I don't think it's much faster then mining and selling minerals.. It's because people drop the pick axe, talk to the guy, and get another one, then drop that one, get another one, etc.
They aren't worth crap though.. like 20 of them would get 1 plat. It takes time to sit there and drop axes also. In like 10 mins you could probably get 8-10 plat, that's like less then one mandrake root you could get in 1 monster kill.
