OSRS Merching Guide — Advanced Strategies

Merching vs Flipping

While the terms are often used interchangeably, flipping and merching are fundamentally different approaches to making money on the Grand Exchange. Flipping is short-term margin trading — you buy and sell the same item within minutes or hours, profiting from the bid-ask spread. Merching is longer-term speculation and bulk trading, where you buy items and hold them for days, weeks, or even months, waiting for prices to rise.

Flipping is lower risk and lower reward per trade but offers consistent income. Merching carries more risk — prices can drop instead of rising — but the potential returns are much higher. The best Grand Exchange traders use both strategies simultaneously: flipping for daily income and merching for larger long-term gains. If you are new to GE trading, read our Flipping Guide first before attempting these advanced strategies.

Update Merching

Game updates are the single biggest driver of price changes in OSRS. Every Wednesday when Jagex releases an update, prices of related items can shift dramatically. Successful update merching means anticipating which items will be affected and buying them before the update goes live.

How to Predict Update Impact

Jagex typically previews upcoming content through blog posts, livestreams, and social media. Pay attention to:

• New content requiring existing items: A new quest that requires specific items will spike demand for those items. Buy them before release day.
• Balance changes: If a weapon is being buffed, its price will rise. If a boss is being nerfed, its unique drops may fall as more players farm it.
• New training methods: A new Smithing training method could crash the prices of bars if it introduces a better alternative, or spike supply costs if it increases demand.
• Seasonal events: Holiday events, Leagues, and Deadman Mode all create predictable demand patterns for specific items.

The key is buying 1-2 weeks before the update, not the day of. By the time an update drops, most of the price movement has already happened as other merchers front-run the update. Track upcoming changes through our Market Watch to spot trends early.

Bulk Trading

Bulk trading is the practice of buying massive quantities of cheap, high-volume items and selling them during peak demand periods. This strategy works because of predictable daily and weekly price patterns in OSRS.

Time-Based Trading

OSRS item prices fluctuate throughout the day based on player activity. Prices for consumables (food, potions, runes) tend to be lower during off-peak hours (early morning GMT) when fewer players are online and supply outpaces demand. During peak hours (evening GMT, weekends), demand surges as players log on for PvM and PvP, pushing prices up.

The strategy is simple: place bulk buy orders at slightly below average price during off-peak times, then sell during peak times at a premium. On high-volume items like sharks, super restores, and runes, even a 1-2% daily swing across tens of thousands of items adds up to significant profit.

Popular Bulk Items

• Food: Sharks, anglerfish, manta rays, karambwans — consumed in large quantities by PvM players
• Potions: Super restores, prayer potions, ranging potions, super combat potions
• Runes: Blood runes, death runes, wrath runes — always in demand for PvM and skilling
• Ammunition: Dragon arrows, ruby dragon bolts (e), amethyst broad bolts

Market Analysis

Successful merching requires understanding the broader OSRS economy, not just individual item prices. Think of the market in sectors: PvM supplies, skilling supplies, combat gear, ranged gear, magic gear, and so on.

Reading Market Trends

Use our Market Watch to track sector-level trends. When an entire sector is trending downward, it may represent a buying opportunity if the underlying demand drivers have not changed. For example, if PvM gear prices are falling during a mid-week lull, they will likely recover by the weekend when more players are raiding.

Look for items that are undervalued relative to their sector. If most God Wars Dungeon items are stable but one is trending down for no obvious reason, it may be oversold and due for a correction. Conversely, be cautious about items that have spiked sharply — they often correct back down.

Volume Analysis

Price is only half the picture. Always check trading volume alongside price. A price increase on high volume suggests genuine demand. A price increase on low volume could be manipulation and is likely to reverse. Our Item Database shows volume data alongside price history for every item.

Risk Management

Merching involves real risk — prices can drop, updates can go differently than expected, and markets can shift against you. Proper risk management is what separates successful merchers from those who lose their bank.

• Never invest more than 20% of your bank in one item. Even if you are confident about a trade, spreading your risk across multiple items protects you from unexpected losses.
• Diversify across sectors. Do not put all your gold into PvM gear. Spread across consumables, skilling supplies, and equipment so that a downturn in one sector does not wipe out your portfolio.
• Set stop-losses mentally. Decide before you buy at what price you will cut your losses and sell. If an item drops 10% below your buy price, it is usually better to sell and move on rather than hoping for a recovery.
• Use price alerts. Set up Price Alerts on items you hold so you are immediately notified of significant price changes. This lets you react quickly instead of checking prices manually.
• Keep cash reserves. Never invest 100% of your bank. Keep at least 30% in liquid gold so you can take advantage of sudden opportunities or cover unexpected losses.

Common Merching Items

While any item can be merched, certain categories consistently offer good opportunities due to their high demand and predictable price patterns.

High-Volume Consumables

Food, potions, and runes are consumed in massive quantities every day. They have predictable daily price cycles and recover quickly from dips because demand is constant. Sharks, super restores, and blood runes are classic merching staples.

PvM Supplies

Items like divine super combat potions, ranging potions, anglerfish, and ruby dragon bolts (e) are consumed by PvM players daily. Demand spikes on weekends and during popular community events. These items have high buy limits and consistent volume.

Skilling Supplies

Raw materials like ores, logs, herbs, and gems move in large volumes. They are affected by updates to training methods, bonus XP events, and new content releases. Watch for announcements about skill-related updates to front-run demand changes.