Chapter One - What Is Investing?

What Is Investing?

Investing has always existed in some way in RuneScape, although many players have conflicting ideas on what it is. Some deem investing to be the same as old-style merchanting, while others quote vague rumours about "amulets of glory" or "barrows sets".

The truth is that RuneScape investing is almost exactly like the real-life stock market. Shares (or in this case, items), are bought by the investor and held before being re-sold at a later time, hopefully for a profit. Investors in real life and in RuneScape use common sense and experience to decide what items to buy, when to buy them, and when to sell in order to turn over the most profit.

Why has the Grand Exchange made investing so much easier?

Before the introduction of the Grand Exchange in late 2007, investing was virtually unheard of. Prices were set solely by supply and demand, and could vary widely from world to world and day to day. This was not the type of environment real investing could take place in, because true investing requires a structured economy and prices driven solely by supply and demand. The more chaotic pre-Exchange environment was better suited for "old style" merchants, who hopped from world to world buying cheap and selling for a profit.

With the introduction of the Grand Exchange and later the trade limit, "old style" merchanting faded as the RuneScape economy became more structured and prices more regulated. The Grand Exchange also offered instant access to any tradeable item, a big difference from the chaotic searches required beforehand. This was the ideal situation for investing to begin, and so it did - encouraged by Jagex's introduction of the Grand Exchange Database (which is fittingly modelled after the New York Stock Exchange).

What does it take to be a successful investor?

	Anyone can learn to invest, but there are several requirements if you want to be successful: Basic knowledge of the Grand Exchange and price graphs Knowledge of price shifts and trends At least 100k initial cash Basic common sense
The information in this guide will give you the first two, but it's up to you to provide the rest. Armed with this guide, you will have all the information you need to tackle almost any investing situation you run into.

How much will I make as an investor?

Investing has almost unlimited profit potential, but there are two basic rules that govern your profit margin:

Pretty simply, the more you put in the more you can get out. While 5% profit of 50K is only 2,500gp, 5% of 5M is a healthy 250K in your pocket.

Again, a no-brainer. Whether you invest 50K or 5M, you'll make more profit if the item you invested in goes up by 10% then you will if it only increases by 5%.

Once you've become an accomplished investor and have a healthy stack of cash in your bank, you'll find that investing can bring in money faster then any other moneymakingmethod on Runescape, and with a fraction of the work. High level investors can easily bring in profits in the millions overnight - my personal best investment earned me a free Santa hat over two days. The sky's the limit - and now you're ready to get started!