I've never understood why we don't do this

Insurance companies share information to other companies.
Why don't us automation part buyers share this pricing info.
Because we getting the best deal? Hush hush, don't tell Fred.

There is nothing quite so peaceful as the feeling when your competitor underbids you and wins a project from your stingiest, rudest, most difficult customer.

Do you mean US insurances company share how much they charge to there customer to other company ? In my country, they need to share driver file because there is a common system they need to fill but if we can have different rate from 1 company to another, they wouldn't share it......
Sharing prices would just bring down all the market.
If you work on a manufacturing shop that buy replacement parts, i understand you may want to know how much the panel builder pay for that to resale it to you. Then you will want to pay that lower price instead. This would be bad for the panel shop business
If you work for a panel builder, you may got better price for x brand because you use plenty but you will get higher prices for a brand Y that you buy just once in a while...
If i work for a competitor panel shop and even if i don't use much X brand you let me know how much you pay it, i may ask to get the same price as you. Then this will let me bid and probably win projects in some of your usual market even if you do good business there for decades.....This is just few exemples but there is plenty.

Ken Roach said:

There is nothing quite so peaceful as the feeling when your competitor underbids you and wins a project from your stingiest, rudest, most difficult customer.

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Yes there is also that kind of customer that don't understand you have to pay some bills at the end of the month. You can let them go without a tear....
Usually this is not the one that get the best services either...

I've witnessed customers pay more for a product while also buying more.
This reminds me a lot of the car industry before dealers had to show MSRP.
So many tiers.
Price gets raised every time it touches hands.

Yes there is also that kind of customer that don't understand you have to pay some bills at the end of the month. You can let them go without a tear

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I have found there are two types of people you have to negotiate with. First and most pleasant to deal with are those who take the attitude, " You made a buck and I made a buck. We should both walk away happy". Unfortunately you also have to deal with the ones who take the attitude, "You made a buck and I made a buck. That means there were two bucks on the table and I only got one of them. You cheated me".

Many (MANY) years ago I was a mechanic in a shop where you sold your own work so not only did I diagnosis and repair the cars I interfaced with the customers as well (that’s where I learned part of my craft). I had one customer who came in with lose steering, so I diagnosed the problem (worn tie rod ends) and sold him the job. Turns out the whole time he was setting me up (or at least he thought he was). When he came in to pay the bill he demanded to see the parts receipt from the NAPA that we got our parts from. After going back and forth for a few minutes I relented and sifted through the pile of papers and found the one with his parts on it. I then pointed out that we only put a 20% markup on our cost which was 25% below list so I was actually saving him about 5% on the parts. He then went off on a pent-up rant about how he was sick and tired of mechanics ripping people off and that we had no business marking up parts just to “inflate” the bill and that he should pay what I paid for the parts even though it was below list price. I tried pointing out (again) that he was paying less than if he had bought them himself, but he was well beyond the point of reasoning (it was rather amusing actually). He then insisted that he only be charged labor and because I had the gall to mark up the parts that he should get them for free to show us that people weren’t going to take it anymore. He even started talking about how he was going to start a movement to “reform the automotive repair industry” and weed out the “crooks like you” (meaning me). I informed him that we weren’t releasing the vehicle without payment in full and that he signed the estimate before I did the work (that actually slowed him down for a few seconds. But he got past it). He then called the police and I called my boss who was ****ed. Not that I had done anything wrong or about what was happening but that he wasn’t there to watch this lunatic.
The cops showed up and informed me that I couldn’t hold his car because as it stood he wasn’t saying he wasn’t going to pay, we just didn’t agree on price and that made it a civil matter. He then turned to the “customer” and told him that he was flat out wrong and that if he insisted on taking the car without paying the full amount that we (the service station) were in a very good position to put a lean on his car and that he would help us fill out the paperwork and testify at the hearing and that he was sure to lose his car (or pay the full amount plus interest and legal fees). This time he relented and paid the bill. The officer told him that he better not stop the check because that would be a criminal matter and that he would love to arrest him for it (I think he said something along the lines of “give me a reason”). He left with is repaired car and I went into the back room and laughed for about ten minutes then went home.
A couple of weeks later I got a call from the same guy wanting to know what brakes on his car would cost. I told him a million dollars unless the calipers were bad then it would be a million two. He hung up and we never heard from him again.

I tried to do that on this forum once and got "Beat up" bad, because on this forum if you recommend an item/manufacture then this forum thinks you must work for them and you are just promoting your product.

I no longer give my opinion of new products that I use, even when I have great results.

This forum would be the perfect place for everyone to share their experience with new things and in the past I was happy when someone told me about new technologies and products.

Please don't misunderstand, I love this forum as it has helped me time and time again, I just think we could do better.

You could just buy from a company like Automation Direct. Their prices are the same whether you buy 1 or a 100 and listed right there for everyone to see.

boardmaker said:

You could just buy from a company like Automation Direct. Their prices are the same whether you buy 1 or a 100 and listed right there for everyone to see.

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This is ONE of the reasons I love AutomationDirect!

There is a point.....I believe it is $100,000 a year and Automation Direct will give you a better discount.

It is ludicrous to me why so many people do not understand markup on selling components.
What is going to cover the expenses of:
Labor cost of the engineering research to make sure it is the correct part and specify it?
Labor cost of the parts department to order the part?
Labor cost of the receiving department to handle the part when it comes in?
Labor/Material cost of the accounting personnel to handle related paperwork and paying the bill? Plus.... floating the money till they receive payment from the customer, which can range from 30 days to 120 days..

Because it's not insurance.

Would you tell another company how much you bid on a project?

Especially since....
Most contracts are regrettably sent to the lowest bidder...
Not the most knowledgeable or with the best capabilities....... just lowest price...

Funny, we have local dealers in Sweden for most part. All individual discounts and contracts.. get’s a bit messy at times. But you build relations to your sales persons! Thats a bonus!

NetNathan said:

There is a point.....I believe it is $100,000 a year and Automation Direct will give you a better discount.

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A former employer told me once that he had negotiated to get a 3% discount from AutomationDirect (discount that I don't remember using afterwards), but I had though that it was just a fairy tale.