

Ask HN: Why do companies like IBM, HP and Oracle avoid showing prices? - qompiler

Frequently I'm interested how much a piece of software or hardware costs and the only way to know the price is by contacting a sales person. What is the reason for this?
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csense
They want to figure out how much the customer can afford to pay, and then
charge them exactly that much.

This is discussed specifically in [1] -- while the entire essay is well worth
reading, Ctrl+F "Bad Idea #2" for a discussion of why you shouldn't price your
products this way.

[1]
[http://www.joelonsoftware.com/articles/CamelsandRubberDuckie...](http://www.joelonsoftware.com/articles/CamelsandRubberDuckies.html)

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qompiler
Is this legal outside of the US? I remember there was a case in China in which
a restaurant would charge a different price for tourists.

~~~
ig1
I imagine it's legal almost everywhere as long as the basis for the
segmentation isn't on a protected category (race, gender, etc.)

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logn
To continue adding to the other comments, I've seen in the large software
companies I've worked for that the sales people do a lot of bundling and
discounts or adding special services/products/customizations. While they tend
to purvey shrink-wrapped apps, there's basically unlimited
mixing/matching/customizing that goes on. Further, companies will pay
differently for SLAs, license terms, support, etc.

Also, it forces you to reach out to the company which allows the sales people
to start working their magic (applying pressure, creating a sense of
immediacy, trashing the competition, etc).

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gregcohn
Adding to the other correct answers on this page, it allows the company in
question to introduce a salesperson into the equation. Even if 100% of
customers were charged the same price, salespeople will be more effective
closers than web pages most of the time.

As this tends to be true only when prices are high, and given that salespeople
are not cheap, I generally take this to be an indicator that prices will be
high, almost certainly higher than direct competitors who post their pricing
prominently.

