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This page contains commonly asked questions regarding how we determine customer prices, including applicable discounts, pricing updates, and the like.

Prices described on this page were current as of January 17th, 2022; see our Product Catalog or ask for a quote to check the most recent pricing. Any prices shown do not reflect negotiated or promotional discounts, add-on entitlements, or other adjustments that may affect the pricing for any given Service(s) or specific customer.

Maintaining accurate pricing information on our website has become somewhat cumbersome. So, instead of posting prices here directly in the text, please use the links provided to view the details for each item in our Product Catalog. Maybe one day we'll write some code to bring those prices back onto this page, but for now it is more important to send you to the right place for today's correct price.

By the way, sorry, but legacy price data is being taken offline. Inflation is depressing, and we want to avoid bumming everyone out.

As a side note, you may notice that some products have prices ending in 7, 77, 97, or .70. These are arbitrary, but can be informative. For example, if you were billed for hourly services (including retainer-based services): hourly rates ending in $--.70 are the established rate for 2022; legacy rates from previous years generally end in $--7.00. For Admin 365 service plans: current (2022) prices end in $--.47; legacy prices ended in $--7.70. For Event Horizon plans: legacy prices ended in $--97.00; current prices do not follow this convention, but they do end in $--7.00. Why do we do this? Is it because sevens are lucky? Do we love prime numbers? Is it some strange technique to avoid audits by undermining Benford's Law. Yes, yes, and - to be perfectly honest, we don't actually know. But really it's basically just an uncanny natural property of math. We started with a lot of sevens, and 10% of 7 is .70, and 10% of that is .07, so in the end we end up with a lot of sevens. Anyway, we think it's kind of cool, so we're sticking with it.

Where can I get your prices for T&M / hourly services?

Rates for T&M Service(s) and/or Priority Service (sometimes also called Urgent Service, Emergency Service, Enhanced Service Request, or Enhanced Service Incidents) are as follows, with links on the right to the details in our Product Catalog for each item:

Pricing Tier Applies To Qualifying Service Plan Minimum Commitment Auto-refill Freq. Hourly T&M Rate
Ad Hoc Rates for Priority Service
Walk-in / List Pricing This is the rate for services (such as per-incident support) where the customer has no prior relationship or account. Minimum billing is 2 hours per incident. No Plan Needed Any N/A $282.70
Standard Customer (SupportPlus) Pricing Our standard Priority Service rate for current clients who purchase subscription licenses and do not maintain any Service Plan above Cyber-readiness Essentials. No Plan Needed Any Refill Default Rate $271.70
Prime Rates for Priority Service

These are the hourly rates for Priority Service above and beyond standard Entitlements covered under a Service Plan.

"Qualifying Service Plans" shown below are just one example of many plans that might qualify for a specific Prime Rate. The actual rates are determined by plan family and company size, as described in the individual Product Details for each plan.

They also describe hourly rates for retainer-based Service Plans, Jump Starts, and other short-term Task Orders, with pricing based on auto-refill frequency or total commitment.

Please note we now handle all our T&M services, such as project work and mid-range SOW(s) / Task Order(s), using a Retainer-based Service Plan model. Customers with Retainer-based / pay-as-you-go Service Plans will pay the applicable Prime Rate for blocks of hours. These blocks are based on either the size at which we will Auto-refill available hours or (where Auto-refill billing isn't a viable option) the total commitment in hours for the currently agreed commitments expressed in SOW(s) or Purchase Order(s).

"Minimum Commitment" describes the smallest block of hours that can be purchased at this rate as part of an SOW or Task Order without auto-refill. "Auto-refill Frequency" describes the designated block of hours which will trigger automated billing for retainer-based Service Plans where auto-refill is authorized, to be refreshed whenever existing retainer is nearly exhausted.

Prime E (Diem) Pricing
Daily Rate
The Daily Rate may be applied to any Task Order(s) or retainer auto-refill with quantity of 4 Hours or more, whenever customer does not qualify for a better rate under a Service Plan.
Save up to 33% with a Service Plan or larger block of hours.
No Plan Needed 4+ Hours 4 Hours $256.70
Prime D (Philosopher) Pricing
3 Day Jump Start
Save up to 27% by upgrading Service Plan or purchasing hours in larger blocks. Admin 365 24 Hours 12 Hours $236.70
Prime C (Hero) Pricing
1 Week Jump Start
Save up to 21% by upgrading Service Plan or purchasing hours in larger blocks. Admin 365+ 40 Hours 24 Hours $216.70
Prime B (Nymph) Pricing Save up to 16% by upgrading Service Plan or purchasing hours in larger blocks. Co-managed Cloud 60 Hours 32 Hours $205.70
Prime A (Demigod) Pricing
2 Week Jump Start
Save up to 11% by upgrading Service Plan or purchasing hours in larger blocks. Co-managed Cloud+ 80 Hours 40 Hours $194.70
Prime AA (Titan) Pricing Save 6% by upgrading Service Plan or purchasing hours in larger blocks. Co-managed Enterprise 120 Hours 60 Hours $183.70
Prime AAA (Olympian) Pricing
1 Month Dedicated Resource
This is our best available hourly rate, reserved for large projects and VIP clients. Managed Enterprise 160 Hours 80 Hours $172.70
Urgent/Emergency Service Rates

These are our rates for Urgent / Drop Everything response, both on-site and remote.

Qualifying clients may alternatively be charged the applicable Prime Rate, in cases where all work is completed during normal business hours or work during Extended Hours has been pre-scheduled in advance.

