Call for pricing is usually B2B. Best case they want a salesperson to twist your arm, worst case the price is as much as they can squeeze out of you. If you ask why they waste people's time like this they'll say they're actually delivering maximum value. It's dishonest and archaic.
I think this is a matter of perspective. I founded a company that sold b2b software and experimented with removing pricing from my website. The challenge is the cost to complete each sale was highly variable which made it difficult to advertise fixed pricing. Consider the following:
If the buyer is an enterprise they expect a discount. The buyer may require the seller to use a supplier management tool like Arriba which has a monthly subscription fee. The buyer may purchase through a reseller, in which case the reseller expects a percentage of the transaction. The buyer may require custom contracts which can cost thousands of dollars in legal fees. The buyer may require extensive audits, pages of questionnaires and more which can take significant time and resources to complete. The buyer may hold back payment for up to 180 days.
So from my perspective, the problem is not the seller, the problem here is the enterprise buyer. If the buyer was willing to purchase from a website, with a credit card, and accept standard terms and pricing without modification, you would probably see much more transparent pricing and encounter fewer "contact sales" buttons.
I appreciate seeing a perspective from the "other side" on this. Still, as a small business operator occasionally making B2B purchases, I still find "call for pricing" annoying and assume it will mean that the product is way out of my price range.
Could there be some middle ground? Could you do something like "prices start at $X; additional fees may apply?" At least give us a ballpark number; something from which I can decide if it's worth my time to investigate further.
B2B sales is a different game that can be a two-way conversation rather than just supply and demand curves intersecting at a price. Often there is competitive analysis involved before choosing among alternatives and a vendor will want to make sure their product is best represented in that view. It’s also a chance for them to learn any other decision factors (besides price) they might be able to address. In this case, I suggest the novelty of pricing out a rocket launch is partly clever promotion, though also aspirationally a first step towards regularly booked space services.
