Q. Should I craft or just sell the raw materials?
A. Generally raw materials are more profitable than the items they craft.
Crafting only really becomes profitable with a lot of focus, which means lots of crafting to develop levels to maximise focus usage, so short term it’s a silver investment.
As with all economies it’s really going to depend on how many players are performing similar actions. And everyone is looking for that high value niche.
With gather you’re trading time for silver, where as with crafting you’re trading resources for a crafted item.
One trick with gathering is to fill crafting journals for labourers that will boost your income. You don’t need an island to do this, as empty journals can be purchased off the market place, and sold again when they are full.