15% discount is by no means the only common ESPP benefit. The company I work for doesn't offer any discount at all, the only benefit is buying at the minimum pr

15% discount is by no means the only common ESPP benefit. The company I work for doesn't offer any discount at all, the only benefit is buying at the minimum price over the purchase period. Also, the value has to be compared to other uses of your money - with an ESPP you're essentially lending money to your company for some time, and to know if it's worth it for you you need to compare to other uses of that money. It's indeed hard to beat a minimum 15% discount (17% return on investment as someone else explained), but not impossible. And with ESPP plans that don't offer any guaranteed discount, if the stock is going down, you'll be better off even just depositing the money.