I have one crafter, a level 14 sorc. Any loot I pull on my crafter I deconstruct on all my other characters I continue to sell items as normal. Our small guild funnels all essences to my crafter.

I was late to start crafting as I wanted to see how it was going to pan out for a while before I started crafting, so I have only been doing it for less than a month. I have not purchased a single essance at all. My levels are 46/42/44.

I will continue doing what I have been until I cap or crafting becomes a completely fruitless effort. I realize crafting is still in beta so I am not going to go crazy trying to level it up. I will NEVER buy ingredients from the DDO store to craft, ever.