Business Reply Cards
standard
Market rangePER UNIT (QTY 100+)
● TYPICAL SITS NEAR THE FLOOR
The discount curve
Show as table
QTYFLOORTYPICALCEILINGVENDORS
13
53
103
253
503
1003
2503
5003
1,0003
2,5003
5,0003
10,0003
Procurement playbook
What moves the price
- Where your quantity sits against the 1/5/10/25/50/100/250/500/1000/2500/5000/10000 break points (just under a break is the expensive place to be)
- Materials and specification of the item
- Quantity and where it falls against a vendor's price breaks
- Finishing, customization, or add-on services
Check before signing
- Setup or one-time fees charged per unit or repeated on reorders
- A specification quietly changed from what you asked for
- Rush surcharges applied to a standard timeline
- Line items bundled into a single total so individual prices can't be compared
Negotiation levers
- Standardize the specification so vendors quote like-for-like
- Consolidate volume or designs to share fixed costs
- Offer schedule flexibility in exchange for a better rate
About business reply cards pricing
Priced per unit with quantity breaks. Vendors quote steps at 1 / 5 / 10 / 25 / 50 / 100 / 250 / 500 / 1000 / 2500 / 5000 / 10000 units, and the per-unit rate drops at each break.
Why do two quotes for the same item differ so much?
Usually a specification or finishing difference, not the core work. Ask both vendors to quote the identical spec and the gap normally narrows.
Tracked variants
The same product family is tracked in 14pt stock. Quotes are NOT interchangeable across variants, so match the spec before comparing.
Holding a quote for business reply cards?
Upload it for a line-by-line variance report. Each benchmarked item is measured against current vendor pricing, with specific figures for negotiation.
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