The excesses of the Church in selling indulgences is often given as a cause for resentment among the public in the century or two before the Protestant Reformation. I would have thought that either the sellers of indulgences would be seen as illegitimate, in which case their indulgences would be worthless, or they would be seen as legitimate, in which case their fees would be fair as well.

So my question is: if someone didn't believe that buying an indulgence would reduce their time in Purgatory, would they have had another incentive to purchase it? (E.g. was there some social or reputational benefit, was it a way to disguise bribes, etc.)

(P.S. I have a vague sense of the excuses given by the Church as to why they weren't technically selling time off in Purgatory, but would certainly be interested to hear more if those technicalities would affect a decision to buy an indulgence).