Yep, this is how forums work. Tools are very rare compared to other sold services because making tools are hard, and making a tool that people want to buy even harder.

You may see software like TheBestSpinner, XRumer and another one I can't remember the name of, basically a Wordpress comment spammer cannon that sell thousands of copies, more than that person would make using these tools themselves.

I'm surprised no one with an eye towards reducing the number/variety of such tools has inflicted an intentional App Store-style price race to the bottom by creating such a tool, preferably a superior one, and selling it well under cost (e.g. $1.00) to make it unprofitable to develop them. Might take multiple "competing" tools to cause this to occur, of course, and at some point they'd want to stop supplying their tools.

Of course, your $100 price might be a figure pulled out of thin air, not an accurate one.

Superior tools are only superior if they beat spam filters.

So, either your cheap tool works and spam gets worse or it fails and people just use more expensive options.

PS: Spam is a billion dollar industry and plenty of people with fairly deep pockets.