from my point of view, there are 3 Ways to do so, but which is the best? what are you doing to make gold?
Crafting Excavation maps
T3 maps are quite okay, as they give you upgrade material, and some times (very rare) legendary or relic craft kits.
in my ~40 maps i did, i got one legendary, at the time 2k gold on the market.
I don’t think this is a good way of making money.
Craft Basic Oreha Fusion Material
the cost of the materials, and craft cost are about 8g per piece, and they sell on the Market for 9g (+1g fee, so no profit)
only advantage is when you get an perfect craft, and get additional 30 pieces, those net you 270g
This is the way i am trying it now, becaue with the 2% perceft craft structure from the gratitude gift, it procs some times.
sell materials directly
net profit, directly but you lose out on Stronghold XP.
Oreha crafting costs a lot of gold, so the profit margins have disappeared even if you farm your own. At the moment they are selling for 8 gold and you lose 1 gold per due too auction house fee, which is less than it costs to craft. Like you said it’s mostly for breaking even while getting stronghold exp.
Maps seem okay but take a lot of effort and again break even until you get a legendary or relic kit drop, which is rare. It also takes a lot of stronghold energy and time (3.5 hours per map).
Selling raw mats seems most profitable but you lose a lot due to market transaction fees. It’s also not very exciting and you can make more from other gathering professions as far as I can tell. I do think there are small benefits far down the content release schedule for having high excavation skill, but I can’t find any info about it to be honest.