I just started anchanting, and i bought a "Copper Rod(1s 24c)", "one Strange dust(8s)", and "one Lesser Magic Essence(8s)... I used 17s just to go up 1 skill lvl. isn't it possible to make this with another profession or something?
You need to disenchant green colored + gear to get the materials. And believe me, you'll be spending a LOT more than 17 silver per skill point later on ;-)
When you first start you get skill ups from disenchanting stuff.
The rod you made just allows you to actually do enchants. Later in the game you'll need to buy gems and crafted items to create better rods to do higher level enchants.