In reply to Mike Schinkel.

Agreed. there are quite a few comments about "how dare the developers sell their plugin", "make Matt stop takeovers" which as a plugin developer I don't understand at all. Work should be rewarded and nice reviews and a "I owe you man" don't pay the bills.

IMO it will diminish the plugin directory. This leaves us with a plethora of different plugin websites, some sold directly from the developer, some via marketplaces but with no central place like we have eg with Apple Apps. Selling via an individual website means considerable cost in marketing. If there was a low cost central WP plugin marketplace, it would open up the possibility of selling plugins at a lower subscription price, possibley also tiers, making it profitable for the developer and good value for the website owner.