How to use the Black Market Auction House to get your Mighty Caravan Brutosaur

With the arrival of the pre-patch, the Reins of the Mighty Caravan Brutosaur went from a vendor item to an infrequent visitor on the Black Market Auction House (BMAH). It now joins things like the Reins of the Plagued Proto-Drake and bags of Darkmoon Faire tickets as obtainable only via the BMAH.

If you’ve never heard of this secret version of the auction house or only heard it mentioned in passing, here’s a bit of history and a primer on how to use it.

A brief history of shady dealings at the BMAH

Madam Goya, the proprietress of the BMAH, first showed up around the corner of the inn at the top of The Veiled Stair in Mists of Pandaria. She was a collector of the rare and exotic, and had riches unobtainable within the game. The proto-drake I just mentioned was a reward for getting the achievement Undying from 10-man Naxxramas — when the achievement was removed, the proto-drake disappeared.

But when we traveled to Draenor, Madam Goya came along, and she’s followed us through every expansion since. Here’s where you can find the Black Market Auction House in each expansion:

• The Veiled Stair in Pandaria, around the corner from the inn
• Nagrand, in the back of an ogre compound overlooking the Ring of Blood
• Dalaran in The Broken Isles, on the right side in the Sewers by the shark and fishing pools
• Boralus in Kul Tiras (where you’ll find Madam Goya’s associate Madam Gosu)
• Dazar’alor in Zandalar

In Battle for Azeroth. Madams Goya and Gosu are out of the way and surrounded by hostile mobs, but it’s worth the trip to obtain these otherwise unobtainable goodies.

How to use the Black Market Auction House

With each move, new goods have been added to Madam Goya’s offerings. Sometimes it’s gear with an extremely low drop rate. It could be pets, such as the faction pets from the Argent Tournament — and unless you love to joust, you probably don’t have those. There are also mounts and other fun items from the former World of Warcraft Trading Card Game. Every 24 hours, the offerings change, offering a new selection of rare goods.

Using the BMAH is pretty much like using the regular auction house. Once you’ve found the nearest BMAH, just click on either Madam Goya or Gosu and the box shown above will pop up. Not a lot was for sale when I took this photo. Some days, there can be as many as seven items, and other days you’ll just see a couple. It seems to depend completely on RNG which keeps people checking every day for what is for sale.

You see what’s offered; the item level, if applicable; how much time is left before the item expires; who is offering the item; and what the current bid is. The “Who” is a misnomer, as no players offer items for sale here, but it fits the theme: Madam Goya asks various NPCs if they have “excess inventory” they would be willing to part with. It’s all very hush-hush, don’t you know, but, as a purchaser, you want to know the goods are from “reputable” sources.

Mousing over the item will give you more information. For instance, the Deathwind Mantle in the image above is Priest-only and can only be used by people who did the Legendary cloak quest in Pandaria. Personally, I disagree with that restriction, since there’s no incentive for a Priest who did the Legendary quest to buy this unless they don’t want to go kill Ordos. However, the BMAH is the perfect place to put this kind of item for those who didn’t play during Pandaria and can’t currently get to Ordos. But I digress.

To bid on an item — and you can only bid, as nothing has a buyout price — just click on an item, such as the sewer rat. At the bottom of the panel, you see your available cash and a bid panel, and the game pops up a frame with an automatic bid for you. You can use that amount or change it. When you’ve successfully put in a bid, you’ll get a pop up that says “Your bid has been accepted.”

No need to hang around waiting for the results. Based on the amount of time left in the auction — Very Long, Long, Medium, or Short — you’ll wait from 30 minutes to 24 hours to find out if you’ve won. If you win the auction, it will arrive via in-game mail. If another player outbids you, you’ll get immediate mail from the BMAH returning your bid. If that happens, you can decide rebid or move along. To rebid, you have to return to the BMAH and start the whole process over, with a new (higher) bid.

Other ways to access the BMAH

You don’t necessarily have to be at the BMAH to view what’s available. Here are some shortcuts to checking the black market:

• If you’re a Rogue, there is a BMAH in the Rogue Class Hall in Legion
• If you have a garrison in Draenor, there’s a quest line which leads to a BMAH emissary being stationed there. You’ll need to have the shipyard and then do the Black Market Journal and subsequent missions. You can’t place bids with the emissary but, if you’re still spending time in Draenor (or are hanging on to your garrison hearthstone), it’s an easy way to see whether you need to head to your nearest BMAH
• One of the best things for those who utilize the BMAH a lot is the Encrypted Black Market Radio, a schematic learned in Mechagon. With this toy, you can see and place bids on items in the BMAH from anywhere in Azeroth and beyond. I always have a stack of 20 on me.

Where to find the BMAH in Shadowlands

Madam Goya isn’t making the trip to Shadowlands with us: she’s turning the running of the BMAH over to Cartel Ta. You’ll find Tax’era in the Night Market in Revendreth. It’s incredibly fitting for a shady enterprise to be in the shady area of Shadowlands.

These are the basics on using the BMAH. Over the years, I’ve purchased mounts, toys, pets, and gear. Once you get over the initial, “Wow, that’s a lot of money,” I think you’ll find it a lot of fun to see what’s for sale, bid, and then celebrate that T3 pair of pants you just got.