POE2 Early Game Currency Guide: Crafting & Flipping for Profit

Every player wants to make more currency in the early days of a Path of Exile 2 league, but not everyone has a build that can clear the hardest content. What if you could generate wealth directly from the trade market itself?

This guide details a powerful and consistent strategy for early-game profit: buying undervalued, "unfinished" transitional gear and selling it for a massive profit after a simple crafting step.

The core principle is simple: we find items that other players have listed for a very low price simply because they are missing one key element—like sockets or a single modifier. By investing a small amount of currency (an Exalted Orb or some Jeweller's Orbs), we can multiply the item's value several times over. While these are still transitional items, they are in extremely high demand during the first few weeks of a league, making them perfect for quick and profitable flips.

Here are three proven strategies you can start using today.

Strategy 1: The High Energy Shield Body Armour

Many players focus only on modifiers and forget that sockets are a crucial part of an item's value. We can exploit this.

• The Goal: Find a high Energy Shield body armour with zero sockets that we can easily socket and resell.

• Trade Site Search Filters:

  • Item Category: Body Armour
  • Stats:
    • +# to maximum Energy Shield: Min 500-600
    • +#% to Total Resistances: Min 30
    • +# to Spirit: Min 30
  • Sockets: Set Sockets (Max) to 0. This is the key filter.
  • Price: Set Max Price to 5 Exalted Orbs.

• The Craft & Flip: Buy any chest pieces that match this search. Because they have no sockets, they are often listed for far below their true value. Take the item to your bench and use Jeweller's Orbs and Orb of Fusing to craft 6 sockets and link them.

  In my experience, a chest piece bought for under 5ex can be easily sold for 15-20ex after you add the sockets.

Strategy 2: The High-Potential Ring

Many players will list a ring with two good mods for a cheap price if it doesn't have a third synergistic mod. This is our opportunity.

• The Goal: Find a ring with two good existing mods and an open prefix, then use an Exalted Orb to try and hit a third valuable prefix.

• Trade Site Search Filters:

  • Item Category: Ring
  • Stats:
    • Adds # to # {Element/Physical} Damage to Attacks: Min 20 (on the top-end value)
    • +#% to Total Resistances: Min 40
  • Filters:
    • Set "Empty Prefix Modifiers" to 1.
  • Price: Set Max Price to 5 Exalted Orbs.

• The Craft & Flip: Buy the ring and use a single Exalted Orb on it. Your goal is to hit another flat damage prefix (Physical, Fire, Cold, or Lightning). If you succeed and create a "double flat damage" ring with a good resistance, its value skyrockets.

  A ring bought for under 5ex can easily sell for 30-50ex if you hit a second decent damage roll.

Strategy 3: The Three-Suffix Belt

Early in the league, players are desperate for resistances and attributes on their belts. A belt with three good suffixes is always in high demand.

• The Goal: Find a belt with good existing mods but only one or two suffixes, leaving room to add more.

• Trade Site Search Filters:

  • Item Category: Belt
  • Stats:
    • +#% to Total Resistances: Min 60+ (from one or two existing mods)
  • Filters:
    • Set "Empty Suffix Modifiers" to 1 or 2.
  • Price: Filter for belts listed at a low price.

• The Craft & Flip: Buy a belt with good resistances and an open suffix. Use an Exalted Orb and hope to hit another resistance, a high attribute roll (Strength/Dexterity/Intelligence), or another utility mod. A belt with three solid suffixes will sell very quickly in the early league.

Conclusion

This entire strategy boils down to one thing: identifying hidden potential. You are buying items that other players have deemed "incomplete" and, with a single, simple crafting step, completing them to unlock their true market value.

You might worry that your crafted items won't sell, but remember that this is a numbers game. The profit model works because you are buying the raw materials at such a low price, and the demand for good "transitional" gear is always high in the first month of a league. Because you are constantly scanning the market and crafting, the number of potential profit opportunities you see is enormous. Use these three examples as a template, and start discovering your own profitable flips today!