934
u/GammaFan 3h ago
The whole point is to take your time, encouraging you to continue down the sales funnel for fear of wasting your time by disengaging. It’s designed that way on purpose
350
u/AverageAggravating13 3h ago edited 3h ago
Instead, they likely just don’t get my business at all because i cba to “contact us for a price”.
It’s completely different if it’s a consultation though for a case-by-case basis. I get that.
→ More replies (5)138
u/DonnyBrasco69 3h ago
you likely weren't the target customer then. It costs the business to nurture customers who aren't ready to spend.
120
u/AverageAggravating13 3h ago edited 3h ago
Sure, I guess the target customer is someone who wants to get jerked around and then be told the price at the end.
I have no problem spending money, but I expect transparency from the start. I don’t think that’s some outlandish expectation.
77
•
u/Syrinx16 1h ago
Idk what items you’re talking about, but for a lot of industrial and commercial things you need to contact for pricing just because costs are variable for the supplier. A wellhead for an oil well in September might be thousands of dollars more or less than if it was ordered in April based on current raw material markets, shortages, tariffs, etc.
Idk not to be pedantic about it because I agree when it’s regular consumers looking for a coffee maker or something like that, but just wanted to show it’s not all scams or slimey sales tactics by certain companies
44
u/PUTIN_FUCKS_ME 3h ago
Target customer is rich people who dont have to worry about money. People who can drop $10k without missing a step.
→ More replies (2)26
u/SuccessfulSquirrel32 3h ago
The target customers are people with wealth or businesses for this type of transaction, not some average person.
•
2
u/CTeam19 2h ago
Sure but I feel guilty as hell calling and asking for the price to then just not go with them and ghost them. Giving it to me up front helps stop that.
•
u/I__Know__Stuff 1h ago
Why would that make you feel guilty at all? Calling for information in no way obligates you to do business with them.
•
u/roseofjuly ☑️ 46m ago
That's why they don't want you to know the price up front lol. Guilt helps them close sales
6
u/aerdvarkk 2h ago
This just sound like you don't deal with vendorsas a corporate rep for your employment.
What you are crying about is normal in the corporate world. Contact a rep for business tier pricing. They might want to set up a meeting to discuss a business need so they can tailor the pricing specifically to your company's interests. After the meeting concludes they take the notes from that discussion and generate a quote.
At some point during the discussion the topic of what other vendors or similar service providers are you reviewing, this also gives the company a tip as to what pricing they provide you.
If say you mention you are looing at the top tieer company in the industry, they might undercut their price a tad bit to make it competitive, as long as the can closely match 1:1 services between them and their competitor.
But yeah, if you're just shopping for something that says "contact us for pricing" like you'd buy a damned iPhone. You are not the customer they are catering to. Short of you starting up a business and willing to drop $80,000+ on a business to business service. And that's at the low end.
•
u/roseofjuly ☑️ 46m ago
Why are you explaining this as if you think people don't get it when the real issue is it's irrelevant? We're talking about consumer products here.
→ More replies (1)•
u/Fiddler_On_The_Green 1h ago
You're trying to explain business strategy to consumers. Not producers, not creators, not contributors, users.
They'll never get it, it's a waste of time.
•
u/roseofjuly ☑️ 45m ago
It's not that it's a waste of time to explain. You're not a genius and this isn't that difficult to understand.
It's that it's not relevant. We aren't talking about commercial contracts.
53
u/kpidhayny 3h ago edited 1h ago
It’s also there to enable them to use dynamic pricing. If their sales and marketing team has you pegged as a price insensitive buyer you get gouged. If you have no brand loyalty and are highly price sensitive then you get a competitive price.
19
u/Neveronlyadream 2h ago
Sometimes it's also some corporation's bullshit price protection. Some of them don't want their products advertised below a certain price because they think it somehow devalues the product, so the retailer can't actually just show you the price.
It's still always too expensive anyway.
2
u/Chicken2nite 2h ago
And then the supplier starts selling direct to consumer with free shipping at sale prices below their regular retail wholesale cost (with the retailers having to pay for shipping).
