A few points, based on misunderstandings I've been encountering;

1) Artisans are NOT rolling in it. Compared to the profit of, say, a tailor, a forger, or an herbalist, we stand still. Sure, it seems like you spend a bundle on comms, but realize that commissions for an Artisan are few and far between. Labor prices in the south average from 600-1000 for the commission - if you can't get a good price in Mag or Glom, you're not looking. This may be different up north, but I doubt it.

2) All our low-end merchandise is screwed by the fact it's completely redundant with low skills in Arts. Don't try to tell me I can make money off pipes.

3) We do not have nearly enough cartels to satisfy our customization requests. Do not act offended if it takes weeks for an artisan to get your ever-so-special custom design completed.

4) Generally, this is a hobby, not a profession. No one I know of makes any decent income from Artisanry.

I'd like to see artie pipes stay lit longer or hold more puffs.

God. Then we'd be even more undercut.

I want Artisans to make mage staffs. And any number of things that are either actually useful, or interesting RP-wise.

I think it's more an issue of having to work a lot harder to make comparable profits. I'm not sure how much the other professions make in a given week or month, but I know that when I was active I could kick out quite a few commissions on any given day, plus just my own blunderings. Assuming you have your own cartel, so that you're able to create and quickly submit your maximum without someone else deciding what goes through and what doesn't.

As you said, there aren't nearly enough cartels to satisfy the commission demand, or more precisely, each cartel doesn't have nearly enough available slots to fill the demand. Had my cartel been slotted 10 slots, they would've filled in the first day after each reset. So I suppose the smart artisan would prioritize his commissions. Things that you can charge more for labour get submitted first, with the lower ones coming afterwards.

But, I'll wholly agree with you that it is a hobby and not a profession. It's one of those things that you do just for the joy of doing it. At least it was for me. It's not about the money, because besides the comms, not much is involved. Hell, many times I wouldn't even try to charge people for thrones and such because the comm requirements were so great. The usually ended up shoving 1000+ gold my way anyhow, but Bastion was just happy that they had something they enjoyed.

I never knew that many people thought otherwise, that we did indeed make a bundle for our work, but I suppose it's possible. I'll back you up by confirming that we don't.

I make a killing.

Well, if you Artisans would actually ANSWER me when I'm looking for one instead of ignoring me on Market you'd get a 5-10k commission for helping me like Joli did earlier. I'm quite generous with paying Artisans for their work. I realize it's a difficult profession to make money so I'm extra generous.