I was rocking 300 int & I slapped an arcane dmg gem in rapier / mace / hachet & great axe (this made 40% of the dmg scale off my int). I was able to do decent dmg & get all of those weapons to 20 just farming elite zones (where with a decent group you should be making far more money than repairs will cost you)
as far as gold income goes, If you can hold out for outpost rush, it’s 300-400g a game & you don’t take repair dmg inside the activity. I think this will be the best source of raw gold for most casual end game players
That being said, I wouldn’t look at trading items to players for gold as a bad thing. Many people will happily pay for upgrades & materials. I am very happy that I can buy items for my coins through the auction system

And yes, if I had jewel crafting higher I could make money that way. I’m only at 115 or so now though as I have focused on getting my gathering/refining up to get all the high tier mats myself. I also got 200 Arcana before realizing that was pointless (for now).