→ More replies (1)6
u/Green-Collection4444 2h ago
Or the item they are selling has MAP pricing from the manufacturer, and calling the small business number on the website you are visiting will actually yield you a far lower price than advertised online by other stores. But you can just continue to assume all websites are Amazon, until they actually are, and the fiction you just wrote becomes reality.
•
u/lplqsnkczxccia 1h ago
I mean in theory that might work, but I have yet to see an actual example of a store that gives you a substantially lower price compared to advertised prices when you call them... maybe i'm not shopping in the right places
→ More replies (3)13
u/yungScooter30 3h ago
I used to get reprimanded at 24 Hour Fitness for answering pricing inquiries over the phone. The "correct" process is to reserve a time to meet with the caller in the club, give them a tour, and go over pricing afterward based on information gleaned during the tour i.e. how long they are in the area, how often they visit, what types of workouts they do, what their goals are with a gym membership. Then we could recommend membership types and personal training plans.
I however thought this was annoying and skeezy, and I had the lowest sales numbers to show for it lol
8
u/GammaFan 2h ago
Thank you for doing that. As a former sales person I also did this when it came to recommending upsells. My boss was always upset with me for identifying customers who would not benefit from more expensive products they weren’t going to use and recommending cost effective items instead. Ironically those same people would become repeat customers precisely because they appreciated the no-nonsense approach.
Managers are mostly entirely unable to comprehend second order impacts on sales revenue.
6
u/LarxII 2h ago
Sunken cost fallacy is a very well studied thing for this explicit reason.
→ More replies (1)3
u/SirTroah ☑️ 2h ago
My issue is I don’t mind contacting for pricing, give me an email address that I can detail what I want and attach necessary information so I can get the assessment one time. Not no online form where I will eventually have to explain it again and then provide documents or drawings of what I am looking for. It’s an extra hop for no reason.
→ More replies (10)6
u/dirtyshits 2h ago edited 2h ago
That might be true at some places but I have worked at a company where the pricing was based on total storage, users, and backup frequency.
It was a data protection company that sold b2b. We would put up pricing for lower tiers but for larger companies it was nearly impossible to put a price because the quotes would be very different based on their need. Plus you can get big discounts if you have larger storage needs.
Putting up pricing for those tiers would mean entire pages with different combinations.
With that said. If someone asked for pricing I would send them a form with needed info. If they were willing to share that type of information(most security teams wouldn’t) then I can price out a quote. Signing NDA’s was almost always necessary. This is understood. Otherwise I would send general tiers with disclaimers.
The folks who would get upset over “contact us for pricing” were always the worst customers to have. Tiny contracts with daily hand holding.
Not all companies who put “contact us” are trying to scam you and if that makes you’re probably not the right type of customer for their product.
In the 5 years I was there, never had anyone complain and we sold to Fortune 500. This was an expected part of the process. Those types of customers worry less about price up front and more so about technical fit and ability to solve their issues. In a lot of industries, if your shopping on price then you’re probably not worth the hassle in my opinion. The company uses the contact us as a filter so they don’t have to deal with difficult customers.
This is purely speaking in software terms.
3
u/Centimane 2h ago
I think there's a middle ground to be found.
If pricing has complex factors, then you can provide some examples at different usage tiers. Then people have a ballpark idea based on how well they line up to one of the examples, and the gaps between tiers.
2
u/dirtyshits 2h ago
Yupp and we would give ball park figures if you hit contact. We have an entire pricing sheet but giving a range like 20k-1.m isn’t so helpful.
The pricing sheet used to be on the website and what would happens is folks either assumed we were too expensive or they could get away with something absolutely not made for them(super low tier).
You end up losing out on potential customers because they never asked for help. A simple message to the team with some basic info and you could get a fairly reasonable range.
Again, in software this is pretty much universal and understood. Especially in B2B.
The other part of this is that most people would be talking to competitors and we want to beat their quotes. So if you just give a ballpark figure and a competitor quoted something lower then you wouldn’t speak to us but if you did, I know our partners would mark down their margins enough to try and match or beat our competitors pricing.
2
u/GammaFan 2h ago
Yeah what I was saying mainly applies to b2c, b2b is an entirely different beast. Thanks for adding your perspective
220
u/_shaftpunk 3h ago
As someone who works retail, there are rules about advertising below MAP pricing.
