Re: How to deal with a customer who takes advantage of your quote ?
Talk to the purchasing agent. Tell them you will give them that price and charge for actual individual shipping only if they pay for the entire order at the first invoice. If they have to pay for it upfront then it probably won't take up shelf space in your shop for very long. As to the discount, look at the post marks. Go from there. If its within a day or two let it go. During our recent economic down turn I had dozens of big commercial customers all of a sudden tell me their policy was to pay in 60 days and demand all kinds of extra terms and conditions to remain a vendor. These were all customers under contract. Most vendors agreed, because, they could not afford to lose the business. There were articles about this phenomenon in business publications claiming this was the new normal. I flatly said no, and only lost a couple customers. None were big customers for me. Most were big businesses who were doing very little business with me. Some just paid in 60 days anyway, and I charged them my contracted late penalties and they paid it or got service cancellation notices. Most paid the penalties and just continued to pay slow. My big customers all stayed with me.
Anyway, you need to talk with the purchasing agent. If he is that cheap you know he has shopped you around. He has some room to give or he wouldn't still be with you. Do the humble, "I'm sorry, but I just can't afford to give you bulk pricing and not be able to make them as a bulk order. I'll be glad to shelf them for you upto (XX) days so you can have bulk pricing if you pay for them all at once upfront." Its like the companies I described in the paragraph above. You don't know if it will fly unless you try. It just might.
You are going to have to get them to give somewhere sooner or later, because materials are always going up.
Bob La Londe
http://www.YumaBassMan.com