A crowd pricing system and method having tier-based ratings includes a pricing table hosted on a memory. The pricing table has a plurality of pricing tiers, wherein the pricing table is correlated to at least one downloadable media item. A download popularity value is calculated based on a quantity of downloads of the at least one downloadable media item within an evaluation period, wherein a position of the at least one downloadable media item is movable between the plurality of pricing tiers based on the download popularity value, wherein position movement of the at least one downloadable media item is regulated by at least one control factor. A ratings designation is paired with each of the plurality of pricing tiers, the ratings designation having a cumulative user ratings score calculated by the processor, wherein the cumulative user ratings score provides an indication of cumulative user rating of the at least one downloadable media item.