If you can get such a big discount, that's a red flag: the price was bogus, I'm being conned (or, more charitably, a communication error might have been made). It's typical for enterprise purchase of software or IT services, for example, to either discard or put in question offers that are quite below their competitors in the RFP.

But on the other hand, again, when dealing with enterprise purchases, the purchases department needs to demonstrate that they bring value to the table by lowering costs. So it is typical to make what you suggest and account for a commercial discount of 3-10%,depending on purchase size, etc.

You need to fight for it, but you are safe to grant it in the end.

This might happen even if you don't know about it, if your boss sets the prices and you can request a special discount for special clients.

Because most customers don't like, or don't know how, to negotiate (yes even B2B customers where you would think this is the norm). So if the initial price is too high, they won't even bother to talk to you. The conversation literally dies.

Alternatively, they know how to negotiate, or don't mind it, but given the bigger picture it's not worth their time to go back and forth through the intro emails -> demo conference call -> pricing negotiation loop with every company that has high prices, and they are faced with an information asymmetry as to which ones are worth it.

Oh, yes. When exploring a new domain, the "call us for pricing" people get put at the end of the line. We're not an enterprise, and we're not going to waste our time with sales small-talk before we've even seen what the product can do.

When I think of how much of my life sales people have wasted on meetings and calls and blah blah it makes me want to cry. Just tell me the goddamn price. I'll tell you if it's too much.

You've just described the business model of essentially every department store.

Yes.