The unit price on a quotation is the most visible cost and frequently not the largest one. Five costs sit outside it, and on a bulky product any one of them can exceed the entire gap between two competing quotes.
Freight, which is the big one
Packaging is mostly air by volume. A container fills before it gets heavy, which means freight per unit is high and the delivery term on the quote changes everything. An ex-works price that looks excellent can be a poor landed price on a long lane.
Always convert to landed before comparing. We made this point for panels in how many honeycomb panels fit in a container, and it applies to every bulky item.
Tooling
If the item needs a new mould or die, that cost is either amortised into the unit price or billed separately. Both are legitimate; what matters is knowing which, and who owns the tool afterwards.
A tool you have paid for and do not own cannot be taken to another supplier. It is worth asking directly, before rather than after.
Disposal
Someone has to deal with the packaging at the end of its life, and in a lot of places that now costs money rather than earning it. A single-use format carries this cost on every unit; a returnable one carries it once.
It rarely appears in a comparison and it should. For a high-volume consumable it is often larger than the price difference.
Storage
Buying at container quantity saves on freight and costs on storage. Packaging does not degrade, so holding stock is low-risk – but it is not free, and a buffer sized for a peak that never comes is cash sitting in a corner.
The cost of a failed delivery
The one nobody budgets. A delay costs a line stoppage; a non-conforming batch costs a claim process and possibly a replacement at spot price. Both dwarf the saving on a cheaper supplier who delivers late.
This is why the cheapest quote is often not the cheapest outcome, and it is worth stating plainly in any sourcing decision rather than leaving it implicit.
Two more that belong on the list
Currency. If the quote is in a currency that is not yours, who carries the movement between order and payment. On a long lead time this can be several percent, and it is silent until it is not.
Your own administration. The cost of raising the order, chasing it, inspecting it and processing the invoice. Small per order, and not small across a year of small orders – which is the argument for consolidating lines and suppliers rather than for any particular product.
How to make them visible
Ask for a landed quote with the delivery term stated, and ask what is excluded in writing. Two questions on every enquiry. The suppliers who answer completely are, in our experience, the ones whose invoices match their quotes – which is the actual thing you are trying to establish.
What we can do
We make PP crates for fruit and vegetables and quote with delivery terms, tooling position and lead time stated, so these costs are visible up front. Tell us the lane and the volume and we will give you a landed figure – including flagging the costs that are yours rather than ours.