Processing money making methods
Buy a raw material, apply a skill, sell the result. Margins move with the market.
Processing methods work because not everyone can be bothered doing the conversion. Someone mines the ore, someone else wants the bar, and the gap between the two prices is what you collect for doing the middle step.
The important characteristic of processing is that the margin is set by the market and changes constantly. A method that was profitable last week may be break-even today, which makes checking current prices part of the method rather than an optional extra.
14 methods
Super combat potions
Combine super attack, strength and defence potions with torstol. Consumed constantly by every player doing PvM.
- Est. GP/hr
- 500k–1m
- Starting GP
- 5m
- Attention
- Moderate attention
- Requirements
- 90 Herblore
Plank making
Cast Plank Make on logs to produce planks. Trains Magic while supplying the Construction economy.
- Est. GP/hr
- 500k–1m
- Starting GP
- 5m
- Attention
- Moderate attention
- Requirements
- 86 Magic
Potion decanting
Buy low-dose potions, decant them into full doses, sell the result. No skill requirements at all.
- Est. GP/hr
- 300k–800k
- Starting GP
- 2m
- Attention
- Moderate attention
- Requirements
- None
Enchanted bolts
Tip bolts with gems and enchant them. Enchanted bolts are consumed in huge quantities by high-level Ranged.
- Est. GP/hr
- 300k–800k
- Starting GP
- 3m
- Attention
- Moderate attention
- Requirements
- 68 Magic, 76 Fletching
Unfinished potions
Combine clean herbs with vials of water. Fast, needs almost no attention, and the margin is usually positive.
- Est. GP/hr
- 300k–600k
- Starting GP
- 1m
- Attention
- Moderate attention
- Requirements
- 3 Herblore
Tanning dragonhide
Buy dragonhides, pay a tanner, sell the leather. No requirements beyond the coins to start.
- Est. GP/hr
- 300k–600k
- Starting GP
- 2m
- Attention
- Moderate attention
- Requirements
- None
Cleaning grimy herbs
Buy grimy herbs, clean them, sell them clean. The simplest processing loop in the game and it trains Herblore.
- Est. GP/hr
- 200k–500k
- Starting GP
- 500k
- Attention
- Moderate attention
- Requirements
- 3 Herblore
Bow stringing
Buy unstrung bows and bowstrings, string them, sell the finished bows. Very fast and needs little attention.
- Est. GP/hr
- 150k–450k
- Starting GP
- 1m
- Attention
- Moderate attention
- Requirements
- 5 Fletching
Battlestaff crafting
Attach elemental orbs to battlestaves. Primarily fast Crafting experience, with the cost partly offset.
- Est. GP/hr
- 100k–400k
- Starting GP
- 3m
- Attention
- Moderate attention
- Requirements
- 66 Crafting
Blast Furnace gold bars
Smelt gold ore into bars at the Blast Furnace for the fastest Smithing experience in the game, at close to break-even cost.
- Est. GP/hr
- 0–300k
- Starting GP
- 2m
- Attention
- Hands-on
- Requirements
- 60 Smithing
Cannonball smithing
Turn steel bars into cannonballs. Slow experience, steady profit and one of the most AFK activities available.
- Est. GP/hr
- 150k–300k
- Starting GP
- 500k
- Attention
- Very AFK
- Requirements
- 35 Smithing
Cooking raw fish
Buy raw fish, cook it, sell it cooked. A simple processing loop that trains Cooking at the same time.
- Est. GP/hr
- 80,000–250k
- Starting GP
- 200k
- Attention
- Moderate attention
- Requirements
- 40 Cooking
Steel bar smelting
Buy iron ore and coal, smelt steel bars, sell the bars. A simple free-to-play processing loop.
- Est. GP/hr
- 50,000–150k
- Starting GP
- 150k
- Attention
- Moderate attention
- Requirements
- 30 Smithing
Gold amulet crafting
Smelt gold bars into amulets and string them. Trains Crafting from level 8 and usually turns a small profit.
- Est. GP/hr
- 50,000–120k
- Starting GP
- 100k
- Attention
- Moderate attention
- Requirements
- 8 Crafting
What to know about this category
Check the spread before every batch
Processing margins move week to week and sometimes flip negative. Buying a full buy limit of a material without checking the output price first is how people train a skill at a loss while thinking they are profiting.
Buy limits apply to the input
The four-hour cap on the raw material limits how much you can process per cycle, regardless of how fast you can do the conversion.
The experience is often the real reward
Many processing methods are close to break-even in GP but excellent for training. Judged as free skill experience rather than as income, they look considerably better.