Yes. But you will find that the economy grows very quickly, and selling on the AH yeilds a profit soon enough.
One mod I find extremely useful: informant. Informant is 'bundled' with auctioneer. On a new server, auctioneer is helpful to keep track of price trends only. As you've stated, for awhile, folks are as poor as anybody else. But informant helps you when you are making your bucks vendoring.
Without high levels making-questing large bags, space is at a premium. Informant gives you vendor prices on items, as well as stack sizes, letting you know which grey-white items you might want to hang on too, and which are truly not worth the pack space. What I did when Azshara opened, I kept EVERYTHING while I was grinding-instancing. When I got to 2-3 slots, I dumped the least valuable of the items. My goal was to always have at least one slot available for a boss drop, and to always go back to town with full inventory.
And remember, what is a 'decent rate' on a new server is a lot less than an old one. Money is only useful in-game for training, and for purchasing items. A low economy works both ways. You make less money selling, but you buy items at a lower rate as well.
