Comment by jwdunne | Hacker News Reader

Comment by jwdunne | Hacker News Reader

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It's a bit of a long leap but I've noticed that the clients we do discounts to always end up being really high maintenance, some even destroying their websites. On the flip side, the clients spending big money are always great to work with and generally let us do our thing. They always require less support.

There must be a deeper basis behind this. Some kind of psychology behind pricing. I've noticed it everywhere I turn.

One particulary interesting case was the packaging on Tesco (large supermarket chain the UK) branded toilet paper. It said it was just as strong and soft as Andrex, the leading brand. Andrex is much more expensive but still remains the leading brand!

I've actually been toying with this thought for a while and now it warrants much further investigation.

Good point. My thought is that, the $5 budget apps are actually paid for by the person using it whereas the big budget items (say $2000 software) are paid for (or negotiated) by the indirect purchasing departments. The end users don't actually pay it themselves which could also be part of the psychology as to why they aren't so 'demanding' so to say.

True, but there is another thing. With big deals you normally define support very clear in the contract. With smaller deals companies don't feel the urge to do this.

But it's very simple to say: "This product is cheap because it lacks quick response times for support". Most customers won't have a problem with that.

I've found this is due to the difference between small-to-medium business and enterprise customers.

Once you pass a certain price point, you are generally dealing with an enterprise. This means 1) they are spending Other People's Money and 2) they are more likely to be accustomed to a professional environment.

I have to be honest and say that this isn't true in the scenario I describe. They're all dentists who own dental practices - the ones we cut deals & make discounts to are the ones who generally give the most pain.

The whole point in offering the discount is destroyed due to the financial cost of the headache involved.

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