Joseph Rosenblatt writes:

> I'm not sure what the point is here but a few come to mind:
>  1) I was a student on holiday and had time to haggle.  *Are busy IT
>  execs in the same situation?*
>  2) I was expected to haggle. *Are busy IT execs in the same situation?*
>  3) Was my friend wrong to want to jump in on my *bargain.*  Was the
>  merchant wrong to make him cut his own deal?
>  4) Is the Souk and its merchants as reputable as the software Vendors?
>  That may be the true question.

[snip]

>  I am not seeking bargains, I am seeking equity.

Joe's questions -- and especially his last statement -- I believe are
extremely important. It is the way I feel, too -- if I'm correctly
interpreting what Joe is saying.

Indeed, I believe equity is so important that we, as a vendor, make no deals
with anyone, offer no discounts, other than those listed, to anyone, and
haggle or barter with no one. We publish our prices on the web. They are what
they are.

(The only exception to this statement are educational discounts. Educational
and philanthropic organizations automatically recieve a 50% discount on our
primary products.)

The last thing I want is for several of our customers to wind up eating at the
same table and sit there comparing what each paid for our products. If that
should happen, someone is going to feel cheated.

There are only two ways to prevent that from happening: one is to prohibit
everyone from discussing what they each paid for the product; the other is to
be completely open about everything.

We've elected to observe the latter, without exception. If nothing else, it
seems much more in keeping with the culture of the HP3000.

Wirt Atmar