What is actually happening is my Apple account gets locked out about once a week (completely outside of my control), so they want me to verify everything again, even to make "free" purchases. A real PITA.

> you can always just download the app from the dev's website and not bother with the store completely

This makes a number of assumptions - namely that the developer has made the app available via their website (which is not common if they use in-app purchases).