What a processing flip is
A normal flip buys an item and sells the same item higher. A processing flip buys materials, uses a
skill to turn them into a different tradeable item, and sells that. The profit doesn't come from guessing the
market — it comes from a gap that stays open because turning the materials into the product costs somebody
time and a skill level. That makes these margins far more stable than price-movement flips, and it's why they
survive on items with heavy, predictable demand: arrows and bolts get fired, potions get drunk, cannonballs get
shot. This board carries 59 recipes across six skills —
Fletching (22),
Crafting (15), Herblore (13), Magic (6), Smithing (2)
and Cooking (1) — spanning levels 1 to 95. Every recipe's items, quantities and levels are verified against the
Old School RuneScape Wiki; anything whose items don't resolve to real Grand Exchange items is dropped rather
than guessed at.
How to read the board
From lists the exact materials and quantities for one batch, and Make is what that batch
produces. Batch sizes follow the game rather than being normalised to one unit, so the numbers match what you
actually click: bolts and bolt tips come in tens, arrows in fifteens, darts singly, one ruby cuts into 12 tips,
one onyx into 24, and one steel bar smiths into four cannonballs. Cost is the materials at their current
instant-buy prices. Profit is the batch's sale value minus the
2% GE tax minus
that cost. ROI is profit as a percentage of cost. Hover the ⓘ on a row for its note — that's where
one-time unlocks and non-obvious substitutions are recorded.
Profit or ROI — which column should you sort by?
They answer different questions and the table defaults to profit. Sort by profit when your limit is
time: you want the most gp from each batch you click through, and you have enough capital to buy materials in
bulk. Sort by ROI when your limit is capital: a 40% return on a 20k batch beats a 3% return on a 2m
batch if you can only afford the smaller one, and it compounds faster. The trap in both directions is buy
limits — a spectacular margin on a material you can only buy a few hundred of every four hours is a smaller
business than a thin margin on something unlimited, which is the same lesson as
volume vs margin. If you're working out what your bank can support, see
what can I flip with X gp.
Levels, unlocks and what the numbers leave out
Each row lists the skill level the recipe needs, and some also need a one-time unlock that the board notes
but cannot price: cannonballs require the Dwarf Cannon quest and an ammo mould, cooked karambwan require the
Tai Bwo Wannai Trio quest, gem cutting needs a chisel, glassblowing needs a pipe, and d'hide bodies need a
needle and thread. Bolt enchantment
recipes include their runes in the cost. Two things are deliberately not counted. The first is your
time — a 200 gp margin on an item you can process thousands of per hour is a real income, the same margin
on something you make one at a time is not. The second is the spread: materials are costed at the
instant-buy price and the product valued at its instant-buy price, so if your sell offer sits below that, your
realised margin is thinner. Buying materials with patient offers and selling with patient offers moves both
edges your way. Only currently profitable recipes are listed, ranked by profit, and the board is cached for two
minutes.
FAQ
- Is the GE tax already subtracted? Yes. Every profit figure is net of the 2% sale tax, which is
capped at 5,000,000 gp per item and doesn't apply to items selling under 50 gp.
- Why did a recipe disappear from the board? Only profitable recipes are shown. When material prices
rise or the product's price falls, the recipe drops off until the gap reopens — that's the board working, not
a bug.
- Do I need the skill level to do these? Yes, and the level is listed on every row. A few also need a
one-time quest or tool unlock, noted via the ⓘ marker; the board can't check your account for those.
- Does this count my time? No. Profit is per batch, so a small margin on a fast, high-volume recipe
often beats a large margin on a slow one. Compare against the effort, not just the number.
- Where do the recipes come from? Every one is verified against the OSRS Wiki — exact items,
quantities, levels and real batch sizes. Recipes whose items don't resolve to real GE items are dropped, never
invented.
Related reading: merching vs flipping vs other money-making puts
processing in context, the GE tax explained covers the 2% and its
exemptions, and how to flip in OSRS is the starting point if you're new.
The sibling conversion boards are decanting (lossless potion-dose arbitrage) and
high alch (the one method with no GE tax). Track what you've bought on the
flip tracker.
Start flipping — free live board → Read the guides