Hi everyone, as you may have noticed, there has been an increase in the number of modders selling their mods for profit. Some of you may have purchased from these modders, some of you most probably have not. There have been modders in the past that did not stand by the word regarding the purchased goods/services. But this is not about that. This is about the legitimate modders that complete their work, and sell them.
Now, one of the most basic rules of modding is that you can only release your work for free because you do not own the rights to the files you are creating unless it is a completely original idea, concept and design. For example, if you made a Stephen Curry cyberface, you can't sell that because you don't own the rights to use Stephen Curry's looks & imagery. Asking for a price for a personal cyberface is different, since it is more of a service instead of a product. While I am not totally for putting a price a personal cyberface, hard work is spent on these kinds of services and small things such as paying them cellphone load is more of a small "thank you" gesture, rather than an actual payment.
As for modders that sell their mods (will not name anyone specifically), I very much recommend that users and downloaders refrain from purchasing these mods. Your money, is more valuable than what you are going to spend it on. Right now, they may be the only high quality mods that are going around, but you'll never know when a new excellent modder will come and suddenly start releasing similar quality mods (if not better) for free.
Donations and going through advertisements are our best way of showing gratitude to modders especially when we don't have to pay. These modders who spend literally hundreds of hours (heck, maybe even thousands for the veterans) photoshopping, editing, typing, uploading, posting deserve a break sometimes. When it comes to money and modding, these two don't generally mix, but modders who create new content for the game, release for free to genuinely improve the user's experience with the game would rather receive genuine gratitude through donations rather than making a quick buck.
Don't buy mods from those that sell their mods. Those who only show previews and very rarely release are not genuine modders. They do it for the "internet fame" or "power", the money, the satisfaction of showing others that they have something that everyone wants. Don't patronize these fake modders. The true modders won't go away if you give them a reason to stay.