02/06/2026
Q: What would you do if someone asked you to increase your price so they could take a cut?
A: We would rather lose the order.
Recently, we were involved in a project where communication was handled entirely through a local supply chain representative. We never had direct contact with the overseas purchasing decision-maker.
At one point, we were asked to increase our quoted price. The implication was clear: the extra margin was not for the product, quality, tooling, or service.
We chose not to do it.
Did we risk losing the project? Yes.
Could another supplier have won the business by agreeing to higher prices? Possibly.
But we believe our job is to help customers reduce costs, improve quality, and build reliable supply chains—not to increase prices for reasons unrelated to the product.
The difficult part is that the final buyer may never know what happened. They only see the invoice and assume the price reflects the true manufacturing cost.
This is why transparency in supplier selection and procurement processes matters.
We may lose some orders by refusing to participate in unethical practices, but we would rather lose an order than compromise our integrity.
Trust takes years to build and only moments to lose.