47
u/MissplacedLandmine 3h ago
For the industry Im slightly in the databases are a monopoly and a cluster fuck.
You can get an estimate, but actual pricing thats actually correct takes a call.
Some tools claim to fix replace that issue, they are wrong too often.
14
u/ironic69 2h ago
Huh?
48
u/_shaftpunk 2h ago
MAP pricing is Minimum Advertised Pricing. This is something set up by the manufacturer or distributor of a product. A retailer selling the product must adhere to MAP pricing when advertising online. So if they got a good deal on something and can discount it, that’s fine, but they can’t advertise it for less than whatever the MAP pricing is. So they would post “contact us for pricing”. The intention of MAP pricing is to prevent one retailer from drastically undercutting another if they sell the same product. It also keeps the product from being “devalued” in the eyes of the consumer.
21
u/DJ_Pikachu 2h ago
I see this sometimes but it’s ’see sale price in cart’ - presumably the same reason?
•
u/red286 1h ago
Sometimes, but most vendors don't even allow that.
HP for example, for their printers, will not allow me to display in public to anyone a price below their MAP. I cannot list it, I cannot put it in an ad, it cannot be on a banner, and it cannot show up in a cart.
If someone walks into the store though, I'm legally allowed to sell it for whatever price I want, because a vendor cannot set a selling price, only an advertised price.
So I can either list their MAP price, which is the same MAP price you'll get from Amazon, NewEgg, or anywhere else, or I can list "Call for Pricing" and offer people a lower price.
The problem is that "call for pricing" never works. No one calls for the price.
9
•
→ More replies (2)•
u/ItsSpaghettiLee2112 27m ago
The intention of MAP pricing is to prevent one retailer from drastically undercutting another if they sell the same product.
And here I thought the whole point of capitalism was to drive competition.
•
u/OldDarthLefty 1h ago
The retailer gets blacklisted if they don’t use the price set by the distributor. It’s vertical price fixing. It’s illegal in some countries, but in the US, bend over.
•
u/_shaftpunk 43m ago
As an employee of an independent business competing against large chains, it benefits us. Otherwise there would be nothing stopping a huge company from selling things below cost, which they could afford to take a loss on, causing customers to go to them instead of the local, independent store where we can’t afford to sell things at a loss. Then we close up shop, and the big company no longer has competition and can raise their prices accordingly to start making a massive profit.
10
u/MathamphetamineUser 3h ago
Yeah, I've seen good deals. But it's always through another person because I don't care to play games.
→ More replies (3)•
u/polishfiringsquad 1h ago
Those rules should be illegal, but corporations are allowed to do whatever they want
134
u/Thunderbird_12_ ☑️ 3h ago edited 1h ago
But, how ELSE am I going to employ my sneaky sales tactics?
62
u/SirNortonOfNoFux 3h ago
But Black Dynamite, I sell drugs in the community!
→ More replies (1)21
→ More replies (1)2
u/MathamphetamineUser 3h ago
"But we have to pass the bill so that you can find out what is in it, away from the fog of the controversy."
27
u/easy10pins 3h ago
*sign up for bonus $200 off*
*signs up*
*spin the wheel to double your bonus*
*spins wheel*
*Congrats you now have a $400 credit. You must spend $100 on this short list of items to be eligible for the full bonus*
*Uninstalls app*
•
u/Anivia_Mid 51m ago
I was going to use the free dash pass from my credit card, still paying $10+ on top of the chips I wanted, I said fuck it and uninstalled door dash again lmao this was yesterday
67
u/Imthemayor 3h ago
I have a pretty simple rule:
If the price isn't listed, it costs too much
Same with "Market Price" on a menu
That means "high as fuck so we're going to wait til the check to tell you how much it is unless you ask"
•
u/roseofjuly ☑️ 36m ago
Market price is a little different, as high cost items do fluctuate with price due to seasonal availability and such. But who tf is waiting for the check to come to find out how much it is?? Just ask the waiter before you order.
