--- title: 'Lowest Price Isn''t the Best Price' source: 'https://youtube.com/watch?v=6nvSehFSCkM' video_id: '6nvSehFSCkM' date: 2026-07-22 duration_sec: 486 channel: 'Ahmed Moussa l احمد موسى' --- # Lowest Price Isn't the Best Price > Source: [Lowest Price Isn't the Best Price](https://youtube.com/watch?v=6nvSehFSCkM) ## Summary The video discusses why the lowest price is not always the best choice in contracting and manufacturing. The speaker argues that price competition often compromises quality, and emphasizes the importance of experience, craftsmanship, and fair pricing. ### Key Points - **Experience with Pricing** [00:03] — The speaker observed a consulting firm scrutinizing contractor pricing, believing a skilled engineer gets the best price without considering other factors. - **Market Pricing** [00:17] — If the market price is 30, getting 22 or 27 means working with an inexperienced contractor, risking reputation and project quality. - **Low Price Equals Low Quality** [00:46] — When someone offers work for 70 when the market is 100, something is wrong; those charging 100 are genuinely interested in quality. - **Cost Breakdown Example** [01:16] — For a meter costing 10 for materials, 7 for labor, and 3 for risks, the selling price should be 25-30, with profit for the contractor. - **Market Ruined by Price Competition** [01:59] — Two factors: competition based on price rather than quality, and inexperienced people entering the field. - **Quality vs. Price** [02:57] — Competing on price leads to cutting corners on materials and craftsmanship, resulting in poor quality. - **Craftsmanship Importance** [03:37] — Craftsmanship is more expensive than materials; cutting corners on it is detrimental. - **Experience Matters** [04:04] — All fields have varying levels of experience; inexperienced workers produce poor results. - **Long-term Costs of Inexperience** [05:53] — Savings from hiring inexperienced contractors lead to higher maintenance costs and dissatisfaction. - **Profit and Quality** [06:05] — Without profit, the contractor's goal is to save money, leading to lower quality materials and labor. - **Choosing Price Over Quality** [07:01] — When you can't see the final product, choosing the lower price is impractical and leads to regret. ### Conclusion The speaker concludes that paying a little more for quality work is better than suffering long-term consequences of poor workmanship. The lowest price often comes at the expense of quality. ## Transcript consulting firm (I won't mention names). I used to see him sit with contractors, scrutinizing their pricing until he was completely exhausted. Later, it was said in front of me more than once that a truly skilled engineer is one who knows how to get the best price for a specific item, literally, without considering other factors in the bidding process. The idea is that item you're working on thoroughly. There are some prices that simply don't apply to the item. For example, if the entire market is operating on a price of 30, you can't just get 22 or even 27 and be happy about it. You'll end up working with a contractor who doesn't understand the market, who lacks experience. They'll gamble with his reputation and mine, and the execution of the item will be flawed, even if the contractor bears all the loss. It will waste my time, the project's time, and damage my reputation in the market. Anyway, I quit my engineering job and started working as a contractor. The same thing happened to me when I worked on a project. Someone would tell me... They work for a certain price, but so-and- so doesn't adhere to proper execution standards or is definitely compromising quality. For example, the market operates on a 100-pound basis, so when someone tells you they're doing this work for 70, there must be something wrong. Those working for 100 pounds are genuinely interested and certainly not stealing to the point of taking double the profit per item. But those who value their reputation in the market strive for good quality because our work is transparent; the smallest mistake reveals other errors, and a specialist will spot them. For instance, if a meter costs 10 pounds for materials and accessories, requires 7 pounds in labor, and we factor in about three risks and losses, that meter should be sold for 25 to 30 pounds. That means the actual cost per meter is 20 pounds. So, for the contractor who will supervise the work and ensure it's on the right track and timeline, their profit will fall within this range, depending on the circumstances. It's unacceptable, for example, if I'm going to take five items or five units of a project and you tell me why I'm taking it for 35 (units of currency), there's no profit at all. It's also unacceptable if I take, say, 1000 items of a project and you tell me why I'm only taking five. The point here is that many work circumstances affect our pricing, so you hear that an engineer took an item for 22 (units of currency). Naturally, something is wrong. The contractor executing this might lack experience in the market or the estimation market, and they're risking their reputation, your reputation, the project's timeline, and many other things. We, as contractors, shouldn't be competing on price because if you're going to execute at a certain price, I'll be able to lower it. In my opinion, two things have ruined the market recently. First, competition is based on price, not quality. If we consider it a competition within an hour, someone will offer a better price. It's between you and me, and someone else might come along and offer a better price, and maybe a third person will come along and lose money and offer an even better price. All of this comes at the expense of quality because it's impossible to offer a price without compromising quality. We compete on quality; I'll offer the work at a reasonable price, but