Spells and abilities are pretty much the same thing. They both are used the same way and both consume mp. Non magic classes get abilities and not spells, Magic classes get spells rather than abilities, Hybrids get both. Just different names for the same thing.
Apprentince, Adept, and Master are different levels of spells or abilities. You start off with your abilities being Apprentice I. You have to upgrade them from there to make them more powerful. You don't have to upgrade in sequence, i.e. you can go from Apprentice I to Adept I without using Apprentince II, Apprentice III, Apprentice IV (not in game yet, just introduced on test server if I remember correctly).
You can transfer items from one character of the same alignement (good or evil), but not money. For that you have to have to trade it to a friend and have them trade it to your alt, or something along those lines. Its also not necessary to make a seperate character strictly for crafting. Your main character can craft as well as adventure.
There is player to player exchange, called trading. You have to be in same zone and close to one another to do it tho.
Hope this helps.