→ More replies (1)6
u/IAMAVelociraptorAMA 2h ago
Same with "Market Price" on a menu
Restaurants already run super tight margins. If they're pricing competitively then pricing may change literally day to day based on the ingredients just so they don't lose money on a dish or charge so much that people won't buy it.
The average restaurant cannot overcharge their customers without rapidly losing their base. It works for fancy places but most restaurants are not that.
→ More replies (8)•
u/infiniteninjas 1h ago
Ironically, if you have to contact them for the price that will usually mean that the store is selling it for less than their competitors and you're likely running away from the best deal. What you're seeing is simply MAP; the minimum advertised price.
→ More replies (2)
9
39
u/streethistory 3h ago
I don't post my pricing online for shooting because my rate is determined based on the work you are going to have me perform. I don't have a standard hourly rate.
13
u/7SyZyG7 3h ago edited 3h ago
That's different than someone buying an already made product, but the prices aren't advertised. In your case, its kinda expected to not have uniform pricing.
5
8
u/Orlandogameschool 2h ago
Same I run a locksmith company and we don’t advertise prices. If you say I’m locked out of my car and your 10 mins away vs a hour an away that’s totally different price.
→ More replies (1)3
u/NeverNotOnceEver ☑️ 2h ago
But you still know how much you’re charging based on mileage. Why not advertise that?
32
u/NeverNotOnceEver ☑️ 3h ago
You don’t have a set rate, but after a big enough sample, you have an average rate or median rate. So you could at least advertise that. You also have a baseline of services that come at a minimum price. You could also advertise that.
15
u/YourMomoness 2h ago
Yeah if you know you wouldn't do a job for less than a set amount, just list that. A simple "3hr shoot- starting at $375+ contact for specific details" gives a baseline and prevents people from wasting your time
15
u/Gold_Concern2305 2h ago
That would just piss off anyone quoted over the median rate.
→ More replies (5)•
u/ColdCocking 1h ago
I'm not supporting this practice by restaurants, but I do want to point out that if you advertise a rate on a menu, and then the check comes and it's more than that, people are going to yell at you because they didn't know or didn't understand the pricing.
•
→ More replies (1)3
17
u/Free_Alternative6365 3h ago edited 2h ago
I've taught my brain to interpret that as 'Don't shop here.' It makes things much simpler.
There could be very legitimate reasons for why a business might do this but if they won't explain them, I don't feel obligated to inquire more.
Especially bc if you do inquire and the price isn't to your specs, sometimes, some businesses will then use the exchange as content to go on a diatribe about how customers look but don't buy/don't respect their prices. It's all so bizarre.
8
5
u/Captaincrunchies 3h ago
Besides retail stuff I see this on apartment listing and it always annoys me
6
u/DontLook_Weirdo 3h ago
Nothing makes me nope faster out of any checkout than learning the price at the end..
Everyone's time. Wasted.
Although some good does come out of it... I do end up saving my money because the price reveal method often has me realize I didn't actually want/need it
87
u/Radioactive24 3h ago
There’s a legitimate reason for this: the company is selling a product below the agreed on MSRP and likely have a stipulation with the company that they cannot advertise below that.
It’s not for engagement baiting, although I’m sure some company does that, but there’s a legit reason for it, usually.
People bitch about this constantly, and I get it, but a little google search would have an explanation for them why the price is hidden.
30
u/wesborland1234 3h ago
I saw this mostly in B2B SaaS type products when I was in IT. There is no MSRP. They literally just want to make sure you talk to a salesperson because then the ball is in their court and they can convince you how great it is.
I usually didn’t mind because they’d have answers to most of my questions. But often I wish I knew the ballpark, because my boss would give me a budget of like $20/month and they’d give me a 30 minute demo and tell me it’s $300
→ More replies (2)6
u/CallerNumber4 2h ago
I work at a B2B SaaS company with a product leagues ahead of our competition in several core areas. We definitely make our pricing opaque because it legitimately is not an apples to apples comparison with other players in our space who definitely run a race to the bottom on pricing due to having an inferior product.
10
u/Mo_Steins_Ghost 3h ago
The "legitimate reason" is the manufacturer wants to control the market. That is more of an explanation and "legitimate" is not a meaningful qualifier in this context since the gripe is from the consumer's side.