I'll showcase my work in the project. That's the first thing. The biggest thing that has ruined the market is that most people who don't understand the work are entering it. For example, you might find someone whose field is trade entering manufacturing. For people who manufacture, it's not easy. It's a craft; it's not like, "I'll do this and it'll work." On the contrary, it's better to leave the field to others, or if you do enter, don't do it recklessly manufacturing by entering trade. Trade isn't just about buying the market to where it is now. When we compete, we should compete honorably, which means focusing on quality, not on price, as we said, which will come at the expense of quality. Quality is key. If we compete on price, we'll likely cut corners on most of the things we buy for the job after agreeing on a price. For example, if I'm going to manufacture an item, I don't just source the materials and agree on a then buy the supplied materials. Naturally, if I'm not comfortable with the project, I'll cut corners on everything, even the smallest details. I'll try to save money here, there, and everywhere because the project is n't profitable. This will ultimately result in terrible quality. There are materials and accessories, and then there's one crucial element: the craftsmanship. This craftsmanship requires time and experience. If I cut corners on the materials, I'll definitely cut corners on the craftsmanship because the craftsmanship is more expensive than the materials. Many people don't understand that the craftsmanship is vast and can be saved on as well. And saving money in it is upsetting. The problem is that everyone thinks this skill is only in their field of work. No, this skill is in all fields of work. If you work in a certain field, like children's toys, if you enter that field, you'll find that in the field there are those who are just starting out and have limited experience, those who are intermediate in experience, and those with very high experience whom you like to listen to, whose opinion you value, and who are both efficient and beneficial to both parties. As for the one who is just starting out, we consider his words as mere talk, as if he were just passing by, and no one takes his words seriously because his words are often like speculations, inferences, or nonsense. So why do you consider your field to have both experience and skill? All fields are the same. The field is the same, meaning that the one working is the same as the one working below him. So, of course, experience makes a difference if you're doing work anywhere, for example, or buying something from anywhere. And what I'm saying here is that I have experience because I don't just go and buy the item like that. I don't, for example, go and buy a car or something already price. I'm going to take this anyway. The point is, the person I'm contracting with will start working on the job I'm going to do, so the situation is different. There are things where it's not appropriate to buy by the kilo. For example, how much does a kilo of sugar cost? I'll take it for one pound. But if I go and agree on a bedroom set that's still But if I go and agree on a bedroom set that's still to be built, then there are Also, from an experience perspective, some people are surprised when someone knows that, for example, an engineer gets a certain amount for knows that, for example, an engineer gets a certain amount for get paid, for example, and that money will be available later. I won't have to do maintenance all the time because I've other items are involved. So, the second set of items will also be implemented correctly, and so on. Because if you're building or finishing a place, everything has to be done correctly, because other things depend on it. There's no increased control; there's no going back and paying again to break or demolish what I've done and start rebuilding from scratch. And the hardest part is putting up with what's been done wrong without realizing the consequences. Because you do n't know what will happen afterward, since you implemented something incorrectly and lack experience, you won't understand what will happen in the execution later. And this mistake could go on for many years, and future generations will curse whoever did it, and it will have long-term consequences. And believe me, what you save by dealing with someone inexperienced, you'll pay for two or three times later in maintenance, dissatisfaction with the work, poor quality, scheduling conflicts, and general mess. This happens because of the work schedule and the way each item is factored in. Everyone has their own time commitment, so you should consider how much time you're dedicating to it. If I'm not making a profit on your project, my primary goal will be to save every penny. For your information, we used to calculate and eliminate waste from the project to improve quality. Try to project to improve quality. Try to manage it in a way that allows me to cut costs on materials. And of course, saving on materials means saving on labor costs, which refers to the workers I'll be employing. A skilled worker on labor costs, which refers to the workers I'll be employing. A skilled worker saves time and produces high-quality work, saves time and produces high-quality work, creating durable items that last longer. For example, their daily wage might be high for a contractor with a small workload, who then hires a less skilled worker. This inefficient worker will produce subpar work, and we'll be going around in circles. Ultimately, I need to make a good profit to pay you what you're owed because I also have obligations. This is something I tell my clients: when you're obligations. This is something I tell my clients: when you're building a structure, a shop, a project, or even just a small chair, you don't have enough time to spare. