Pagerank can be one small.... very small factor when deciding which directory to submit to. I look at quality, age and backlinks.
to pay for a link to a directory, I think it should be permanent. Not only for 12 months. That way you will build long term backlinks. (that is the point right?)
I agree with the above, page rank is great and all but the quality of the directory is more important. Most webmasters no longer look at page rank when submitting to directories. However, there will always be those who only submit because of it.
I wouldn't pay at all. I'm more like the big G I think that you can get links in other ways. Its all about how you do link building. Maybe for some people it works who are looking for fast links which work only temporary.
@Forumdirectory, what type of site was on the domain before it was a directory and how long has it been a directory?
It seems an old thread, pagerank is not the only reason we do submissions, there are several high pagerank directory before and how about them now?
I would pay if it is worth enough with reasonable price. The PR is not a big factor that make me paid for submission. I have evaluate each directory with my own criteria to see if it is worth or not. I have ignored many high PR directories, even a cheap one if I do not think it is worth.
How here's an interesting question... what if it was a PR 7 .edu directory? Not that I know of one, but just checking to see how much people are willing to pay for such a thing.