Frizze... I very much appreciate the significant time and thought you put into your detailed lengthy response. THANK YOU!

Only been playing for about a month and ended up with a couple of pinkies, which naturally were not for my class, so your post covered all the options!

I don't like crafting much, but I love the marketplace (my RL career was in sales... hehehe) which is to say I love making money (Gil). I've never found gathering in WoW, Everyquest, EQ2, paying much (low prices, too much product) and I am not sure if going thru the effort you outlined to be able to disassemble gear for materia would be worth much on the market, but will look into that.

I have printed out your comments Frizze in case I do decide to pursue materia.

And Hasrat, thanks for your comment. I do have a lot of low level "soul bound" gear so yes, was wondering if there was better option than 1Gil at a NPC. I think not.