[mrmanner]

A higher likelihood of sales isn’t something a buyer is looking for, though. If I’m browsing for a service to solve a problem, a low likelihood of being chased by a sales person for the rest of the year is interesting though.

[Kamq]

> A higher likelihood of sales isn’t something a buyer is looking for, though.

It's what the sellers are looking for though. And the sellers generally are the ones making these sites.

If you want to put up a website describing what you want to buy, and put a very explicit chart about what you're willing to pay, you're more than free to do so.

[wussboy]

Shouldn’t the sellers should be looking for what the buyers want?

[Kamq]

Depends on the market.

In a market with a lot of sellers with essentially the same product (like a commodity market)? Sure. Prices tend to be pretty transparent in markets like that, because that's what buyers want.

In a market with a small number of sellers, with product distinction (different features, regulatory compliance, etc)? Depends on what we're talking about. Probably not on a thing like price, but a feature that a buyer is willing to pay for up front would probably be much more important.

[mklepaczewski]

Sellers care about maximizing their profit.

[derefr]

Maybe sales people within sellers do. The companies as a whole should worry about losing market-share to competitors and eventually getting shut out of the market. Getting this or that high-profile contract isn't worth much if those contracts switch away one year later citing that your competitor is "what everyone uses now."

[closewith]

This feels like wishful-thinking rather than having any basis in reality. Many SaaS providers with _Contact Us_ pricing are market leaders.

[derefr]

That's an effect, not a cause. You can "afford" contact-us pricing, once you've got a monopoly stranglehold on an industry. You can't afford it when you're a scrappy newcomer fighting for mindshare.