Comments on: The free premium WordPress theme paradox

By: eglence

eglence — Sat, 06 Feb 2010 12:24:49 +0000

if wp is free then it will be good to make all themes free. This is not a case for only WP but also for joomla too. I like Open source.

By: nyctek

nyctek — Sun, 07 Sep 2008 03:36:36 +0000

I’d like to see a web template designer enforce a click-thru EULA. Really, I would.

By: Silla

Silla — Tue, 02 Sep 2008 15:42:37 +0000

@Josh: It’s not legal to distribute the thesis theme. Read carefully:

“By upgrading to the Developer’s option, you’ll be able to use Thesis on as many of your own sites as you want (and get rid of that pesky attribution link). I’m not sure this is smart on my part, but it’s a great deal for you.”

He also says further down on the page that you can also use Thesis on your clients’ blogs, but not that you can redistribute the theme.

By: Josh

Josh — Sat, 23 Aug 2008 17:18:51 +0000

I know that, with the Thesis theme at least, it’s actually sort of legal to do that with the $164 developer licence. “I’m not sure this is smart on my part,” writes Chris Pearson.

How does the naughty blogger benefit from doing this? Does he or she not like Messrs Gardner, Pearson and co for some reason? Or perhaps it’s a bit like Robin Hood.

By: PJ

PJ — Fri, 22 Aug 2008 12:37:56 +0000

Hi there, I’m pretty sure that none of the premium theme developers have anything to do with these free download sites, as they seriously undermine the earning potential of the themes. Most of the premium theme creators also release free themes from time to time, so it’s not like they need to give away their best work for the credit link.

The free distributor gains traffic from the free distribution of these premium themes. It may not even be necessary to purchase the theme, as you can steal themes from an unprotected theme folder.

However, it’s quite risky to use themes from those warez sites as they could easily insert dodgy code into the themes for nefarious purposes.

By: Elijah

Elijah — Fri, 22 Aug 2008 05:20:08 +0000

It is indeed a paradox, and a world I’ve been frequenting heavily over the last few weeeks as I’m setting up several new satellite blogs, and a new niche site.

Revolution for FREE? Yowsers…

It is such a genius way to create snowballs that will eventually turn into an army of snowmen.. and being a music producer, I compare it to the mp3 download phenomenon. Labels purposely leak albums to gauge public interest pre-release. There’s no difference between the kids who download the album illegally compared to the ones who paid – they will still purchase the same amount of shirts, and go to the same concerts.

Someone giving away a theme that others have paid for is not harming anyone because the owner is still getting backlinks – and that is adequate compensation in my opinion.

Great post!

By: Ian Stewart

Ian Stewart — Fri, 22 Aug 2008 01:32:10 +0000

What a weird coincidence. I found (I’m sure) the exact same site this morning. Also on a random google search.

By: desu

desu — Fri, 22 Aug 2008 00:08:52 +0000

While i agree on what you’re saying i think it wold be nice to see some numbers to back it up :).

*note i agree and think you’re right!

By: wangjel

wangjel — Thu, 21 Aug 2008 23:42:39 +0000

you are a winner if they use your theme, free or not whatever,
humans are not stupid>>>>>>give a lot free, there is always a moment when people feel it natural to “pay/donate”, kind of open source?
(hidden inside this i see lot of motivating force to work better and better)

By: wesley

wesley — Thu, 21 Aug 2008 22:44:03 +0000

And besides, the revolution wordpress theme is still linked to from everywhere. It is simply worth it’s price. People are raving about it. Everyone knows about it. They have all the benefit that you think would come from a free theme, because the theme is so good people don’t care about the price.

By: wesley

wesley — Thu, 21 Aug 2008 22:38:34 +0000

Obviously it’s some sort of warez community. Members usually upload stuff to get access to other high profile downloads.

And you say the designer is benefiting? .. By having a link in the footer of the design on a pirated theme? I don’t think such a link is worth $75 or whatever the designer is charging.

Premium wordpress themes will continue to be made and the industry will grow. Sell 100 a month and you have $7500, already more than you earn here. And the fact is, the theme only has to be made once, you have to make new blog posts every other day to keep your audience engaged.

Ofcourse, with more competition in the premium wordpress theme niche, prices will go down.