I've seen it recommended more then a few different places that the more choice you give a potential purchaser the less likely they will be to make any decision at all. Why then does nearly every pricing page have a grid of at least three choices? I realize having one choice (with upgrades after the purchaser has signed up) is not always possible but I would think I'd see more of the single plan with upgrade here (on HN) then elsewhere. Any thoughts?
Price discrimination: the top plan that gets bought by people spending other people's money generates ~40%+ of gross revenue. Feel free to innovate in pricing and packaging, but this particular question is testable and tested.
Assistly's pricing model ( <a href="http://www.assistly.com/pricing" rel="nofollow">http://www.assistly.com/pricing</a> ) bucks that trend, but I think there's a psychological desire for some choice (to feel in control) but not too much (which might require research) and pricing tiers are a very easy axis to make that decision on.