Gotta go with the lady on this one... sure a suit of Steel plate will set you back 5K, but its likely a one off purchase... potions on the other hand?
Except that there's maybe... 10? active and semiactive smiths of any decent level.
There's like 100 herbalists out there.
I can't get anyone to buy my potions. Except SOMETIMES, someone is interested in the cure serious wounds. But I can't make those at the moment cause one ingredient, as far as I know, is out of season. And no one is selling herbs, either, they're all giving them to their friends. And since everyone and their grandmother's dog's fleas are doing herbalism... Everyone has a friend or seven doing it.
Seriously, I have like 30 pounds of potions on Kalan, and that's even with his bag taking 40% off most of them.
No one wants them.
I have hard times -giving away- free samples of Cat's Grace (since I have like 40 of those).
So. Maybe if 95% of the herbalists decide they're done with the "new thing" but if most of the herbalists stick with it, it's an over-flooded market. Not to mantion the dorks who do it just for the free potions when there's really nothing in their background or concept to indicate they should take up herbalists. Except maybe "penny-pincher."