What's your obligation to your broker?

[mikehende]

We have a broker who gets his commission from the suppliers but he is getting us a really great pricing on one specific product and he is asking us what our selling price is. We are thinking of also giving him a commission on our end in good faith so he will be getting from both sides but are we obligated to tell him what our buyers are paying to us? If not, would any of you guys here think we should divulge that info to him please?

[Fulcrum]

I wouldn't tell him what you sell your product for. It has no, or shouldn't have any, bearing on what you pay him/vendor. Then again, I've seen this going the other way as well when a customer wants to know what your costs are (including a full material breakdown and manufacturing process) in relation to your selling price.

[Harold Mansfield]

I wouldn't tell him or anyone else your mark up. That's crazy. I can only relate to this back when I ran a nightclub. A few promoters would want to know our "costs" or what we purchased liquor for, so that they could figure out our markup and talk us down on the price of renting the place out or ask for a cut of the bar. What people who ask this never take into account is your expenses.

Once you give out that information they now have the leverage and you've lost yours. I don't recommend it. There is no logical reason for someone that YOU PAY to know this. They will use it against you.

[Fulcrum]

There is no logical reason for someone that YOU PAY to know this. They will use it against you.

If you were beating your vendor up over pricing I could see them asking about your selling price. I may not agree with the practice, but I do understand it in this situation.

[Paul]

They will use it against you.


Brokers can be notorious busybodies and not always discreet. They may share that info with competitors or the supplier.

[mikehende]

Ok, I will simply tell him we cannot give out that info and especially since we will be giving to him an extra commission, as long as we treat him right, that's all that matters. appreciate the help guys.