Is the Race to the Bottom Hurting Our Industry? A Reflection on Pricing Priority and Supplier Selection
In today’s highly competitive B2B landscape, it’s increasingly common to see price becoming the only deciding factor when selecting suppliers. Many buyers are quick to reject a supplier just because the quoted price is a little higher, without evaluating the material quality, design, lead time, stability, or service reliability behind it.
This kind of decision-making, while seemingly cost-saving, is short-sighted and harmful to the long-term health of our industry. In economics, there's a saying:
“Bad money drives out good money.”
Unfortunately, we’re seeing this trend in real time: responsible suppliers who invest in better materials, stronger production systems, and consistent quality are being pushed aside by low-cost, low-quality alternatives. Over time, this will weaken the overall standard of products in the market, erode trust, and damage customer experience.
Why is this happening?
Some procurement teams lack technical support to assess value beyond price.
Tender processes are flawed, focusing on lowest bid wins.
Short-term goals (e.g., budget cuts) override long-term performance.
Invisible costs like warranty, after-sales issues, and delivery delays are often ignored.
But let’s not forget: in professional tendering systems, the lowest and highest bids are often removed, and what remains is evaluated on design, delivery time, compliance, and service quality — not just price. This is a more holistic and sustainable approach, and we believe it should be more widely adopted.
✅ How can we improve this?
Educate buyers and procurement teams on total value vs. unit cost.
Encourage transparency about material specs, warranties, and processes.
Establish long-term partnerships with reliable suppliers, not just transactional deals.
Use balanced scorecards in tendering — include criteria like product design, service response time, production capacity, etc.
At BathMoo, we understand the pressure to stay competitive — but we believe value should never be sacrificed for price alone. We’re committed to supporting partners who are growing their business sustainably, with quality products, stable supply, flexible solutions, and lasting service.
👉 Let’s build a healthier market — together.
#B2B #Procurement #SupplyChain #QualityMatters #BusinessEthics #Tendering #SanitaryWare #BathroomVanity #ManufacturingInsights #BathMoo #LongTermValue #SustainablePartnership
