Spolsky's argument is that the sale will typically go through without a discount and thus it is not a real problem. "Big companies often have purchasing depart

Spolsky's argument is that the sale will typically go through without a discount and thus it is not a real problem. "Big companies often have purchasing departments actually do the purchase. They are trained to expect discounts and the people in the purchasing department know a lot more about asking for discounts than they know about software, because that is their specialized role in the organization. If you politely tell them that you have one price for everyone, they'll still purchase, because the purchasing department ususally doesn't have the power to stop the purchase."