Curious to know how cheap is cheap? I've always considered anything around $100 to be reasonable, but we don't all have the same view on this.
If you look at how many plug-ins you get in those big Waves Bundles, the prices are actually pretty low. I mean significantly lower than average.
Most DAWs come w/ a decent amount of very good plug-ins. No one really
needs to spend thousands of dollars on plug-ins, and I think Average Joe can put together a very nice home studio for a very reasonable budget. Why would he
need all the top toys used by pro engineer to consider that he has a nice set up?
When plug-ins go cheaper and cheaper, they also lose their value. I own a bunch of them that I'd like to sell, right now. Unfortunately, they're now so cheap that I'd have to sell them for the cost of the license transfer - if I could find someone that even wants them. I'd literally have to give them away.