From my experience, it takes money to make money. Unless ofcourse you get a lucky drop that lands you a hefty sum of gold.
It's all about luck while pimping items, you can blow all your gold trying to pimp 1 out and you end up with something that's not worth a mil on the market. On the other hand, you can also get lucky and spend a few mil on 1 item, get it completely pimped and sell it for close to 80m clothes, 100+m weapons usually.
Again, chose the items carefully and spread your chances. Don't waste all your gold on 1 item thinking it has to get lucky sooner or later. Some items are lucky, some just aren't

Good luck & have fun.
And remember, fortune favors the bold.
If at first you fail, try, try and try again untill you succeed. Just be smart about how you try
