Its happened :/ - resorted to new character for Gil.

[Sardoni]

45 Botanist. 50 Alchemist. 50 SMN in full darklight. Not legacy.

Undercutting/bot bulk quantities tank the market on anything botanist. Any profits I might net in 5 levels of botany are loss/break even points when acquiring gear upgrades/repairs. Botanists appear to be gold starved and desperate for gil, so tons of undercutting like crazy. Ultimately I end up vending most of what I gather that isn't HQ for 1 gil each (take that to the bank!).

Alchemy is selectively competitive meaning it's generally a one shot. People need their pre-relic and a fat lot of good else. High end potions aren't sought after and probably won't be until extreme mode primals get added in. Best sellers are components that other people need to make things i.e. clove oil, horn glue. That's other crafters buying from you. Even if you go out of your way to farm/acquire mats for things on your own there are no guaranteed profits and the market is still in erratic flux as players realize their gil is worth more (or less) than they thought.

Anyone in Dark Light knows the repair costs if you decide to help a friend run a single Caestrum in less than 40 mins with no deaths.

The game itself isn't self sustainable for the "every man." People have started pinching pennies which stalls the economy and promotes undercutting.

I'm fine with side activities but I've yet to find one that is profitable aside from punching mobs in the face and selling their drops... which makes my botany efforts and alchemy efforts a complete waste of time (from a gil generation perspective).

tl;dr I've wasted more money leveling alchemy and botany that I've gained back. I don't buy on the market unless it's cheaper than a vendor price. I seek other crafters to make me stuff and provide mats I gather on my own. I still have my old gathering sets because I plan on leveling mining and fishing. Same applies to all my other crafting gear. That expense was too great to want to repeat especially since there isn't anything to do on my level 50 to generate consistent income. I'm better served on my level 15s and 30s to generate money.