In WoW Classic, you use the Auction House by talking to an Auctioneer NPC in a capital city — Orgrimmar's Valley of Strength, Stormwind's Trade District, Ironforge's Tinker Town, or Undercity's Trade Quarter. The window has three tabs: Browse to search and buy, Bids to track what you've bid on, and Auctions to post items by dragging them into the auction slot and setting a price.
How to buy something, step by step
- Walk up to an Auctioneer and right-click them. Neutral Auctioneers also exist in Booty Bay, Gadgetzan and Everlook if you want to trade with the other faction.
- On the Browse tab, type part of the item name in the search box and hit Search. Leave the box empty and pick a category on the left if you're just window-shopping.
- Use the level range boxes and the "Usable items" checkbox to cut the noise — that alone removes most of the junk on a busy realm.
- Click the Buyout column header to sort cheapest-first. Prices show as gold/silver/copper.
- Select the listing, then hit Buyout to take it instantly, or Bid to enter the minimum bid and wait out the timer.
How to sell something, step by step
- Open the Auctions tab (third tab).
- Drag the item from your bag onto the empty auction slot, or shift-click it.
- Set the Starting Bid (what bidding opens at) and the Buyout (what someone pays to take it now). Skipping buyout usually costs you a sale — most Classic players don't wait around to bid.
- Pick a duration: 2, 8 or 24 hours. Longer duration means a bigger deposit but more eyes on it.
- Click Create Auction. The deposit is taken immediately.
The costs nobody warns you about
- Deposit — paid up front when you post. You get it back if the item sells; you lose it if the auction expires unsold. That's why spam-posting 24-hour auctions on cheap greens bleeds gold.
- Cut on sale — the house takes a percentage of the final price when the item sells. Faction Auction Houses take a small cut; the neutral goblin ones in Booty Bay, Gadgetzan and Everlook take a much larger one, which is the price you pay for cross-faction trading.
- Mail delay — gold from a sale and items you win arrive by in-game mail, not instantly into your bags. Check your mailbox.
Why can't I see auctions from the other faction?
Because faction Auction Houses are separate. Horde posts in Orgrimmar go to the Horde house; Alliance posts in Stormwind go to the Alliance house. The only overlap is the neutral Auction Houses run by goblins in Booty Bay, Gadgetzan and Everlook, where both factions can see and buy each other's listings — at a steeper cut.
What sells reliably in Classic?
Raw materials, not gear. Cloth, ore, herbs, leather and elemental drops move constantly because every crafter on the realm needs them and nobody wants to farm them. Enchanting materials from disenchanting greens are the other steady earner. Random world-drop greens are the worst thing to post — they usually expire and eat your deposit.
When is the best time to post?
Evenings on your realm's timezone, and the hours before raid nights, when consumable demand spikes. Posting a 24-hour auction on a weekday morning means it sits through the dead hours and competes with everyone who logs on later. If your item didn't sell, undercut slightly rather than reposting at the same price.
Is there an addon that makes this easier?
Yes — Auction House addons that scan the market and suggest pricing have been a Classic staple for years, and they save real time once you're posting dozens of stacks. The vanilla UI works fine for casual buying and selling; you only need an addon when the Auction House becomes a job.
If working the Auction House sounds more like a spreadsheet than a game, that's fair — plenty of players just want the gold to buy their mount or their raid consumables. PewPewShop's vetted human players handle Classic gold (Classic Hardcore Gold from EUR 17, TBC Classic Gold from EUR 21) and progression help like Classic Raid Clear from EUR 15, so you can skip the grind and spend your evenings raiding instead of undercutting.