Really helpful to hear this viewpoint. I have no issue paying for quality Premium themes or plugins as long as it doesn't involve rape and pillage. I have purchased developer licenses from Brian Gardner and Nathan Rice and their product has been superb. Excellent value for money. I have also purchased a couple of themes from Themeforest and they have been disappointing in terms of their unnecessary underlying complexity and the pricing structure (I am sure that I have just been unlucky).