It's a real problem in the premium WordPress theme marketplace -- a problem I also see throughout the web development market for small businesses. In my client work, I've come across so many clients unknowingly paying for things they shouldn't, locked into their old design firms through poor technology choices, and sometimes forced to buy back control of their own websites when they want to move.

Poorly developed WordPress themes are the equivalent of this for the small business do-it-yourself-er. The premium themes marketplace needs a good technical review platform that can provide insight on these issues for consumers who are unable to evaluate a theme properly themselves. ThemeForest has implemented new technical requirements that are a step forward, but it's clear their review process is still all about design -- themes with terrible performance issues are still slipping through if they look flashy enough. One of the unfortunate pressures of the marketplace, I suppose, when that's what buyers demand.

I think initiatives like ThemeFriendly.com by Alex Mansfield could be a good step forward. But a real review of overall performance, lock-in, etc, is time intensive. I'm not sure how even a small fraction of all the themes out there could come under that kind of review.