whats the point of crafting...

[MithrasInvictus]

The point of crafting is the manufacturing of high quality items, and the melding of materia into them. There's not much value in regular quality goods, and one will often fail to break even unless they can confidently HQ items and sell them on the markets. One can of course gather the raw materials to cut overhead to nil, but the sheer volume of regular quality items causes their worth to be of little concern. It's all about the HQ.

The materia market also wouldn't exist without crafters to make the gear that you spiritbond and convert. The lack of an ability to re-sell gear once it has been used creates a perpetual demand that needs to be filled. And you won't be getting any free gear for your second class after you're done all of your quests.