Trying to explain Path of Exile's economy to a friend is always a mess. You say "there's no gold," and they look at you like you're joking. But it's real: the money is the stuff you'd normally spend. Every orb has a job, and that job gives it a price. You're always making the same call in your head: craft now, or trade it away. If you're the kind of player who'd rather skip the stash-tab math and just get on with the build, some folks treat U4GM like a place to buy game currency or items in U4GM and get back to mapping without the extra hassle.
Chaos is the language everyone speaks
Chaos Orbs end up as the everyday unit because they're common enough to move around, but still useful. Early league, you'll feel it fast: anything decent is "X chaos," and people don't even bother translating into other currency. The Chaos Recipe helps keep them flowing, but it's not glamorous. You scoop rares, you juggle slots, you vendor a set, you repeat. The bigger point is this: Chaos isn't just cash, it's a temptation. Rerolling a rare can be a miracle or a brick, and you learn pretty quickly when to stop clicking and just pay someone for the upgrade you actually want.
The big notes you hate to spend
Then come the orbs that make your palms sweat. Exalted Orbs and Divine Orbs aren't "crafting tools" for most players, not in the moment-to-moment sense. They're savings. They're bargaining chips. You'll tell yourself you're going to slam an Exalt on that chest, but you don't. Not because you're scared—because you've been burned before. A bad mod feels like setting a week of progress on fire. Divines are worse in a different way: you can have the right item and still watch the numbers roll low again and again. So people price gear and plan trades around those orbs instead of using them like the tooltip suggests.
How people actually get rich
If you want to feel "wealthy" in PoE, stop thinking about single sales. Bulk is where life gets easier. Essences, fossils, scarabs, sextants—anything stackable moves faster when you list a pile, not a crumb. Buyers don't want to whisper ten sellers for ten little trades. They'll overpay just to be done. Flipping can work too, but it's mood-dependent and league-dependent, and it'll tilt you if you're not careful. The steady path is boring on purpose: run content you can clear quickly, dump in bulk, keep your stash from turning into a museum.
Keeping your build moving
The economy's pressure is what makes PoE fun and annoying at the same time. Every craft has an invisible price tag, and every "maybe I should" click is competing with a guaranteed purchase on trade. You'll do better when you decide what you're actually chasing—power now, or profit later—and stick to it for a while. And when you're shopping for gear, don't forget the small stuff that saves runs: flasks, jewels, map tools, the boring pieces that make the whole setup feel smooth, especially if you're browsing POE 1 iteams as part of your planning instead of panic-buying mid-session.