Every private server has a shop policy, and most bury it three clicks deep. Our entries record what each project sells where the evidence exists. This post compares the models, from the most aggressive to the absent.
Tier 1: power above the endgame
Reaper-WoW places custom donor gear above Mythic 9, its endgame baseline, stated in its own release notes. That is the strongest form of pay-for-power on the tracker: not catch-up gear, not convenience, but items better than anything earnable.
UnlimitedWoW stat-boosts all Donor and VIP gear on every tier release as a stated standard. The shop scales with content, so the advantage never decays. A reader comparing this to Reaper should note the difference: Reaper sells above the ceiling once, UnlimitedWoW raises the ceiling repeatedly.
Tier 2: boosts and conveniences
Kronos V runs a character auction plus donate shop. An auction for characters is a secondary market with the project's cut, distinct from selling gear directly but adjacent in effect.
Project Astral runs a Prestige Store with token lockout resets. Resetting a lockout for payment converts money into extra chances at gear, which is power on a delay rather than power outright.
WoW-Vicious is too new to judge but worth watching: fresh install, zero players, shop structure already in place.
Tier 3: vote stores and cosmetics
Aethro: Reborn runs a vote store plus premium, with referral rewards. Voting takes time rather than money, so the exchange rate is hours to items.
NovaCraft runs a cosmetic shop only with explicit no pay-to-win. Lighthaven, non-profit and open-source, runs no shop at all.
Tier 4: the no-shop holdouts
Elwynnkeep (1x, no shop, no pay-to-win), Stonetavern (no shop on either realm, donations cover the bill and buy nothing), Eternal Gaming (no pay-to-win, blizzlike). These projects fund through donations that purchase nothing, which is a distinct economic model rather than the absence of one: the server bill gets paid by goodwill, and goodwill is finite.
How to read any shop, including these
Three questions, in order. What is sold: gear, boosts, cosmetics, or nothing. When it scales: once, per tier, or never. Who admits it: stated on the site, buried in patch notes, or discovered by players.
Reaper states its donor gear in release notes. UnlimitedWoW states its boost policy as a standard. Those are the honest versions of aggressive monetization, and honesty about a bad deal beats silence about a good one.
The entries to distrust are the ones where the shop page exists but the policy does not. A store tab with no stated rules is not evidence of fairness; it is evidence of a page.
SOURCES: our own tracker entries, each read first-party with shop evidence quoted from project sites, changelogs and release notes. Shop contents change without notice; every claim above carries its check date in the entry. Related: how we review a private server, the grading scale, and the correction policy.