In the retail sector obtaining price information is usually straightforward. You can go to a shop and ask or usually just see the price tag. In business-to-business environments it is much more difficult. Many companies are secretive. Even worse, they may not even have a formal price list that will be made available outside the company. Prices offered will vary depending on a number of factors, including the quantity purchased or other services offered.

However in the majority of cases, pricing information IS in the public domain. It is in the customer's interest to get the best deal. So, it is in the customer's interest to know what prices the various suppliers in the industry are offering. As a result, a first point of contact should be your customers and your competitors' customers.

Speak to your customers (or get your sales people to do this). Ask what the competitor has quoted.Contact lost customers and prospects and ask what they actually paid for the product. You can be quite open - saying your company name. To non-customers you can also say that you need the information so as to ensure that your products are competitive. It will usually be in their interest to give some information - as perhaps next order they will get a better deal. All this is ethical - as you are not misrepresenting yourself or asking for confidential information. (Stress this - just in case there is a confidentiality agreement signed between the competitor and your contact!)

In some cases, especially for large scale projects, products are put out to tender. In such situations it is possible to find the value of bids put out by competitors from a variety of public sources. In Europe there is a database called Tenders Electronic Daily (often called TED at http://www.ted.europa.eu/) that records the bids for all major governmental supply, service and public works contracts within the European Union. Information recorded includes pre-information notices, invitations to tender, and contract awards. TED is particularly easy to use and now covers almost all Western European and most Eastern European countries - members of the European Union. Other databases tend to be more specialist – but do exist. A list of sources for bid and tender information is held at http://www.fedmarket.com/. Finally, you should not ignore your own industry journals, which frequently record contracts won by companies.