Same box, three prices

The same computer can have three prices. I know because I used to make them compete.

Years ago, at a dental software company, I built the group that worked with our hardware integrators: the people who set up the computers our customers ran our software on. They needed hardware options. Many of them built "white box" machines, sourcing the parts themselves.

While I was pricing options, I noticed something about one of the largest computer makers. It sold through three divisions: personal, business, and healthcare. The hardware in each was nearly identical. Different model names, nearly the same machine.

The prices weren't the same.

So I played them against each other. I'd get a price from one division, take it to the next, and keep going until the healthcare division gave me its lowest number. That's the price our integrators got.

The price wasn't about the computer. It was about which door I walked through.

Nobody at that company was hiding anything. Each division had its own pricing, its own targets, and its own idea of what its customers would pay. That's normal. But it meant the same box carried different prices depending on who asked, and only someone who knew to check every door would find the lowest one.