@Chip

Interesting, that is a very new development - I doubled checked while writing my comment and, at that time, just a few hours ago, they listed the "Download Price" as being $39, now they have changed it to "Plugin Price" and included entirely new support pricing.

The numbers I quoted were not speculation, they were based on their listed prices and terms at the time; clearly, someone there sat down and figured out that the longterm viability of their marketplace and reputation would be damaged by the previous pricing bear-trap. Perhaps Jeff's post made them realize which way the wind was blowing.

So, now you have the basic purchase of plugins, at various prices, inclusive of 7 days access to upgrades and support, and a $3 per month for access after that, regardless of the price of the plugin. If you allow your subscription to lapse, you must purchase the plugin again at full price to regain access to upgrades and support.

The $3 standard cost per plugin per month of upgrades and support causes some interesting anomalies - people will have to pay $36 per year to access upgrades for plugins that cost $1, $1.99, $2.99, $4.95, $5.99, $9.95 and $14.95.

That oddness aside, however, this new pricing is clearly a lot better than what they were previously offering. The new structure is fair, clear and I would now consider buying plugins from them. I take back my comments about them being dishonest shysters, perhaps the previous $69 per month pricing was a mistake, oversight or miscalculation :)

To deal with the anomaly of $3 per month support on $1 plugins and to encourage customers to purchase multiple plugins, it would be a good idea for them to introduce a "Prime" upgrades and support package for $79 per year, which would cover as many plugins as your wished to buy i.e. pay the $79 per year and you don't have to pay $3 per month for each plugin.

That idea is obviously inspired by the clever way in which Amazon Prime gets you to pay a lump sum of $79 per year for fast delivery on as many purchases as you want, naturally encouraging you to buy far more products at Amazon. That would make their marketplace really take off, as more customers would be persuaded to buy more plugins and, naturally, all this buying would encourage more plugin authors to place their plugins for sale there, making the set fee of $79 even better value and encouraging yet more sales, virtuous circle etc.