Choosing your professions in WoW Classic is one of the most consequential decisions your character will ever make. Classic treats trade skills as core pillars of character progression, community influence, and gold making.
The absolute peak of wealth generation belongs to the S-Tier options (Herbalism, Alchemy, Mining, and Enchanting), which heavily capitalize on the unyielding weekly demands of end game raiders and rare jackpot drops. Sitting just below them are the highly reliable A-Tier choices (Skinning and Fishing), which provide stable, lower risk alternative income streams that excel during the leveling process ensuring every type of player has a viable path to financial success.
The S-Tier Choices
The S-Tier professions for gold making are Herbalism, Alchemy, Mining, and Enchanting. These choices dominate the economy because they either source or create high demand raid consumables, or tap directly into raw gold generation.
Enchanting
Enchanting becomes an S-Tier money maker primarily through Disenchanting (DE). It allows you to turn otherwise worthless, unsellable soulbound gear from dungeon runs into valuable 
Nexus Crystals, 
Large Brilliant Shards, and 
Illusion Dust. High end enchants (like Weapon – Spellpower or Crusader) are also incredibly lucrative, though they require tracking down rare raid drops.
Herbalism
Herbalism is the absolute titan of raw economic power. Every single week, thousands of level 60 players must buy dozens of flasks, elixirs, and potions to clear Molten Core, Blackwing Lair, Temple of Ahn’Qiraj, and Naxxramas. Because these consumables disappear upon death or duration expiration, the demand for raw herbs never wavers throughout the lifespan of the game.
The centerpiece of Herbalism‘s immense value is the legendary 
Black Lotus, required to craft all end game raid flasks. Because Black Lotus spawns on strict, contested timers across high level zone, securing even one or two nodes per week yields enormous profits. Beyond Black Lotus, staple herbs such as 
Plaguebloom, 
Mountain Silversage, 
Dreamfoil, and 
Ghost Mushroom sell in staggering volumes on every active server’s auction house. and There is a chance to get a Black Lotus as bonus loot when picking Plaguebloom, Mountain Silversage, and Dreamfoil.
Alchemy
Alchemy represents the manufacturing counterpart to Herbalism’s raw harvesting power. While gatherers run the physical risk of running around the open world, alchemists can generate massive profits without ever stepping outside the comfort of Ironforge or Orgrimmar. The raid consumable economy flows directly through Alchemy, making it one of the most reliable passive and active income streams available.
At maximum skill, an alchemist gains access to daily transmutation cooldowns. The primary money maker is 
Transmute: Arcanite, which turns one 
Thorium Bar and one 
Arcane Crystal into an Arcanite Bar. Because Arcanite Bar is required in enormous quantities for 
Lionheart Helm, 
Arcanite Reaper, 
Titanic Leggings, and legendary weapons like 
Thunderfury, Blessed Blade of the Windseeker and 
Sulfuron Hammer, selling your transmute cooldown every 48 hours provides effortless, risk free baseline revenue.
Mining
Mining shares the upper economic echelon with Herbalism, serving as the critical lifeblood for Engineering and Blacksmithing. In Classic, raw ore, stone, and rare gems are constantly depleted by crafters who need heavy quantities of consumables and specialized gear.
The crown jewel of Mining is Rich Thorium Vein, which have a chance to drop precious Arcane Crystal alongside 
Thorium Ore. A single Arcane Crystal can easily fund several days of raiding expenses, making Thorium routes in Un’Goro Crater, Winterspring, and the Burning Steppes high stakes conflict points. Additionally, 
Dark Iron Ore found exclusively inside Blackrock Depths and Molten Core, is mandatory for crafting 
Dark Iron Bar, ensuring high demand well into the late phases of raiding.
A-Tier Professions for Gold Making
The A-Tier professions for gold making are Skinning and Fishing. While they lack the massive open world jackpot drops of Mining (Arcane Crystals) or the high volume raiding reliance of Herbalism/Alchemy, they offer incredibly reliable, highly accessible income streams with far less market volatility.
Skinning
Skinning provides a constant influx of basic leather (Ruined, Light, Medium, Heavy, Thick, and Rugged) that you can sell it in the Auction House. At end game, it spikes in value due to Devilsaur Leather in Un’Goro Crater, which is used to craft pre raid Best in Slot (Devilcore Gauntlets and Devilcore Leggings) for Rogue, Hunter, and Warrior.
It is the absolute best profession to make gold while leveling up because it requires zero detours, you skin the beasts you are already killing for quests. It slips from S-tier because base leather sells for very low prices later in a server’s lifecycle, and the Devilsaur market is often aggressively monopolized by high end guilds.
Fishing
Fishing is technically a secondary profession, meaning it does not count against your two primary profession limit. It taps into exclusive aquatic reagents that Alchemists and Chefs desperately need, such as 
Oily Blackmouth, 
Stonescale Eel (crucial for Free Action Potion and Flask of the Titans), 
Winter Squid (for Grilled Squid that restores health and provied Agility boost), and 
Raw Nightfin Snapper (for Nightfin Soup that restores health and Mana).
It requires zero combat gear, zero level optimization, and can be farmed safely in low level or isolated zones. However, it is an A-Tier asset because it is highly repetitive, time intensive, and mentally taxing if you don’t enjoy static, slow paced gameplay.
Final Thoughts
Ultimately, your ideal setup depends heavily on your daily playstyle and how much time you want to dedicate exclusively to grinding. If you enjoy highly competitive, active open world mapping and dungeon farming, locking in an S-Tier combination like Herbalism and Enchanting will yield massive payouts.