I'm not sure if the devs have considered it, but some players use the in-game sub tokens to get the account upgrade. But maybe they'd like to spend a little money and a little game time to get a silver or gold subscription. Maybe they can't afford the extra every month for the silver/gold subs, maybe it's just easier to justify spending some game time and some cash for the bonus hats. $7 is only a meal out at McDonalds (maybe 2 if you stretch it) for us Americans, but for others, it's a day's wages. Just a thought for some possible flexibility.
Saw a recent question in HDI? about if this is possible, and thought "why isn't it? Has it been thought of?"