1. It doesn't matter if the bundle is tied or not. The only thing tieing a bundle does is turn it into a single item to reduce your item count. Once tied you can't get the skins out again, so only do that if you plan to sell it and don't want the skins or bones for crafting. The same thing applies to tied gem pouches.
2. You want to use the lowest workability material that you can still masterfully craft items from. At low skill levels bronze will probably work just fine for entire tiers. As your skill improves the tier skill ranges get larger and you'll need to switch to a lower workability metal at some point to keep gaining experience at a reasonable rate.
Also, if you do your own mining, or don't mind buying it from someone, you can mix silver, gold, or platinum in to your ingots to increase the amount of money you get from your work orders. Just make sure to keep the primary metal above 67% so that it doesn't turn into an alloy, which will adjust its workability.
3. Caravan trading is terrible. Turning in work orders teaches Trading far better. Really the only reason to use a caravan is to use the storage box when you hit 35th circle, which basically gives you a second vault.
“I’m sorry that your mystical, godlike powers do not instantly work as you would like them to.”