ER/X1 Urgent / Emergency Normal (5x8) Business Hours   N/A N/A $282.70
ER/X2 Urgent / Emergency Extended (6x12) Hours   N/A N/A $304.70
ER/X3 Urgent / Emergency 24/7/365 + Holidays   N/A N/A $326.70
Other T&M Services
On Site Service Call - Normal Scheduling On-site visits within 50 Miles of LMS location
with a few days advance notice
  Per Half-day Visit N/A Ask
On Site Service Call - Priority Scheduling On-site visits within 50 miles of most US cities
with 48 hour scheduling
  Per Half-day Visit N/A Ask

Where can I find your prices for Service Plans?

The best way to get our current price with all available incentives is to ask your Account Executive for a Quote. The following tables link to product details for frequently purchased Service Plans, including monthly per-company list prices.

Admin 365 product information and pricing:

Admin 365
Plan Level
Regular Plan Pricing
(Cloud Admin Level 1)
"Plus" Plan Pricing
(Cloud Admin Level 2)
Priority Service Rate
SOHO (1-4) Admin 365 - SOHO N/A Prime D
Micro (5-19) Admin 365 - Micro Business Admin 365 Plus - Micro Business Prime D/C
Small (20-49) Admin 365 - Small Business Admin 365 Plus - Small Business Prime C/B
Midsize (50-299) Admin 365 - Midsize Business Admin 365 Plus - Midsize Business Prime B/A
Enterprise (300+) Ask for Custom Pricing Ask for Custom Pricing Prime A/AA/AAA
 
Event Horizon Co-managed Cloud product information and pricing:
 
Event Horizon Plan Level Co-managed Plan Pricing
(Cloud Admin Level 3)
Co-managed Plus Plan Pricing
(Cloud Admin Level 4)
Priority Service Rate
SOHO / Tiger Team (1-4) Co-managed Cloud - SOHO/Tiger Team Co-managed Cloud Plus - SOHO/Tiger Team Prime A
Micro (5-19) Co-managed Cloud - Micro Business Co=managed Cloud Plus - Micro Business Prime AA
Small (20-49) Co-managed Cloud - Small Business Co-managed Cloud Plus - Small Business Prime AA
Midsize (50-299) Co-managed Cloud - Midsize Business Co-managed Cloud Plus - Midsize Business Prime AAA
Enterprise (300+) Ask for Custom Pricing Ask for Custom Pricing Prime AAA

For all other pricing, including add-ons for fully managed plans such as Event Horizon Managed Server/Endpoint and enterprise level plans, please contact your Account Executive or visit our Product Catalog: Liquid Mercury Service Plans for product information and general pricing.

Q: Are your prices for Microsoft 365 subscriptions really the same as Microsoft's?

For the vast majority of products this is absolutely true. Sometimes our prices are even better. Here are a few ways that things differ.
 
Our prices are pegged to Microsoft's monthly billing price for a 1-year annual commitment. If you're paying a higher price to Microsoft for a plan that says "Month to Month", you'll notice a lower price for the equivalent plan when quoted through CSP. This is because CSP is an annual agreement, but there is no commitment to keep a certain quantity of licenses within the CSP plan. Thus, the month-to-month concept is meaningless, and we do not charge you for it.
 
Some CSPs will claim the higher price as the MSRP and claim they are offering a discount. As a practice, we don't do this. You will get the normal (annual) price with the month-to-month flexibility. If you know of another CSP running a better offer, please bring it to us so we can match it.
 
There are some cases where we charge a processing fee for Microsoft plans that are sold to us "at cost" and delivered to clients without additional markup. Examples include Microsoft Voice Telephone Plans and AOSG plans for GCC High. In all such cases, the fees are nominal and intended to recover our costs for processing your billing and payment only. If this is a concern, we have several ways in which such charges may be avoided. So, ask us for more details if this situation applies to you.

Q: Do you offer promotional pricing or discounts?

Yes. We honor all Microsoft promotions, and sometimes offer additional discounts or incentives of our own. These may include discounts for licenses and/or professional services.

Please note that all pre-2022 promotions and discounts, including the COVID-19 Relief Discount have now expired.

See Promotional Offers for a full list of actively available promotions.

We also have standing a price matching policy regarding competitor discounts.

Q: Do you have discounts for schools or non-profits?

Yes. We resell already discounted products from Microsoft intended for schools and not-for-profit organizations. We also provide generous discounts to educational institutions and charities for our Service Plans and professional services.

Q: My price went up since my last invoice. Why did this happen?

There are a few reasons this may happen.
  • From time to time, we provide promotional offers. These are not intended to last indefinitely, and the prices may increase when the promotional offer expires.
     
  • Microsoft and other suppliers changes their prices for various products, usually twice yearly in the spring and fall. Sometimes these price changes take effect for existing customers, while other times existing licenses are grandfathered. As we update our product catalog, such changes will be processed forward to your billing contract and subscriptions.
  • From time to time, to keep pace with market forces, we may increase our own prices for Service Plans and hourly rates. We generally only do so once per year. If you received legacy pricing that was valid before such an increase, your price increase may either be delayed or phased in over an extended period of time.
We always try to be clear about these and call changes to your attention as they apply, but it would be impractical to flag every change at every opportunity to do so. You may check our Product Catalog at any time for the most current and accurate prices.

Q: Do you charge for state or local sales taxes?

We might. It depends on the rules in your state, and the type(s) of products or services purchased. In general, our Quote to you will include details regarding applicable state and local taxes in your area.

Sales tax will be charged in the following states:

  • Maryland - 6% on tangible goods, no tax on services or SaaS
  • Washington DC - 6% on all goods and services
  • Connecticut - Three different tax rates based on software, SaaS (6.xx%), and professional services (1%)
  • New York - SaaS and software are taxable, rates vary by borough or county (7 to 8%)