What should be included in your price list?

What is in your price list?

What should be included? Time to look into Price Lists.

Most businesses will need to draw up a price list at some stage. If you sell a fixed range of products or provide standard services, this may be the only form of pricing you need (e.g. manufacturers). A standard price list can also be used as the basis for pricing any non-standard orders – but tailored and tweaked to meet your customer's specific requirements – not however to be confused with an estimate or quotation.

If you are a new business and looking to compile your first price list, write down all your products and services. Include every possible product you sell and every service you offer. Divide each product or service into groups – this will make it easier when deciding what to charge for products.

Find out what your competitors are charging. It's important that you offer competitive prices that are fair for the quality of product or service you sell - customers will soon notice if this is not the case.

When starting a new business it's often difficult to determine just how much to charge for each product or service in order for you to pay all your expenses and still make a living. Don't charge too little for your products or risk frightening away potential customers by overcharging. Be fair to both yourself and your customers by pricing realistically.

When you've decided what to charge, you will need to include the following information on your price list:

1. Contact telephone numbers/email and business address.
2. Information on how to order from you.
3. Date the list was compiled - particularly if your customer is likely to keep it for a long time.
4. Indicate clearly when any pricing and special offers will expire.
5. Indicate if any discounts apply to particular products or customer groups e.g. students/Old Age Pensioners on different days of the week.
6. Include a clause at the end of the price list stating that prices may be subject to change.
7. Make it clear whether any delivery, packing or postage costs are included in your prices.
8. If appropriate, indicate discounts for bulk purchases to attract more business.

Closing Remarks

If you are new to the marketplace you are likely to need all the customers you can get; producing a clear price list and ensuring that your prices are fair to both you and your customers will help to bring in new custom. For more complex price lists you may be able to use software packages which enable advanced pricing methods to be applied quickly and simply to large product and customer groups.