The 1 silver minimum deposit at WoW: Forever's Auction House lasted all of two days: Blizzard has confirmed the floor drops back to 1 copper. The word comes from Kris Zierhut, relayed by Wowhead on November 6 at 13:08 US Central (3:08 a.m. November 7, Beijing time), at the tail end of his interview with Crix — the change is coming soon, but no date has been announced.
For anyone weighing whether a stack of herbs is worth listing, the difference is real money. Since launch, every listing has carried a deposit of at least 1 silver. Wowhead's tests the day after launch (November 5, US Central) showed what that means in practice: an item worth 4 silver 61 copper to vendors should cost 92 copper to list for 8 hours under the classic formula — 20% of vendor price — but the game charges a flat 1 silver, and cheaper items pay the same, down to the last copper. Deposits come back in full when an item sells; cancel the listing or let it expire, and the money is gone. In the launch-week economy, listing copper-tier materials like low-level herbs and ore has been a bet of 1 silver a pop.
The old explanation is dead: not a carried-over bug, a rule being removed
The statement overturns the only explanation on the table 20 hours earlier. Back then Blizzard had said nothing about the floor: during the beta, which closed October 24, players filed bug reports over the inflated charge, and Wowhead's best guess was that the rule had ridden in on the retail client Forever runs on — retail's Auction House has charged a 1 silver minimum since 2018 or earlier. The developer has now said, for the first time, that it is not a rule to keep. It is one being removed.
The team discussed it that morning and decided by afternoon
Zierhut recounted how the call was made: earlier that day the team was still debating what the deposit floor should be, they talked it over a bit longer, and settled on 1 copper. "That's coming. Not yet, but coming." His remarks contained no date — "soon" is the entire timetable Blizzard has offered.
After the change: deposits scale with vendor price again
What Blizzard has confirmed is the floor. How the deposit itself is calculated has not been spelled out; Wowhead expects a return to the classic formula — a percentage of the item's vendor price, set by the listing duration:
| Duration | Deposit |
|---|---|
| 2 hours | 5% of vendor price |
| 8 hours | 20% of vendor price |
| 24 hours | 60% of vendor price |
The numbers make the gap plain. A herb worth 10 copper to vendors currently costs a full 1 silver (100 copper) to list for 8 hours, all of it forfeited if the listing expires. Under the classic formula, the same listing would cost 2 copper — refunded on a sale, a 2 copper loss on an expiry. That cuts the cost of a failed listing to one-fiftieth, and gives the fast-accumulating cheap materials of launch week their listing rights back. Wowhead's reading of the change amounts to the same thing: players will no longer take on significant risk when they post an item.
When does it go live? The date is still in Blizzard's hands
What is known: the number (1 copper), the direction (down), the timetable (soon). What is not announced: when it goes live, and whether it arrives as a hotfix or a client patch. Later that same day Blizzard posted its November 6 hotfix notes — a Voidwalker health bump for warlocks, Arcane Blast fixed to last 18 seconds, Zaetar's Spirit now spawning after Princess Theradras falls in Maraudon, plus a batch of class, dungeon and quest fixes — and deposits are nowhere in it. The words "auction house" do not appear at all.
Until it lands, vendor the cheap stuff
With no date attached, the play for the next few days does not change: sell copper-tier materials to vendors for guaranteed coin instead of gambling 1 silver per listing, and keep posting anything expensive, where the deposit is trivial next to the price. To catch the change the moment it ships, watch two places — the official hotfix notes, and the deposit line on the Auction House posting window. The day 1 silver turns into a few copper is the day the hoard of cheap herbs and ore in your bank can move to the auction block.