With 95th percentile billing, buyers are billed each month at a fixed price multiplied by the peak traffic level, regardless of how much is used the rest of the time. Thus with the same nominal price, the effective price is higher for buyers with burstier traffic patterns. With Merkato, buyers dynamically purchase bandwidth, in real-time, based on actual need, in 5-minute increments. Based on parameters set by the buyer, the purchased amount will closely follow the actual traffic (how closely depends on the buyer's configured "margin").

Thus, when comparing Merkato prices with 95th percentile, one must multiply the latter by the burstiness of the buyers' traffic, typically a factor of 2 to 3 for wholesale Internet traffic. For example, for a buyer with an average of 20Mbps and a 95th-percentile of 50Mbps, a Merkato price of $40/Mbps/month results in a total cost of about (20+5)x40 = $1,000/month, assuming the buyer's Merkato quantity margin is 5Mbps. At the same nominal price of 40$/Mbps/month, for the same total cost, with 95th-percentile pricing, the buyer would get only 1/2 as much bandwidth (the traffic average would have to be 10 and the 95th-percentile 25 for the total cost to be 25x40 = 1000).

In addition, with traditional contracts, the buyer is generally locked into a long-term contract, with a minimum commitment and a fixed price, with no ability to renegotiate for 12 or 24 months. When connected to a Merkato-based Liquid Bandwidth Exchange the buyer can purchase bandwidth from any available seller, with no commits, or burst premiums.