whats the point of crafting...

[Eriane]

I make much more money than most of my friends with all 50 crafts simply because phil. items are in high demand right now. I was selling you them when they were 60k which made me break 2 mil, and I still sell them to you at 25k which has boosted me even further.

Have fun wasting your time crafting, though, only to have the market eat your profits via taxes while my BLM speeds through WP, making 25k + gil drops each run in 15 minutes.

If no one needs the "astral crap" why are philo items in demand? They are only used for two star items. So you are pointing out that most people would rather save by getting the mats and crafting it themselves or from a guild crafter. Regardless, i can still buy 450k worth of mats and resell it quickly at even 550k. 15 min is still 15 min for 25k where a crafter just spent 10 making 100k.

[Hitome]

If no one needs the "astral crap" why are philo items in demand?

The reason they're in demand is because any fresh 50 can go to the marketborad, buy these items, meld them with materia, and be ready for coil which is why you probably will never see them dip below 20k in price: there will always be a need to gear alts who don't have access to your main's mythology/Allagan loot.

The reason astral items (rings, chokers, bracelets) have sky rocketed in price, as of late, is the need for HP in turn 5. Mainly, BLMs and SMNs. As people continue to fill in their DL gear with AF2, VIT will rise naturally and there will be no need to buy astral items simply to socket them with VIT to survive a fireball.

But, if you want to sell your HQ astral items (frequency: one sold every 5 days), I guess that's your prerogative.