I hear your point as well llegrand.
But I also believe that you will also agree on the fact that heated seats etc - as you sarcastically called it I guess - is what sets the elite cars apart from the rest; and there is a ton of people who go for that rather than something plain.
Also, there are a ton of apps out there that pretty much do the same thing (i.e. phone apps) but because some apps are able to provide that little extra is what sets them apart from the rest.3
Of course it all comes down to each store owner and his/her personal style, ambition, or vision how he/she wants to set things up, but looks do affect perception.
Common now, when a beautiful woman passes we turn around to look at her because she has these "heating seats" but when a plain woman appears how many turn their heads (I am not trying to make a "racist joke here" but trying to drive a point that looks do matter ; regardless if we like it or not).
Also, I never claimed or looked down on how robust and good Abantecart is (I am using it you know?!) but all you do is illustrating the devs viewpoint without taking into consideration the other side.
Sure, business is business and money has to be made; I applaud that. But there are countless other ways that can generate money.
PS: as for the math take a look at the attached pic that I have for one of them and multiply it with the 15 extensions. PLUS(!) whenever I needed to fix something I also had to pay additional money for the devs support.
So we have:
1. Paying for the extension's updates
2. Paying for the devs support whenever it may be needed (I already did that a couple of times - I am cool with it)
So, my math pretty much is accurate when leaving my pocket