How do you make a Profit these days?

[Tantra]

Well... I've been thinking alot about what I could do to make some gil here and there (basically, all I've dont up till this point is sell crystals and random loot on the AH). I've considered various crafts, but i hear there's no profit in a craft anymore unless you have a 60+ skill in it, and I'm not sure if i have the resources or patience to go that far before I start making an income. So, now I'm looking in to HELM. I have a few questions I would like to get answered:

1) What sort of things things are worth gathering for gil? (starter, midgame, endgame)

2) What areas are good for this? (less competetion, safer, etc.)

3) There's a rather old thread stating that Red Moko Grass is a nice thing to harvest and it looks promising. Is it till worthwhile to harvest this grass today?

4) What crafts (if any) could I put a little bit of effort into to increase the income from the things I gather?

Thank you for your input.

[Kirsteena]

Look on the Auction House. Server to server, things vary, so you are the best person to judge what will make money. Study www.ffxiah.com. I turn a decent profit when I put my mind to it, combining harvesting and mining with some fishing and some lowbie crafting (yes, there are still things that turn profits, even before 60). Consumables are generally the best way to go imo.

[Tantra]

Hm.. I thought about cooking. Maybe selling sushi, mithkabobs, and pineapple juice. I've also considered making sheep leathers or even ninja tools, but I can't really figure out if the cost of making these things will be more or less than the profit I pull in. =\

[Murphie]

Juice isn't going to be a huge moneymaker. Especially pineapple. Most people that need juice on a regular basis are just going to level cooking up themselves in order to be able to make it on the fly, since it doesn't stack.

[WovenDarkness]

..... I turn a decent profit when I put my mind to it, combining harvesting and mining with some fishing and some lowbie crafting (yes, there are still things that turn profits, even before 60). Consumables are generally the best way to go imo.

I have to agree with that. Consumables are good money makers IMHO. Sheep leather is always good too.

What I've found works best for me is to make things like a stack of sheep leather, a stack of dhamel leather, a stack of ingots....etc, etc. etc, then I'll go fishing and get a couple different stacks of fish. I'll sell all those different items at the AH. There are a LOT of people who find it more convienent/profitable/have the money to buy your supplies at the AH for leveling a craft or using your supplies for their own ends.... While you will spend a considerable amount of time doing this, you can make decent money. I don't have any real gil to speak of...but I can scrape together 300k or so in a fairly small period of time.

There are a couple of really good benefits to "spreading out" your money making efforts.

• You can bring up your crafting levels. Over time, this will increase your money making potential, as you would then have several crafts from which to choose from.

• Selling lots of different items at the AH is better for everybody(IMVHO). I can't count the number of times that I've seen craft levelers flood the AH with one or two types of items.....it will cause the prices to bottom out, and everybody makes less money.

...as a side note, I don't have a craft above 30. My highest is leather...which IIRC, is 28 or 29. Fishing is behind that....and I think that's 16 or 17....it's been some time since I checked.