Manufacturers aren't required by any law to do this. It is a policy that's designed entirely by and for the manufacturer's benefit. I can't speak for everyone but as a consumer, I am more likely to avoid products that are advertised this way.
49
u/WhiteIsOwl 3h ago
There's 2 big issue with that:
1. Not disclosing the price is also used by businesses that just use it as a way to use further sales tactics
2. People like those with ASD tend to despise with a passion "reaching out", and you just lose a bunch of good customers in the process of hiding the price, especially because they'll assume the risk of point 1 is too high 😵💫10
u/SoulPossum ☑️ 3h ago
None of that negates what the person above says though. I worked retail for almost a decade and the "contact for price" thing was specifically because we had manufacturer agreements on certain products that prohibited us from showing the lower price online. The fact that scummy stores exist just means it's a good idea to research the place before calling in.
As far as the asd element, it's important to understand everything ain't for everybody. I worked for an online retailer. People who needed to physically touch the things they were buying or needed products set up a certain way because of certain mobility issues couldn't use us because those were limitations we couldn't work around. There were other options that could do those things if it was a non-negotiable for a customer. If someone wants the special pricing, calling in was literally the only way we could give it to you. If you can't call in, unfortunately it's maybe worth looking into other options
→ More replies (4)28
u/7-and-a-switchblade 3h ago
https://www.rainbowsystem.com/
Rainbow vacuums are a good example of #1. They don't advertise prices and won't even tell you the price until a salesperson has come to your house and demonstrated the product. This is because they are insanely expensive. It's a sunk cost thing. You're more willing to buy a $3000 vacuum cleaner if you've already spent so much of your time jumping through hoops.
8
u/DisposableSaviour 3h ago
I’ve encountered this when trying to get a commercial product instead of a consumer product. Especially tech stuff.
→ More replies (6)2
u/Character_Pudding_94 2h ago
Those people will just have to pay full MSRP, then. It's a condition of distribution that the retailer not advertise a lower price.
→ More replies (1)6
6
u/Sattaman6 3h ago
In my experience, it’s the other way round, as in something is stupidly expensive.
5
u/Jamaican_Dynamite 3h ago
Yep. "If you have to ask, you can't afford it." Which I get it if that's the wealth level of your typical customers. But still.
3
3
u/well_shoothed 3h ago
Selling a physical product, sure, but a SaaS platform has no reason to do this.
Just gimme the price, bitches
→ More replies (2)3
→ More replies (4)2
u/LoSkribs 3h ago
This.
Or for services, the nice old lady who only has $500 for the $1000 job might get a price match. She probably won't call if she sees the $1000 price tag.
Takes a 10 min convo to determine and doesn't set the everyday price at $500.
→ More replies (1)3
u/Sattaman6 3h ago
Sure but for every old lady like that you get a middle aged guy like me who simply won’t call if I smell that means I will have to haggle. The only exception is something like a bathroom which is bespoke and the price is dependent on measurements.
5
u/LeTronique 3h ago
But how will they force you through the door though? How are they supposed to mentally break you down so you accept whatever price they offer?
4
u/nixalo 3h ago
If it says to contact for pricing, that means the price fluctuates week to week.
→ More replies (2)
9
u/DragoonDM 3h ago
If prices aren't listed up front, I just assume they're unreasonably high and move on to the next option.
3
u/l1vefrom215 3h ago
“Contact us for pricing”=“we need to see exactly how much scamming we can get away with”
•
u/MechAegis 1h ago
It probably so they can get your phone number on file or email address so they can email the price to you. still shitty though.
•
u/Glum-Welder1704 1h ago
Same with sites that won't calculate shipping until you've entered your payment info. Unless I'm desperate, I move on immediately.
2
2
2
u/universe_from_above 2h ago
I always get a toy catalogue for the kids before Christmas that is without prices. It uses a dice system instead. A dice with one point on it is in the below 10€ range and so forth.
That way, you can tell the kids how many points they can choose for (you get to "spend" 8 points in total) or you can say "you can choose one toy with 5 points and two with for points" for example.
I really like that system. It's also good for the company, I guess because they don't have to advertise fixed prices and can still change them within a certain range.
