I've never understood why people complain of the masterskin pricing here.... virtually a cup of good coffee for someone's work of often many weeks... 

I cannot believe it is still being bickered about pricing. Some will pay and some won't. Bottom line there. Its always been that way. Myself it takes me sometimes a week or so making a skin as I still work daily. I have dived into windowblinds and was 2 weeks in and still in the beginning processes. There are so many aspect that goes into making them that I respect the authors for their work. I do not buy many myself. That is my choice. They are not forcing anybody to buy anything. Maybe a rating and a comment on how it looks would suffice to the author just as well.  I will shut up now.

On one hand, I love free stuff, and if there weren't any paid skins I would not miss it in the least, but, seeing as I'm a fellow artist I 100% support getting paid set commissions for one's art, as that is the very definition of being a professional artist!

If it were left up to the customer, then you would not make any money, as the general public can be a spoiled entitled petulant child at times... just ask anyone in customer service!

I have purchased Premium skins many times in the past, and have also paid a much higher price for a Bespoke Commission of a WB,(already planning my second) am i happy, YOU BET. Our Master Skinners have a Skill Set I do not have ,so for me , I Pay for there work. As an IT Pro, when i am out of town working and staying in small Hotels or B+Bs, i always carry a 5TB Hard Drive. Many times the owner, after hearing what i do for a living, can ask me to look at there Machines (usually something fixed quickly), when i have fixed there PC issues they offer me free stays in there Hotels , this is something Mrs Naroon loves, and time spent doing repairs keeps me out of The Bar, another thing Mrs Naroon loves. My time is not free, just like our Master Skinners.

Bottom line for me is, If i cannot trade my Time for theirs, or i need something they have spent time creating, I Pay in one shape or another. Nobody forces me to do this, at the end of the day, my and their time is valuable. If i think the asking price may be too high i try to first negotiate (if that is at all possible), if that fails, i either pay or walk away.

If we do not support our Master Skin Makers, they will just give up, and that would be a Loss to all who love to customise Their Machines, This can not happen. Staring at the boring MS standard Desktop would have me reaching for my Wallet in a Heartbeat. None of our Master Skinners are getting Rich doing this, It's their passion so deserves Payment.

Couldn't agree more naroon1, well stated!! Cheers!    

You are SO right, naroon1!! ("If we do not support our Master Skin Makers, they will just give up, and that would be a Loss to all who love to customise Their Machines, This can not happen. Staring at the boring MS standard Desktop would have me reaching for my Wallet in a Heartbeat. None of our Master Skinners are getting Rich doing this, It's their passion so deserves Payment.")

When I see that a Master Skinner I have purchased from in the past has not posted any skins for an extended period of time, I wonder what made them stop and I sincerely hope it was not because they felt unappreciated and unsupported. As I said several years ago, the work of the good skinners here is MAGICAL. I will always gladly pay for a great skin and would also gladly pay more than what they ask here! 

Stardock no longer supports Master Skin sales. They have to either give them away freely, or set up their own Website for Skin sales. LightStar still sells skins at his new website https://lightstardesign.com/ and all the proceeds go to charity.

The thread topic no longer has relevance so can be closed....