There should be a book in the library (or a person in the tutorial) which tells new players
(1) that crafted weapons do much more damage than the ones NPCs are selling
(2) that crafted weapons are easy to repair
At the moment nobody buys crafted weapons, not even when I offer them for very low prices.
And by the way: Why is axemaking limited to level 20? Can someone explain? I don't get it 
Lets start backwards: Yliakum is nowhere near finished (Okay, shameless plug:
http://hydlaa.com/smf/index.php?topic=31385.0 <== Help us design some towns) and there will be more axe-making trainers when new areas are opened up.
as to the buying of weapons - As has been suggested, check your sales pitch (But try to keep it In Character, please)
As for a book saying "Crafted weapons are better" There really is no difference between a "Crafted" weapon and a "NPC-bought" weapon. Before you yell at me read on:
The Crafted weapon was created by a smith who happens to be a player
the "normal" weapon was created by a smith who happens to be a NPC
That being said, *QUALITY* is a factor, typically your player crafted weapons will have better quality - but saying that it's a 276/276 quality shortsword doesn't mean anything In Character. Saying it's a "High-Quality" shortsword, or a "Fine" shortsword is however perfectly acceptable. (another shamless plug: "Think NPCs are dumb":
http://hydlaa.com/smf/index.php?topic=29353.0) If you think a NPC should know about the quality of weapons, please read that link, and send us the NPCs that you think should know about it, and anything else that you think they should know about.
It's sometimes very difficult, but we have to keep character knowledge and player knowledge separate.
