List price, street price, and net price are three different numbers. List price is the vendor's published unit price. Street price is the median price a comparable set of buyers paid. Net price is the number on your order.
A discount is a gap between two of those numbers. The gap that gets quoted in a negotiation is almost always list minus net. The gap that tells you where the deal sits is street minus net.
The three prices#
| Price | What it is | Who sets it |
|---|---|---|
| List | Published unit price before discount | The vendor |
| Street | Median price comparable buyers paid | The cohort |
| Net | The price on one order | That negotiation |
The list price page states that most enterprise buyers land 28 to 62 percent below list after a standard discount, and that strategic deals can land further below. That band is wide on purpose. Two buyers at 40 percent off the same list can sit on opposite sides of the market if one cohort's street discount is 35 percent and the other's is 55 percent. The street price page is where that point is made.
What makes a cohort comparable#
Street price holds when the deals beside it match on deal size, vendor, product, geography, and term. A 250-user CRM deal in one region is a different cohort from a 2,500-user deal in another. Rolling them into one median hides the number you would actually negotiate against.
Net price is the single outcome. It can beat street, match it, or sit above it. The discount tier page covers how volume, term, and bundle change which tier a deal is in.
Where to read next#
Open the vendor page for the product on the quote, then the category benchmark if the vendor page does not split by deal size. How to read a software discount walks the same three prices against a live quote. How to benchmark a software contract is the longer method note in the library.
Frequently asked questions
- What is list price in software?
- List price is the vendor's published, undiscounted unit price. It anchors the discount conversation and partner margins. It is a sales reference, and it moves.
- What is street price in software?
- Street price is the median price actually paid for a product across a comparable set of buyers, split by deal size, product, geography, and term.
- Which price should a discount be compared to?
- Compare the net price on the order to the street price for a matching cohort. A large discount off list can still land above street.