4
3
u/JPMoney81 3h ago
Then they can't try to high pressue sales you into buying something you can't really afford.
2
u/7SyZyG7 3h ago
Sales tactic. Make it a requirement to engage with a sales person just to know the price. Then you're given a sales pitch on the product. Obviously, frugal folks would be less likely to even engage, but some folks with money can be real susceptible to persuasion. They'll hear a high price but "the gentlemen on the phone was just so nice and enthusiastic!"
1
1
u/HalfSoul30 3h ago
Just call and ask, and when they tell you, say "too damn high, thanks for wasting my time" or what have you
1
u/TernionDragon 3h ago
It’s like a ZJ: If you can’t create an account or have your broker call for pricing: it’s out of your price range.
1
u/SAINTnumberFIVE 2h ago
Yeah, I’m not gonna contact them. Even more infuriating, sometimes I’ve posted some odd job on a local social media site, and have instructed people to reply with their price and people will still message me asking me to contact them to inquire about their price. Like dude, you just prove to me that you don’t listen, can’t read, and can’t follow instructions. Why would I hire you?
1
u/Mediocre-Cobbler5744 2h ago
They also need to show a wage when they advertise a job. I am not wasting my time applying for a job that won't support me.
1
u/-Tech808 2h ago
Apartment complexes use this when none of that specific unit are available. If a price is listed, they have those available
1
u/maxinamillionmannnnn 2h ago
It’s so they can say different things to different customers. IRL dynamic pricing but not by machines.
It’s sinister.
1
u/AliciaDawnD ☑️ 2h ago
Same as potential employers not including the salary or the sliding scale being too vague. 🙄
1
u/krispydragon27 ☑️ 2h ago
me, single, thoting and trotting tryna plan a wedding and decorate a house i’ll never have
1
u/Yakman311 2h ago
Dynamic pricing. They will increase the price for something you want to purchase if their data shows you have recently searched for it/put it in you cart for checkout before
1
u/ChimericalChemical 2h ago
Most of the contact pricing I see is either not worth it items or they’re bulk wholesale for inventories or items with a profit margin on a third party that could be damaging to the main company’s business model and accidentally start price warring themselves
1
u/WoodsLovelyDarkNDeep 2h ago
It’s because they can sell certain people to come in and take a look and the of those people to buy. They can also fit it in to people’s budget on a case by case basis depending on how close to the end of their quarter they are. People think this is because of dynamic pricing but they have been doing this kind of thing since forever and it usually if a place us people who work on comission.
Also everyone thinks they can be sold but sales people study psychology to be better sales people. It is crazy the stuff sales people can get people to do and think it’s their idea. Which is why politics is what it is
1
u/Numerous-Process2981 2h ago
You can just assume the price sucks and they want a chance to uses sales techniques on you
1
u/mouse_8b 2h ago
Literally have this as a ticket right now because some prices were accidentally showing $0. So sometimes it's a workaround on a larger issue.
In addition to that, this is a really narrow-minded view of shopping in general.
1
u/asmallercat 2h ago
There's some number of people who if they saw the price straight away wouldn't buy it, but can be talked into buying it once they're speaking to a person. That's entirely what this is banking on (well, and I suspect it has its roots in being able to weed out "undesirables" for specific products by naming absurdly high prices when someone who they don't want to have the product tries to buy it).
Does that outweigh the people who might have bought it if they'd been able to see the price up front? I don't know, but that's the theory behind it.
1
1
u/liquifiedtubaplayer 2h ago
Honest pricing should be a regulation, even if there's still a bunch of tiers, nickel and dining, etc. at least itemize everything
1
1
u/GoNmanne11 2h ago
I never understood why people do this when selling their cars too "For sale: Call ### for Price" Just wasting both of our time, just tell me the damn price on the sign.
1
u/Awkward_Pangolin3254 2h ago
"But if we post the price online, then we can't jack it up for people we don't like"
1
1
u/aerdvarkk 2h ago
Seems like she doesn't realize "contact us for pricing" is generally in a price range outside of what most individuals can pay out of pocket and are geared toward business tier spending.
