Guild Wars 2

Let’s say that it takes 2 Ore to make 1 Ingot.
Let’s say that I have 50 Ore and I need 25 Ingots.
And let’s say that 1 Ingot sells for 2 silver.

How much would the Ore need to sell for in order for it to be more profitable to sell the 50 Ore and buy the 25 Ingots rather than crafting the 25 Ingots?

Note: I’m still new at this, so I’m trying to figure out why you don’t just sell the ore and buy the ingots rather than crafting them yourself from what you have. Is it the Trading Post cut?

Selling on the trade post costs 15% of the coin, leaving you with 85%.
You would need to make more than 1 silver per ore.
1 / 0.85 = 1.176
If you can sell the ore for 1 silver, 18 copper each or more you’d be better off selling the ore and buying the ingots, if not you should craft the ingots yourself.

It comes down to selling the ore at the best possible sell price, and buying the ingots with a bid price. Yes, it is cheaper this way, sometimes.

Crafting, or refining that ore into ingots has a value all by itself because you can level characters this way. This is why Ingots have less value than Ore.