With sites like Google saying they'll punish sites who purchase or sell links, is it still worth it to buy links for SEO? I'm considering buying a few (please don't PM), and I just don't want to blow 100 bucks for a couple links and then have my site wiped from Google in a month or two. Thanks.
Yes, as long as you don't buy it from Link Farm site or site that has nothing to do you your theme then you should be fine.
I believe that buying links is ok to do as long as you buy the right type of link. If your website is about sports, don't buy a link from a gardening website. Also do not buy links from websites that will put you under a tag or category of "paid links" or "paid sponors" because I feel google will pick up on that in the future. Do not buy links that also link to gambling, porn, viagra spam sites. Those cut down the credibility of the site that has the links on them plus you do not want your site associated with them.