I have bought several older plugins used in the market lately at extremely discounted rates compared to what they are sold for new by the developers and vendors, I mean 7 year old plugins even still going for their full price. It seems to me the developers may make more money discounting these older plugins and avoiding people like me just buying them used. If I were a developer I think I would consider the 'lifespan' of my plugins and start discounting them to fund new development after some point. I feel a little bad personally buying used since I know the developers aren't directly getting the funds from me but still have to support license transfers etc. I'm not saying after a year or two they should become 'econo-priced' but after 5 years or so, wouldn't it make sense, especially when their competition is undercutting them in price and overshadowing them in sonic quality and feature sets?

Depends the popularity. If they're still selling it, then no point of decreasing the price. If they're not, then you're right, it would be a wise business move to just decrease the price and have a small marketing promotion, and sell much more copies than they would have otherwise.

I'm not a business guy so why a lot of companies don't do this (Valve's Steam platform for PC games does this and they make a fortune on games no one would ever buy otherwise) is a mystery to me.

Yeah, I guess I don't really have a way of guaging if plugins are selling, but I figure if the developer is selling them for $200 and I can buy for $30 used there is some sort of price adjustment necessary. Frankly I'd be happy to give the developer $50 for the same plugin if I know they are benefiting, just I can't justify the current full price when newer plugins are available for far less. It almost seems like paying full price for a used car, or maybe more accurately buying bread near its expiration date.

Most stuff gets updated, so there wont be many cases of old static synths.
A lot of devs give discontinued versions away free in mags, especially if they have new stuff coming out.

I wonder how many copies your average vst sells. Anyhow I'm guessing most customers aren't coming to kvr so maybe I am just seeing the "devaluation" through some community goggles and they aren't actually devalues, as someone buying a box at Guitar Center or Audiodeluxe may not have the same perspective. Anyhow bottom line is I want to support developers as much as I can but also want to use my limited funds as effectively as possible too. Conflicting agendas maybe?

Let's say the price was reduced. If you think the "old plugin" is "overshadowed in sonic quality", why would you even buy it instead of something better? Because you care more about spending as little money as possible than getting good quality, or what? Seriously, why? No, really, why?

Well I recently bought some plugins from a certain developer that I really like but they haven't seen any real development in years, but I still like the character of them but they are kind of not going anywhere (apparently). The used price made them very attractive but I would never have considered them at the 'new' price. Yeah, I do want to spend as little as possible, bang for my Buck, I do t have many bucks, also they don't require as much system resources as the newest plugins. They suit me. Just I also want to support the developer because they are very cool and I want to give them my business, but buying all their stuff used makes me feel I am more a drain on them when I need some bug fix or support (which they happily still provide to me).

I must admit, I've been waiting for Linplug / Rob Papen's Albino 3 to reduce in price for several years. Still waiting too. I do think it's a little over priced. It's an oldie but a goodie though.

That's all peaches and cream that you LIKE the sound of the plugin. That means that it's -at least in some ways- NOT "overshadowed by newer plugins" as far as you're concerned, after all. So that leaves you with "I just want to pay as little as possible (don't we all?) because it's a few years old and maybe not as supported as newer plugins". It's totally understandable if you'd decide not to buy it for whatever price it currently has that you don't feel like paying, but basically you can see that you're a "tech-savvy" minority and your considerations are most probably not what the person who sets the plugin's price would take into consideration.

However, I think it's more likely that it's not that complicated. You just don't think the plugin is worth that price, that's all, and it really has nothing to do with how old it is.

Yeah I recently bought Saxlab used after wanting it for years too, but didn't get most of the funds to Linplug, not that I mind supporting g a kvr seller but would have liked to give all the funds to Linplug for an aging but still nice plugin. Anyhow I'm just experiencing days of insomnia don't mind me if you disagree.

a dev may not want to sell an old product at all, regardless of the price, it means giving support for a legacy product when his time is needed on new stuff....maybe?

Maybe, but then it is still offered for sale on the website but actually I do think Linplug adjusts their prices over time, they may not be the best example.

I think at the end of the day, people today just don't have the money to spend,especially if you are married with children and a mortgage like myself.
I can't justify purchasing one synth for 149 euro's when that money could go toward feeding mouths. I just don't think its a case of old or new. Just can't afford it or justify it.
Thats my opinion anyway, others may disagree or are just in a different situation altogether.

ps. Says the man who just spent £400 of NI's Komplete 8

Yeah and maybe I'm just feeling guilty for buying used when I know many developers are hurting but I also can't afford to pay full price for most plugins. I'm not a plugin whore either, I actually don't own that many and just moved from freeware to commercial plugins recently, so I am on a little buying spree but with a very tight budget.

And as frugal as I'm being I'm still spending more that I really should. My wife is subsidizing me but I don't think shelll want to do that much longer.