bypassing the Auction system and fees. I always make sure I am giving them the agreed upon deal or better. I rarely lose customers and most are sending me more!
The point is whatever your hobbies are, you can use these lessons in your personal finance life!
Have a great weekend!
