it takes a lot of patience indeed ( and a good internet connection, otherwise one has no chance :P) once you are getting used to it, its actually quite fun.
but the current level is such a pain. before on level 6 and lower any tier II item gave exp and there were plenty of them.
thus i had the choice what to use and there was a lot on the market, too. made about 1 level every 2 days.
but now this is much different. only arcane+ tier II items bring exp and there is almost nothing on the market because those high magic levels dont drop that often.
if they drop people usually shrine them or dont pick them up, thats why there are just like 5 items a day on market for 1fg and i havent found any myself yet.
so i was forced to go for tier III items as well although they are hard yet so i loose like 75% of them. but i rather try those than trying nothing and take 3 weeks for level up
at least magical + rare items drop more frequently again, so a lot of tries are possible