TSM Ledger:
Today, I noticed that using the TSM Ledger (via the TradeSkillMaster (TSM) Website) to detail my sales data for my Fortnightly Sales Reports was flawed. If you’ve been checking my updates regularly, you’ll be aware that I use the TSM Ledger to detail the purchases and sales for the previous fortnight. But this data is incorrect.
I assure you that there is no issue regarding the application itself; it was merely an oversight on my part!
Spreadsheet:
As well as using TSM to record my data, I also use a spreadsheet that records gold balances on all my realms. This spreadsheet records increases and decreases per realm, giving me a total gold balance across all my realms. Thus, every fortnight, the total gold made was substantially different from what TSM Ledger recorded.
Discrepancies:
Not only gold unaccounted for, but there were also discrepancies with specific items bought and sold. For example, I’d loot mailboxes with items purchased, yet TSM Ledger had no purchase data for that given fortnight. Then it dawned on me that when I use the TSM Ledger to collect data for that fortnight, it doesn’t include the sales data I made 48 hours after posting auctions from the previous fortnight.
Further Clarification:
For those still unsure what I mean, here are two images. The first image is the TSM Ledger data I posted on my last Fortnightly Gold-Making Report.
I made 6.4m gold in purchases, and 6.7m gold in sales, thus recording a 272k profit.
The second image below is from today (01.06.21) for the same timeframe but clearly shows its sales and purchase data discrepancies compared to the previous image. This discrepancy is because I’ve incorrectly collected data for this fortnight that should’ve calculated towards last fortnight’s data.
The updated data shows 6.7m gold in purchases, and sales of 10.4m gold, thus recording a profit of 3.6m gold. This figure also corresponds with the figures collected via my spreadsheet.
For example, if I reposted expired auctions on Thursday 6th May and made a sale, when I repost my expired auctions and collect my gold next fortnight, the sale will be recorded for the new fortnightly sales data, not the last fortnight. TSM Ledger will do the opposite (because it records data by date), and it’s this that has been a flaw in all my fortnightly gold-making sales reports.
Future Gold-Making Reports:
I’ve decided to delay tomorrow’s fortnightly gold-making report (even though I completed my auctions yesterday) and will post it in two weeks. My thought process is to post my reports two weeks behind, meaning that the data collected for that fortnight will be complete and shouldn’t affect the data for future fortnightly reports.
I will no longer consolidate sales from my mailbox; instead, I will look to do so from the TSM Ledger. However, I still believe it’s best to consolidate these sales into categories, so readers can easily see the profitable markets. Unfortunately, the cut and pastes weren’t too clean, so they were hard to view.
My Apology:
I only realized about these issues this morning, and in keeping with my belief in complete transparency, I felt it was appropriate to post this immediately and offer a full explanation.
This issue was a simple oversight on my part and a result of jumping into something I didn’t fully appreciate until now, and I’m sorry for this. I’ll have clear and concise fortnightly gold-making sales reports again in two weeks; please consider checking them out.
I pride myself on these reports, as they help give those who read them an idea of whether it’s worth operating in a market I share. Flawed data will undoubtedly affect this, and hopefully, with these new changes, reassure you that the markets I operate in are incredibly profitable and worthwhile.
So, again, I apologize, and I’ll strive to do better!
Thanks for reading!