What we learned from one distributor’s quotes
For examples you can check yourself, see the public bid study.
We reviewed one distributor’s past quotes. We compared prices for the same items across customers and months, and checked quoted prices against the customer prices on file.
Prices varied by customer, and quotes generally followed the customer prices on file. Those findings describe how this distributor quoted. They do not tell us how much extra profit a price change would produce, so we withdrew our initial profit estimate.
What the review showed
Customer context
Same-item prices really do move with the customer, more than you’d get by grouping quotes at random. But “customer” stands in for a lot: the contract, the relationship, who else is bidding, how badly they need it, what it costs to serve. It does not prove any one price was wrong.
Stored customer prices
Where this distributor had a stored customer price, quotes followed it closely. The book we read was careful, not sloppy.
Quotes worth reviewing
We found different margins on repeat quotes for the same item and customer in the same month, plus quotes below recorded cost. These are cases to review with the team before deciding whether a price should change.
Why we are telling you this
We could not defend our own number once we asked about contracts.
When quotes for the same item have different prices, we compare the quantities, recorded costs and customer agreements. Your team helps explain the differences and decides which quotes need a closer look. The public bid study shows examples of price comparisons.