1
u/Pelli_Furry_Account 2h ago
Muv Fitness wanted my fucking bank routing numbers. Gyms are sketchy from top to bottom.
1
u/Antigone6 2h ago
I wonder if these fools know how many people see this and just go “nah, I don’t need it that bad, or from this place”. The amount of times I’ve just put stuff back and moved on because a price wasn’t clear is astronomical.
1
u/ConnectionNo4187 2h ago
Even if it’s something I REALLY want, I will forever refuse to do business with companies that don’t list their prices. Nope. On to the next one.
1
u/Wandered_And_Lost 2h ago
It really is annoying af, but prices are considered "trade secrets" to some companies, especially in construction or importing
1
u/ElliotsBuggyEyes 2h ago
This exists because some product manufacturers do not allow the price to be listed below a certain price.
If you have to contact them, then they're not advertising that price. It is also usually associated with bulk ordering. If you are a person looking for one of something and the price is listed as "contact for pricing" you are likely going to be asked to buy 10-100+ in a single order.
1
u/loupr738 2h ago
I agree completely. I feel the same way if it’s a boutique guitar, a car or a fucking pair of shoes. I’m not calling anyone to get a price, I’ll just go to a retailer that offers me what I want
1
u/kingseraph0 2h ago
Honestly, I treat it like the ‘if you gotta ask, it’s not in your budget’ rule but also I think its sus bc.. are y’all changing the price based on the client? Price gouging, if you will? Is it typical in these cases to negotiate or haggle prices? Like they float you a lil $500 and ur like ‘hmm $200?’ And they go ‘ok I can do it for $350’
1
•
•
•
•
•
u/No_Discussion3593 1h ago
If it says contact us for pricing, and you're not sure if it's in your price range, it's not in your price range.
•
•
u/Rare_Magazine_5362 1h ago
It’s part of the marketing. You’re not the customer, the customer is the person who will call and never ask what the price is.
•
u/WestcoastAlex 1h ago
they want to price it differently based on your name or location or colour of your skin but know they arent allowed to say that publicly
•
u/Available-Square619 1h ago
Whenever it says that, you know it’s way too high and move on. They are doing that so they can sell you on the high price.
Nobody is hiding deals behind a “contact us” lol.
•
•
•
u/Dougle_07 1h ago
We’ve been wedding planning and if we don’t get pricing info on first contact it’s been an almost immediate drop. Been working really well to weed out vendors
•
u/digicpk 1h ago
I do procurement professionally and just a tip for any vendors reading this... We won't reach out to you, & we will just pretend you don't exist.
I can get *most* commercially available items from dozens, if not hundreds, of sources; often for virtually the same cost (a difference of literal pennies most of the time). Your value as a vendor often doesn't come from having the "lowest unit price", my time has value too (and my company/customers pay for it).
If you make me jump through hoops (like this), or give me a hard time getting paperwork from you (receipts, quotes, etc.) I'll just blacklist you. I'll gladly pay $2-3 more for an item if I don't have to deal with this shit, and I can justify that cost increase (I've had to do it before).
•
u/Popular-Departure165 1h ago
A lot of products have a minimum advertised price that the vendor is not allowed to list below.
•
u/UdoTobias 1h ago
So true. And then they usually add "well it depends on so many things". No it doesn't.
→ More replies (1)
•
u/zoinkability 1h ago
Often this means that they are flexible on pricing, and that it's a negotiated number. Basically the modern version of haggling at the market. For something like 99.9% of human history we didn't have fixed prices on anything. Of course whose of us in the West aren't used to that any more and have lost the haggling skill.
•
•
•
•
u/kwitzachhaderac 58m ago
Man, try to plan a wedding and reach out to vendors. A tiny fraction actually list their prices on the website
•
•
u/Fiigwort 58m ago
"Contact us for a free quote!" - I don't want to go through the process of discussing a project or whatever the hell I'm planning, only to find out that in the end your guys are the £££ artisans. At least put the pricing for previous work on your site so I have SOME clue.
•
•
u/shifty_coder 54m ago
‘Contact us for pricing’ is so they can upcharge for larger companies for identical service.
1.5k
u/theonlybuster 3h ago
Put this in the same bucket as "Create an Account for Pricing".