Clean minimalist themes that also have wow pizzazz, that's an art form, I hated all those theme forest themes with a zillion built in user options, one theme for all uses means those wanting a clean lean fast and functional have to carry a lot of bloat they'll never use... Great work.... Anyone has the right to develop themes and market them at whatever price range they are comfortable with. If theme development is your main source of income, it means your a professional and you need a price range that supports your business and all that goes with it. Things that only small business owners can appreciate. I have always used premium themes, with child themes, its how I learnt to develop. Free themes always seem to just miss the mark of what I need in some way. Mind you times evolve and I'm sure there are good free themes out there. I ask you who makes them? Coders/ programmers with a paid 9 to 5 gig, that fiddle late at night as a hobby?, rich kids that code for fun? The free society, is a great ideal, I certainly use Ubuntu, but still have to own a windows machine for some functionality. WordPress core is free and highly developed and supported, this both amazing and a real triumph for making the internet web accessible for everyone. So paying for a premium theme that out of the box achieves the look feel and function that you desire for that website, is a small comittment in the grand scheme of things, of course if you are not happy with it, just bypass and go look for a free theme on WP.org, that is your choice and privilege P.S. I've never used Mike's themes, but they look great and are typical of the themes I am now favouring in my own work as a WP site dev.I also charge for those services, everyone has to make a buck! Go forth and code... Stuie. B