Most WoW players find completing these tasks boring, so they choose to employ WoW boost services, which let strangers do their tedious work for them.
However, some players prefer to do everything themselves, believing that actual progress comes only through personal effort. If you’re one of them and want to learn the best tricks & tips for farming gold while leveling, keep reading — this guide has everything you need.
1. Choosing the Right Professions for Gold-Making
Professions are one of the best passive ways to earn gold while leveling. Here’s what works best:
- Herbalism – Herbs are always in demand, especially in new expansions. Use GatherMate2 to track nodes.
- Mining – Ores and bars sell well, especially in early patches. Combine with engineering for some extra profit.
- Skinning – Great for solo-levelers farming beasts. Heavy hides and rare leathers are lucrative.
- Enchanting – Disenchanting low-level gear gives dusts and essences that sell well at the auction house (AH).
- Alchemy – If you gather herbs, you can craft low-level potions in demand by twinks and raiders.
Best combo: Herbalism + Mining (for maximum raw material income) or Skinning + Enchanting (for synergy with looted gear).
2. Farming Valuable Resources While Leveling
One of the most effective methods for obtaining gold during leveling involves the collection of rare resources. The auction house constantly needs herbs and ores, along with clothes and elemental materials. While leveling, you can benefit from resource-abundant areas even though your main purpose is to gain experience by killing monsters.
The areas with abundant ore deposits, herb locations, or beast populations will bring the most profitable results if you have Mining, Herbalism, or Skinning. The hyperspawning mobs in particular zones provide both crafting materials and mounts in addition to cloth drops, even if you lack gathering professions.
Here are some of the best zones across expansions, including The War Within, where you can efficiently combine leveling with gold farming:
- Classic WoW (Feralas) — Hatecrest Nagas (cloth, coins)
- Burning Crusade (Nagrand) — Elemental Plateau (Primal Elements)
- Wrath of the Lich King (Sholazar Basin) — Herbs (Adder’s Tongue) & Mining Nodes
- Cataclysm (Twilight Highlands) — Ore & Herbs
- Dragonflight (Zereth Mortis) — Hyperspawn farms (materials & mounts)
- The War Within (The Ringing Deeps) — Ore and herb nodes; generates 40,000–80,000 gold/hour
If you plan your leveling route around these zones, you can build up a solid gold reserve while still progressing toward the maximum level. This strategy is especially useful for fresh characters who need gold for riding skills, gear, and consumables.
3. Gold-Making Through Dungeon Farming
Most players consider dungeons to be the speediest option for acquiring XP points. But they’re not just great for leveling — low-level dungeons, in particular, can be highly profitable if you know what to farm. Low-level dungeons offer high profit potential because players who understand what to farm from them will get great returns. The situations within instances contain numerous mobs that provide players with essential treasure and materials as well as marketable items, therefore, proving profitable for gaining experience points.
Some of the best-selling dungeon drops include:
- Cloth (great for Tailoring or selling on the auction house)
- BoE greens and blues (useful for disenchanting or flipping for profit)
- Rare crafting materials (like Essence of Water, Righteous Orbs, or Primal Elements)
- Transmog gear (certain items from older expansions can sell for thousands of gold)
The following are the instance choices that offer maximum gold potential during your leveling experience:
- The Deadmines (15-25 lvl) — Linen/Wool Cloth, BoE Greens
- Scarlet Monastery (26-45 lvl) — Silk Cloth, Righteous Orb (high-value AH item)
- Zul’Farrak (42-50) — Mageweave Cloth, BoE Blues
- Stratholme (55-60) — Runecloth, Large Brilliant Shards
- The Botanica (68-70) — Netherweave Cloth, Arcane Tomes
The best performance comes from utilizing classes like Mages, Warlocks, and Paladins due to their powerful Area of Effect abilities when clearing groups of mobs. If you have Enchanting, disenchanting dungeon drops can bring in even more profit.
4. Making Gold with Questing and Smart Vendor Use
Not all quests are the same. Some are better for gold-making. Always pick a gold unless the item is a significant upgrade for your character. Some quests involve repeatable turn-ins where you collect specific items for reputation gains. These items are typically not bind-on-pickup, meaning you can sell them at the Auction House. Examples of such items include:
- Fel Armaments and Marks of Sargeras (Aldor Rep – TBC)
- Arcane Tomes and Sunfury Signets (Scryers Rep – TBC)
- Encrypted Twilight Texts (Cenarion Circle – Classic)
- Firewing Signets and Arcane Tomes (Shattered Sun Offensive – TBC)
- Relics of Ulduar (Sons of Hodir – WotLK)
These items can be dropped by mobs and sold on the Auction House for a nice profit since they remain unbound to the player. Additionally, don’t forget to sell trash loot smartly. White items, like Large Fang or Slimy Murloc Scale, may seem insignificant but can sell surprisingly well at the Auction House.
To make things easier, use the Scrap (Junk Seller) addon to automate the process of vendor trash items. This will save you time and ensure you don’t overlook any valuable loot while questing.
5. The Auction House Game – Flipping for Profit
Even at low levels, you can make gold with smart buying/selling:
- Use TSM (TradeSkillMaster) or Auctionator to track profitable items.
- Buy cheap crafting materials during off-hours and resell them during peak times.
- Sell twink gear – Low-level blue BOEs with good stats are highly valuable to PvP twinks.
- Resell limited supply vendor items – Some vendors sell rare recipes and mats that players buy for inflated prices.
Example: Buy Pattern: Rich Purple Silk Shirt from Dawn Brightstar (Undercity) for a few silver and sell it for 50g+ on the AH.
6. Avoiding Unnecessary Expenses While Leveling
Making gold is great, but wasting it cancels out your profits. Here’s what NOT to spend gold on while leveling:
- Overpriced gear on the AH — You’ll replace it quickly.
- Unnecessary spell ranks — Only train essential abilities.
- Expensive consumables — Unless you’re speedrunning, basic food/water is fine.
- Buying mounts too early — In classic-style leveling, it’s better to save until 40/60.
By avoiding these unnecessary expenses, you can focus on accumulating gold more efficiently, ensuring that your profits go toward useful upgrades and consumables that truly benefit your character’s progression. This will allow you to level up smoothly without hindering your financial growth in the game.
Make Your Pockets Full of Gold
Gold farming while leveling doesn’t have to slow you down. Whether you’re gathering herbs, flipping items on the AH, or farming dungeons, there are plenty of ways to stack up gold before hitting max level. If you prefer skipping the grind altogether, a WoW boost is a solid option to reach the endgame faster. But if you enjoy the adventure, these strategies will help you stay rich while leveling at your own pace. Happy farming, and may your bags always be full of gold!