Quote Originally Posted by Urthdigger View Post
I think you misunderstood. I am not saying gathering mats yourself has no benefit. Far from it. I am saying that it's the mat gathering that makes you money, and you're actually losing money on the synth since you could have sold the raw materials for more.
True, but there are two contrary points.

One is that there's no reason you can't do both. I could easily farm mats for myself while using some and selling the rest. Also, sometimes crafting with the mats can net you more gil. For instance, I can get more gil by making lumber instead of selling logs.

Also, crafting with the mats and leveling up your crafts can get you access to other recipes or mats that can net you more gil. I just made quite a bit of gil selling mythril ores. Once I get smithing leveled more I'll be able to make ingots out of those ores and make even more gil, as the ores sell for more than the raw ores.