$$$ to unlock an item/emote for 1 character = awful, but per ACCOUNT..?

[Kosmos992k]

I believe Yoshi-P explained it once that if they made all of the purchases account wide it would take up too much server space or something, because they'd need to add another "reminder" to one's account every time a new character is created. How true this is I don't know, but that was his answer of it. I believe it was asked about in a Live Letter Q&A not too long ago (if someone remembers and can link me to the actual source).

That was said some time ago, before the upgraded servers and expanded inventory space. IMHO it's a poor excuse at best, and no longer relevant in any case.