Countdown to Patch 5.4 - 10 Days: Jewelcrafting Guide for 25k per Hour

     About half of the people I've met in game who have more than a million gold say that they made most of it though Jewelcrafting, and they did so by taking advantage of singular moments. While there is a rush almost every patch, the only one I've been online to actually witness is the 5.2 launch, where PVP Power/Resil changes caused everyone to regem for the hardly-used PVP cuts. People reported (with proof) consistently making 14k, 20k, and 25k per hour, with a few even spiking here and there to 40k in sales. In this post, I'll explain why this all transpires, then go over what class changes we should expect, and finally wrap up with a plan of action so that you can be the next person making 25k, but first things first...
      Ok, so, here's what happens. People log on after the patch and start doing their new quests. That one guy in guild who always reads every single word of the patch notes says "Hey guys, Haste is more important than Crit for warriors now. No, I'm serious. Go to AskMrRobot." And everyone freaks out because there's no way haste could ever be worth anything, right?! I mean...it's...haste! So we check it out and "zomg, dude you're right. That's so weird, oh well, lol." So we spend 1000g-2000g reforging and regemming. It sucks for us, but we do it once and we're done. The great part for JCs is that it's not just that one person; there are 3,000-50,000 level 90s on every server doing this. That's a high end estimate of 100 million gold in revenue for a high pop server's FIRST regemming...and then everyone runs LFR+Flex+Normal and gets new gear (that they need to optimize).

I read WTBGold, so I can afford to buy this temple now

CHANGES:

     Here's a brief rundown of the major changes that are coming up, as it pertains to gemming and enchanting. *Legal: Does not constitute raid optimization advice; consult with your local raid leader and class expert before fully reforging. Subject to change before Patch 5.4 release date.

Death Knight

Frost: DW>2H,  so 2H players will be switching to Mastery>Haste>Crit.

Blood: Riposte added. This gives crit when you block/parry.

Druids

Guardian: Stamina is getting buffed, further pushing gemming crit and active mitigation for bears

Restokin: Everything's changed, enjoy your new spec! Same reforge priority though, oddly.

Hunters
You're getting buffed. I mean nerfed. I mean buffed. I mean nerfed...(meh, more haste gems?)

Paladin
Holy: Mana changes. Seal of Insight no longer returns mana, but Divine Plea returns more. Spirit/Mastery gemming changes depending on your proximity to the ~12k break.

Priest
While there aren't any changes here, it is worth pointing out that SoO raid gear is very light on Spirit+Haste gear with only 6/12 of the main slots being covered. So people will need to gem more for these stats than they were previously. This is more longterm strategy though.

Shaman
Resto: Healing Rain and Healing Tide Totem buff, however this does not change reforging.

Warrior
Arms/Fury: No stat changes, but I am excited that Bladestorm is on a 60second CD, and Arms is viable for raiding.  

Prot: Riposte added. This gives crit when you block/parry. Arguable incentive to gem passive mitigation.

RECOMMENDED CUTS:
So, crit/agi, haste/agi, haste/int, spirit/int, and mastery/str mixed cuts should get a decent bump based on the current PTR.
[Update Septemper 10, 2013]
      Now that the patch has been live for a bit, we have a little more data on recommended cuts. These are the most purchased cuts from a sampling of 5 servers. The cuts that were selling well on all or almost all servers are italicized.

Red  Brilliant, Delicate
Yellow  Quick, Smooth, Fractured
Blue  Sparkling
Purple  Purified, Glinting
Orange  Potent, Adept, Artful, Reckless, Deadly
Green  Energized, Misty, Lightning, Zen

GAMEPLAN:

     To take advantage of all these changes, and make enough to tide you over for a while, Jewelcrafters will need to follow a few steps. First, start prospecting ore now to build up a supply of gems. Go as crazy as you feel comfortable with here; Blizzard has confirmed that there will not be an epic gem released in 5.4 so you can continue selling this inventory until 6.0 is released (people have inventories of 2000+ of EACH rare gem, so go hog wild, you'll be fine). Make sure you have TradeSkillMaster set up appropriately for you, not for anyone else, but for you and your comfort/greed levels. (Click here if you need help with shuffling the uncommon gems)
     Have a couple stacks of the basics cut. You'll want to load up on pure agi, int, strength first, and then focus on Orange cuts and the wider used purple cuts like Agi/Hit, before moving on to the speculation list from above. However, the specific cuts that will sell vary wildly by server makeup, PVP vs PVE, and whether it's a strong progression server, so I cannot, unfortunately, give you a list of "the best Jewelcrafting cuts to make gold with in 5.4," but I can come close. If you go to The Undermine Journal, you can see a nice layout under Crafting->Jewelcrafting of all the cuts with the profitable ones highlit in red. Then, if you go to WoWuction you can see the demand for them. In other words, while a cut may be listed for a profitable price, there might only be 1 person a month who buys that specific gem, so why bother? Finally, if you don't know any of these cuts, make sure you finish up the daily cooldowns for them now. Oh, and grouping up in the Barrens is a great way to farm Spirits of Harmony for a second cooldown.
     Come release day, we may all be surprised by what gems actually sell, how ridiculous prices are, how large the market's demand is, or how small it is, but it's usually better to be the person who put him/herself in a position to profit. Prices WILL jump around. I like to keep The Consortium forums open in Chrome all day on Patch releases, just to make sure I don't miss anything.

Just keep prospecting! Just keep prospecting!

1. Prospect ore en masse.

2. Load up on Solid Pure Cuts. 

3. Research which cuts sell well for YOUR market, not anyone else's. Make these.

4. Learn anything you're missing.

5. Be ready and prepared to be flexible.

     Final note. This all applies to the enchanting market as well, since it's part of any mass-optimization change, although people tend to change out enchants much less frequently. Still, if you're an enchanter, the same rules apply. Have a material stock in place, make profitable crafts, and be ready. 

     Thanks for reading, and I look forward to the next guide, when we're only (*GULP*) a week away from Release Day. Follow me on Twitter if you haven't already and Share this with your guildies if it was helpful. Until next time remember to 

Sear. Craft. Post.

Every Day.

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