Uh...wait wait wait...poisons more lucrative than enchantments? WHAT? And alchemy is a bit more important than herbs. And cooking is certainly NOT unimportant. Ehh...what city are you in? It's not like that for everyone else.

Right, poisons are not at all in demand. Only 1/3 of people even can use them, half of those don't, and of those that do, a couple hundred coins of it lasts years and years. About 2/3 of the poisons available I literally cannot give away.

Some of the trades are natively more valuable than the others, because of aspects of supply, demand, and overhead costs. But the more valuable ones are tending to be flooded with people doing them. I think if you want to make money, herbs is probably best at the moment, but it's rapidly dwindling, because people are flocking to it.

Market is only a small part of the picture. I advertise my poisons on market, but I get very few responses, and most of those are "which creature gives chansu?" or "if I bring you scorpions can you extract them for me for free?" or my favorite, "will you buy my dream leeches?" (I can't give away morphite, and I can get my own leeches if I could.)

And don't forget, some trades almost exclusively happen in shops. Others happen in both but happen a lot more effectively in shops. What you can't make a living off of by yourself, you might be able to sell if you can sell them in shops. Cooking is noteworthy for having moved almost entirely into shops, at least in Serenwilde; that's why you don't see people talking about it, but it still sells. Tailoring seems to be making the same transition. I expect jewelry is, or will be, too.

Tailoring -only- works in a shop, and requires patience on the side of the seller.