You can vendor vanilla 2* crafts for 750 cr to recoup part of your costs (you can make slightly more by auctioning them, but I never have the patience), and almost any UV at all, no matter how ridiculous, will bring in more from the AH. As long as you control your costs well--mats, etc.--this is your safest long-term bet. I only roll UVs on equips I intend for personal use, but I have auctioned a few particularly lucky rolls that were worth more than the cost of making new gear/rerolling if necessary.
I used to make a good profit opening lockboxes--farming cr for ce, only opening on a full mist tank--but since the market was flooded with accessories after the rarities were rebalanced, it's big risk/big reward. I'd stick with alt crafting.