"I dont know what type of business training or education"
I've had the training of working as a consultant at McKinsey, which usually ranks as the number 1 sought after destination for Harvard and other top MBA programs.
First, Mike is right that MBAs are a 'waste of time' from an educational standpoint. The top programs are designed as two year long drinking and networking parties, with the only real advantage to employers being the selectivity demonstrated by the initial admissions. How do I know? Because McKinsey hired me as an 'other advanced degree' hire (I have a law degree), put me through a 1 month 'mini-MBA', and then announced I have the same capabilities, job title, salary, etc as my MBA hire colleagues. Oh, and asking any top MBA grad about their experience will confirm that the focus is NOT on academics and learning, but is on networking.
Second, discounts and coupons do, as a matter of fact, have the effect of raising the price for everyone (beyond mere perceptions). Take, for example, newspaper cut out coupons. Why do companies send out vast amounts of coupon sheets for 20 cents off laundry detergent (and, in doing so, create an environmental nightmare of wasted paper)? Because it allows them to raise the price in the store (or avoid lowering it) by something around 20 cents, confident that they will not lose the marginal, price sensitive buyers (who will clip the coupons) while being able to charge the rest of their customers more. All of us who shop at grocery stores and don't remember exactly what a reasonable price for sugar is (10 cents more, most people don't notice) are being protected by the class of price conscious buyers, and enjoying lower prices because of the store's fear of losing these people if they raise prices. Coupons allow a decoupling of the pricing for these groups (the same way airlines do for business and personal travelers). There is no real difference in time-sensitive coupons like discount promotions - if Pleco offers them, some amount of their customers who would have bought otherwise will instead wait around for a deal (internet shopping abounds in such waiting), and these customers are generally precisely the ones who are marginal on the Pleco price, leaving just people like me (who would gladly pay double the current price, not because we are rich - I'm a poor student now - but rather because it is such an amazing app for someone who works with texts all day). Now, Pleco would have every incentive to raise prices generally (or at least on new releases) to respond to such a new pricing situation, as they could be confident many marginal buyers would still be picked up in the discount periods. Whether or not it would happen in this individual case, as a general rule a smart consumer would be 100% justified in being suspicious of the normal prices of a company that offers periodic discounts, as they are 9 times out of 10 being forced to pay a higher price because of the existence of such a system.
Third, the idea that dictionary cost is largely determined by royalty payments to the original publishers is obvious, and does not need to be further highlighted anywhere.
Fourth, I am a poor student and pleco is in no way overpriced for its value. It is also not priced outside the range in which people can reasonably be expected to be able to afford it - there is no moral argument that Mike is denying needed educational tools to poor students. Compare it to the costs otherwise faced by students - tuition, books, etc - and you quickly realize this it is a very, very low priced. There is likewise no reasonable argument that Mike needs to "give back" to the "community" that supports him - he is offering a great product for very reasonable prices, constantly developing it further and offering updates for free, and further spends vast amounts of time helping answer questions here and over email. The community that supports pleco is their paying customers, and we are getting far more than a fair deal.
Fifth, I just wanted to congratulate Mike on "building an empire" and "filling your vault with enough gold to swim in" - silly me thought that Pleco was merely a great product supported by a dedicated small business.
