Our Brother dealer cannot give free classes to those who buy the mass-market, rather than the dealer line. They can't afford it.
It isn't that they look down upon the mass market machines (there are a few of the project runway machines that overlap between the mass market/dealer lines and they recommended I just buy that on amazon) it is that the dealer support is built into the price of the machine.
Our brother dealer offers a $200 package where they offer lifetime classes for a mass market machine, as well as the basic cleaning that would come with a dealer purchased machine.
It isn't snobbery, it is business. $50 sounds reasonable for most classes, IMO.