Very good point indeed..lets say you can get jobs in <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/div.gif" alt="" />..e.g fleeceing sheep..gives wool...wool can be turned in by weavers into bows strings....
Both these actvities are jobs which you can do to earn money in <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/div.gif" alt="" />
I am sure that other jobs can be thought up of.
Or as you say you can by them...lets say that bowmaking is a skill and 5 skill points gets a randowm bow with better properties then haing only 1 skill point.
But then again....if we do that for bows we may need to do that for weapons......or magical staffs.