Little herblore calculation

[Hid]

First of all, sorry about the stupid layout, but I couldn't make a normal excel table. After submitting it just deleted all the "spaces" used in the table. I hope anyone has a better idea how to make this look better.

As everyone knows, herblore is a pretty expensive skill to level. With this little calculation table I just want to give you a bit of insight about costs and what potions are therefore cheapest to make.

I didn't add all potions, just the most commonly used ones. Most other potions don't sell anyway.

Basisdata Potions:
Potion___________________Herb_______________Second______________Level_____XP
Prayer potion_____________Ranarr______________Snapegrass___________38_______87,5
Summoning_______________Spiritweed__________Cockatrice egg________40_______92
Super attack_____________Irit_________________Eye of newt__________45_______100
Super energy_____________Avantoe____________Mort myre fungus______52_______117,5
Super strength____________Kwuarm____________Limpwurt root_________55________125
Super restore_____________Snapdragon_________Red spider eggs_______63________142,5
Super defense____________Cadantine___________Whiteberries__________66________150
Antifire-breath____________Lantadyme__________Dragon scale dust_____69________157,5
Ranging potion____________Dwarf weed_________Wine of zamorak_______72________162,5
Zammy brew_____________Torstol______________Jangerberries_________79________175
Sara brew_______________Toadflax_____________Crushed bird nest_____81________180


Costs/xp per potion

Potion___________Costs___ Revenue_Loss____Loss/XP__Costs 100k xp____Hours 100k xp
Prayer potion_____6.029____5.534___495____5,66______565.714________1,14
Summoning_______2.403____1.071___1.332__14,48_____1.477.826_______1,09
Super attack_____1.367_____684_____683____6,83_____683.000________1,00
Super energy_____1.710____1.224____486____4,14_____413.617________0,85
Super strength____4.028___3.183_____845____6,76_____676.000________0,80
Super restore_____7.491___ 6.424____1.067___7,49_____748.772________0,70
Super defense____1.875____922______953____6,35_____635.333________0,67
Antifire potion____1.923____860_____1.063___ 6,75_____674.921________0,63
Ranging potion___3.696____3.003____693_____4,26_____426.642________0,62
Zammy brew_____2.038____640_____1.398___8,60_____860.308_________0,62
Sara brew_______5.138____3.647____1.491___8,28_____828.333________0,56


The loss/xp means, that for every 1 xp you make, you will lose so much gp.
In this calculation I didn't include vials, they can be easily bought at shilo village and in Ardougne east, and it would be the same amount for every potion anyway. Doesn't influence the result of the calculation.

The obvious winners are super energy potions, and even better the ranging potions. Better cause, although it is a little more expensive, you need much less time to make them. Thus leaving you more time to earn money with another skill or train something else.

All prices are based on medium GE prices from the 31st of August 2008. Jangerberries and cockatrice eggs prices are from zybez.net and may not be 100 % up to date.

Important: prices can change, thus changing this calculation too. Over the last months it did show that above two potions, together with the prayer potion, were most interesting to use for herblore though.

I hope this helps anyone who is planning to raise his herblore skill.

[Lady in Ice]

Thank you, Hid!

This is definitely helpful for fast levelling

I just hate to spend so much money for gaining lvls .lol

Usually I get my herbs from the kingdom and then I´m buying or gathering seconds. < lvl 82 ftw! Always having at least little profit

[Hid]

In the end gathering your herbs and seconds yourself means the same financial loss, because you could have sold them to GE too, instead of using them.

You just don't notice the loss directly, it is a missed profit.

[Lady in Ice]

True

If im not mistaken then it´s called "alternative cost" or something like that in economics. Not sure about the terminology in English though

This is why I said I either gather or buy. My logic is like this : if I can make more money by other means in the same time instead of gathering seconds , then im buying. This is why I never gather limps myself, only buying ( or red spiders eggs) < better do other things in that time

And the kingdom rocks!! So i´m not wasting any time on herbs actually. The net cost of herbs from Miscellania is about 860 gp .

[damnimmart]

nice calculations hid.

and using your own herbs isn't really a loss, just a bit less profit then you could have made.

[Ewsentinel]

Thanks for the calculations hid. I'll definately use them the next time that I train herblore.

[bleedinghole]

We can drive down the cost of seconds and herbs. One of my biggest pet peeves on rs is beggars. Some of them are just complete noobs with no clue how to make money. I have found that training these folks in seconds gathering or farming is a way to get access to those supplies and bring about a bit less begging. If many of us train a few in gathering a needed supply, the glut of materials going into the market will cause a drop in cost. If we are instrumental in the cost reduction, we can purchase at that point where others are beginning to see the reduced price, and start to buy. At this point increased demand will counter the higher supply, and prices will oscillate for a while. So, we move to another material, and gather that until the first has stabilized. It woould take a concerted effort to bring about a substantial price break. I believe that rs rules on price manipulation are limited to buying and reselling in quantity to effect a change.