Methodology
This page documents how GE IQ turns raw prices from the OSRS Wiki real-time pricing API into the numbers you see in the tool. Nothing here is proprietary; the whole point is that every figure should be reproducible from public inputs.
Data sources
- Prices, volumes, timestamps: the official RuneScape Wiki real-time pricing API, endpoints
/mapping,/latest,/5m,/1h,/timeseries. - Item icons and metadata: the OSRS Wiki.
- Update-impact data: the public osrs-update-impact-tracker repository.
GE IQ does not scrape private sources, does not use insider price feeds, and does not touch any data from inside your OSRS account.
Refresh cadence
The client polls the Wiki API roughly every two minutes. Volume aggregates over 5-minute and 1-hour windows are refreshed on the same cadence. A price you see in the tool is therefore never older than about two minutes, but it is also never more current than the Wiki API itself.
Prices used for a flip
In OSRS Wiki API terminology, high is the most recent insta-buy price and low is the most recent insta-sell price. In GE IQ that maps to:
- Buy at:
low. This is what someone was willing to sell for; you buy from them. - Sell at:
high. This is what someone was willing to buy for; you sell to them.
Margin (after tax)
GE IQ always reports the net margin after the 2% Grand Exchange tax, capped at 5,000,000 GP per item:
margin = high − low − min(floor(high × 0.02), 5,000,000)
An item with a non-positive margin is not shown as flippable.
ROI
ROI is the tax-aware margin divided by the buy price:
roi = (margin ÷ low) × 100%
Extreme ROI values usually indicate low-volume noise, not real opportunity. GE IQ excludes ROI above 60% from its top-flip rankings for that reason.
Volume and daily-volume estimate
Volume is the sum of insta-buy and insta-sell counts over a rolling window. The 5-minute and 1-hour figures come straight from the Wiki API. The "daily volume" figure is a simple projection (hourly volume × 24) used as an ordering hint; it is not a claim about tomorrow's real volume.
Flip grade A to F
Each item is graded from A to F based on margin, five-minute volume, ROI, and value:
- F: margin missing, below 1,000 GP, volume below 5, or value below 1,000 GP.
- D: flippable but marginal.
- C: margin at least 10,000 GP and volume at least 100.
- B: margin at least 50,000 GP, volume at least 500, ROI at least 1%.
- A: margin at least 100,000 GP, volume at least 1,000, ROI at least 1%.
A grade is not a prediction. It is a snapshot summary of size and liquidity right now.
Flip score
Rankings inside the tool use a score that combines margin and volume:
score = margin × log(volume + 1)
The logarithm dampens huge volume figures so a rune with 200,000 daily trades does not dominate every top-10 list. Score is used for sitemap priority and for the "top flips" API endpoint.
Buy-limit-aware profit ceiling
Every item has a 4-hour buy limit set by Jagex. Profit per full cycle is margin × buy limit, and this is displayed alongside per-unit margin so a small-limit high-margin item can be compared to a large-limit low-margin item.
Stability signal
A margin that has held over several data points is more useful than one that just spiked. GE IQ compares the current margin to the previous hour's margin and flags items as stable, moderate, or volatile. This signal is descriptive only.
What GE IQ does not claim
- It does not claim any flip will be profitable. Prices move; the API can be delayed; buy offers can go unfilled.
- It does not predict future prices. Every figure is derived from public data available right now.
- It is not affiliated with Jagex Ltd. Trademarks belong to their respective owners.