Methodology

What the site holds, and how it knows it

Information status

Official source means published on a Blizzard-owned site; Dev confirmed means a Blizzard developer said it on record, for example in an interview hosted by a reputable outlet. Beta information is never silently promoted to fact. When something seen in beta is confirmed by Blizzard or at launch, its status changes and its verification date updates. All sources are listed on Sources.

Price sources

Market data flows through a single provider interface, so the source can change without changing any page. Planned sources, in order of preference:

• Blizzard APIs, if Forever auction data is exposed.
• ForeverEcon scans stored as snapshots.
• Addon uploads from players, validated against each other.
• Third-party market feeds, clearly attributed.

Every snapshot records its source, time and market context (region, realm, ruleset). Prices are stored in copper.

Update frequency

The target is hourly snapshots per market. Each price shows when it was last updated; data older than 24 hours is flagged rather than presented as current.

Median calculations

The headline price is the median of listed unit prices, not the average — a handful of absurd listings can't move it. The minimum buyout is shown alongside. The 7-day average is the mean of hourly medians over the previous seven days. 24h and 7d change compare the latest median with the median at those points.

Crafting calculations

• Craft cost = Σ (material quantity × material median price). Vendor-bought reagents use their vendor price once known.
• Market value = output median price × quantity produced.
• Profit = market value − craft cost. Auction house fees are not yet deducted.
• Margin = profit ÷ craft cost.

If any material has no price, craft cost is left blank rather than estimated.

Opportunity calculations

Opportunities are generated by rules, never written by hand:

• Buy: median at least 15% below its 7-day average, after the market's own move is subtracted.
• Sell: the same, at least 15% above.
• Craft: market value exceeds full craft cost by at least 15%.
• Farm: a gatherable material that qualifies as a sell.

Buy and sell are measured against the market, not against the item alone. The market's move is the median change across every priced item, and it is subtracted before the 15% test. In the week Forever opened the median item lost about a quarter of its value as supply arrived, which on the simpler rule flagged 57 items as bargains — one fact about the market, repeated 57 times. An item is interesting when it moved differently from everything around it. Below 20 priced items there is no market to measure, and each item is judged on its own move instead.

A craft margin is not adjusted this way: it compares two prices observed at the same moment, so it means something without a baseline.

Items with fewer than 20 units listed are excluded. Each signal carries a confidence score based on listing depth and traded volume, and the bigger the claim the more confidence it needs before it is shown at all. These are observations about the market, not financial advice.

Data limitations

• Blizzard has said each ruleset gets its own auction house. Data stays separable by region, realm and ruleset.
• Listed prices aren't sale prices. Volume estimates depend on what the source can observe.
• Early markets are usually thin — few listings per item — so prices can swing widely in the first weeks.
• Original-game recipe and material data may not match Forever. It's labelled Classic data for that reason.