First things first: while many methods of earning lots of gold are restricted to the higher levels, not all are. I had enough gold on the trip to 60 that I was able to buy the occasional blue item, a number of greens, plenty of potions, and my level 40 mount and my epic mount at 60. I also bought my Epic Flying Mount shortly after dinging 70.

The first part of what I have here for you can be used by practically anyone from level one to seventy. Before you start your gold creating career you want to make an auction house mule character that does all the item selling and mails gold to your characters as needed. I make it a point to keep most of my gold on the mule, even shipping some to the mule from my higher level characters.

On a PvP server you can only have characters that are all Horde or all Alliance. On a non-PvP server you can have both, so consider making mules for both sides, then you can do some cross-faction selling.

• Check out this video on how to get started earning gold from early on.

As your main character charges around Azeroth (or outlands) killing and looting she will fill her bags with stuff. Mail off the good stuff to the mule, then get back to work. If the item is grey then sell it to a vendor, if it's white it goes to the AH. I've found plenty of white drops that go for a gold or more each (each piece, not each stack.)

One of the most important and easy to do methods of making money is through tradeskills, not those gold munching crafting skills either, but rather the less intensive gathering variety. Mining, skinning, and herbalism, to be exact.

All three of these can roll in the gold quite efficiently if you set a good pace with them. All of these also are best done as a side project while grinding for levels. Some can even be done while doing quests.

Skinning. You're going to be killing thousands of beasts on your run to 70, so you might as well skin them. Light Leather goes for arnywhere from 75 silver to 2 gold per stack. Clefthoof leather goes for 2-5 gold per piece.

You'll also be walking by hundreds of ore nodes and hundreds of pickable herbs. You might as well collect and sell them. Mining especially is an excellent method of earning gold. Here's a WoW Mining Guide on Squidoo.

Grinding for gold is a major, simple, and quite boring method of gaining money. The gathering skills, while increasing your gold per hour, are pretty dull. To make it easier, and a bit more fun, listen to music or watch a movie on your computer or give yourself mini-goals to accomplish while grinding.

Despite its faults grinding is one of the best and, more importantly, risk-free methods of making Warcraft cash. Combine it with your quests and it's steady cash: grind, fill your packs, send to your mule, rinse and repeat. Kill 100 of something and you can pretty much count on certain quantities of drops.

Then there's the Auction House

The next method is called, playing the AH (Auction House.) When browsing the auction house you follow the simple marketing rule of: buy low, sell high.

Rather than wasting your hard earned gold on that new shiny sword/trinket you instead look for an unsually low priced item, especially on items without a buyout, these often can go for upwards of a hundred gold below normal price. Demand for these items is fequently high, so be careful not to overbid.

The auctioneer addon (google it) will help a lot with this project. This tool takes some time to learn the Auctionhouse and what items go for what prices. It will help you find all kinds of items that are priced very low. You grab them and sell them for a profit. Repeat this a few times and you'll make a nice cash flow.

It's pretty simple, but remember, if you buy something one day that look's underpriced, and the next day you find that the actual market price on it's changed, you may have just lost a big investment. Also, sometimes you'll find items that just don't seem to resell. You can then hold those items for a few days or swallow the loss. I've found that it may take four or five auctions for something to sell. Also, watch the deposit costs. They'll eat into your profit margin if you're not carefull.

• Here's a killer video on playing the Auction House game.

In the long haul, though, once you're good at finding bargains, you'll make a pretty fair amount of extra cash. You'll get a good feel for AH prices and your cash flow will be hugely improved.

Another great method of earning gold at any level is by buying certain rare or limited items from the various vendors found all over the world.

Some of these items you can buy for very little and sell for 10 times what you paid for them.

The Wedding Dress

One example is the wedding dress, found in Stormwind. This video will show you how to find the wedding dress and why you want to buy and sell it.

The best way to find these items is to look at every vendor you ever come across, several times. You'll find items that are sold only by one vendor and you'll find items sold only in limited quantities, such as that wedding dress.

Prarie Dog whistles, of all things, are another way to make WoW gold at an early level. Run your character over to ThunderBluff and buy a few, or make a Tauren Alt and park him here.

The whistles are sold in unlimited quantities, but only by the one vendor. Only post one at a time on the Auction House or you're likely to dampen the market.

Here's a video which will show you exactly how to find the Prarie Dog whistles.

Darkmoon Faire

Speaking of limited items sold by unique vendors, check out the DarkMoon Faire. A couple of vendors there sell certain items, such as gems and motes, for far less that what you can resell them for on the Auction House.

Here's a video which will show you exactly how to do just that.

When playing the AH I prefer to sell my acquisitions within the same day that I find them. You never know when a previously rare item's going to get flooded onto the market. Also if need be you can simply wait until the price rises again, if it does.

Demand will vary for items from day to day, week to week, and server to server. Be patient and you'll get your items sold.

In the process of grinding (for levels) you'll occasionally find the interesting item. These should be sold at the auction house instead of to a vendor.

In the long run you'll make a lot more cash. Interesting means anything that's blue or green (or purple.) Keep an eye on which mobs drop what. Then grind them some more. Such as those Dampscale Basilisks in Terrokar forest. Eyes, raw meat, cooked meat, hides, and the occasional item.

Making a ton of cash in the World of Warcraft is more science than art. Follow the rules and you'll have more than enough. Rely on just luck and you'll be just like those who claim not to be interested in money and then whine about their lousy gear.

You might also want to check out those videos linked to above and get on the guy's notification list. He'll be releasing more. Here's the link to that first vid again.