Crafting as a service outside de Market Board?

[Lyzern]

95+% of the time people who want to hire a crafter outside the market board just want stuff cheaper than what it is worth on the market board. Not only will you make less than selling on the MB, but you will also waste a lot of time coordinating with that person. I'll do stuff off the MB for my friends and FC mates, but it is because I am doing them a favor, not because it is a profitable or efficient business model.

This is not necessarily a problem.

Selling on the MB has a lot of disadvantages:

1) Taxes
2) Time it takes to sell (I would much prefer selling 10 HQ Artisan's Aprons at 900k, if they sold instantly than having them take up space in the retainers' sales.)
3) Investment. You don't know if your item will sell soon, or if it will decrease price. With a direct buyer, you know how much he'll be paying and it will be instant.

[Yumi_umi]

Also when u sell on MB u have to always factor in how far is the server progressing.
When gear becomes unlocked in coil etc the needs for high end accessories kinda plummet as ppl won't really need them as time goes by so ppl who want em will most likely pm private crafters due to the high prices on the MB that don't match the flow of progression.
I.e 2.5 mill platinum accessories seem decent when accessories 1st came out. But now tht more ppl have a lucis / and fcob being unlocked the monopolization of meeting reqs for coil is slowly dropping therefore making the MB a slower / gil inefficient investment.

[Alx789]

When i hadn't enough skills and gear to craft 3-4 stars myself, i sent tells to sellers of needed items on the market to buy items directly. It saves at least 5% of the market price for seller and 10% for market buyer.

[scarebearz]

but on some servers it's cutthroat with undercutting.

[PariSexus]

It also depends on the buyer. I have had people contact me after they see a listing because they want a better price or just to buy directly so both parties avoid the tax involved in buying and selling off the market board. Making a name for yourself and having a good reputation goes a long way. Like someone above mentioned when crafting directly make sure all cards are on the table and both parties know what happens if you happen to NQ an item. Also if mass crafting, its not a bad idea to find direct distributors instead of Market Board. For example, I hate farming my own clusters. It eats a percentage of the profit but I don't like spending hours farming so I found a direct provider who will sell them to me cheaper if I buy in bulk.

Promoting your crafting services on PF is perfectly fine. Promoting your Battle services as well.

[Darra]

I'm still not happy with you! Want to buy more platinum nuggets?

[scarebearz]

I'm still not happy with you! Want to buy more platinum nuggets?

xD

Not yet, but Could do with some other stuff! xD PM me m8 if you wanna make em

[Shadygrove]

I sometimes see high level crafters advertising on the party finder.

[Doblerico]

I liked all the answers and I think will be useful. thank you very much