QuotedPartAnswers · Updated 2026-10-30
I came in way under the other quotes: did I miss something?
Price one of your own parts: Drop a STEP model or PDF drawing — about 90 seconds, no account.
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Re-check before you celebrate. On a 25-piece anodized aluminum bracket with a first article report and a material cert, our pricing engine gives $1,202.42. A quote that left out the anodize lot charge ($162.50), the inspection time ($61.75), the first article report ($146.25) and the cert ($11.92) would have come in at $820.00, 32% lower, with the same machining. If a recheck finds a real omission, tell the buyer before the PO. If it finds nothing, keep the price: you aren't obliged to match the others.
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What low quotes usually leave out
A big gap is often a scope difference, not skill. The items below are the ones that fall off a quote by accident, listed with their size on one example part. The first column is the check to run on your own quote.
| Check | On the quote? | Amount in the full quote |
|---|---|---|
| Outside finish: the vendor's lot minimum, not just a per-part price | ☐ | $162.50 |
| Inspection: first-piece layout and the lot's check | ☐ | $61.75 |
| Setup and programming: second setup, workholding, CAM time | ☐ | $283.24 |
| First article report, if the print or PO requires it | ☐ | $146.25 |
| Material certification and a C of C | ☐ | $11.92 |
| Freight in (bar or plate), freight out and packaging | ☐ | Check your numbers |
| Scrap allowance on a hard-to-hold feature | ☐ | Check your numbers |
| Revision, tolerance, thread class and finish spec on the print | ☐ | Read again |
Why finish lot charges bite
Outside finishers have lot minimums. A Type II anodize with a $125 minimum lot charge costs more per piece when you send 25 than when you send 500: here the anodize alone is $162.50 on a $1,044.25 order. A quote that took the per-piece price from a finisher's list and forgot the lot charge looks cheap by exactly that gap. The same goes for a heat treat load, a plating minimum and a certified test.
Setup is the next common miss. The bracket carries $283.24 of setup and programming whatever the quantity ($217.88 cost with markup). A quote that spreads one setup over the whole lot can be right, but one that forgets the second setup is wrong by that amount.
Etiquette: what to do if you find a mistake, or don't
If you find an omission before the buyer has placed an order, send a revised quote right away with a plain sentence: "On review, our quote did not include the anodize lot charge. Revised price attached." Most buyers would rather hear it now than receive a change after the PO. A quote usually states how long it stays valid; read yours, because after the buyer accepts it, the accepted terms are usually what you've agreed to and getting out of them is a conversation with a lawyer, not an email.
If you checked everything and the price holds, keep it. Buyers collect quotes from shops with different equipment, rates and appetite for the work, and being lowest is not an error. Don't raise a correct price to look like the others; you'd be giving away the order for nothing. Do ask the buyer what they assumed (quantity, finish, certs) if the gap is large, since a mismatched assumption on their side is as likely as a mistake on yours.
Use the gap as feedback. If you are regularly lowest by a wide margin and rarely make money on those jobs, look at your rate and your actuals. If you are lowest and profitable, your rates may be right and the others' too high, and you could raise the price a few percent on the next quote without losing the job.
Sources and limits
Claims are dated where they can change. Product calculations are examples from the stated inputs, not a promise about a customer's quote. Competitor wording is attributed to the source shown.
- Amounts are from QuotedPart's pricing engine (US starting catalog, 30% markup) for a fictional 4 × 2 × 0.5 in bracket; the first article and cert minutes are examples.
Questions
Should I raise the price after I have been awarded the job?
Only for a genuine error, and only with a revised quote the buyer accepts. A price changed after the PO without agreement damages the relationship, and may not be enforceable.
Is the lowest quote a red flag?
It's a prompt to check scope. Compare finish, certs, inspection, quantity, material and lead time before deciding whether it's an error or an advantage.
Price one of your own parts
Drop a PDF drawing or a STEP file. QuotedPart reads the print, measures the model and prices it in seconds, on default shop rates you can change.
Your STEP file or PDF drawingDrop a PDF drawing, a STEP file or both
Free. No account, no email. Priced at our default US rates until you set yours.
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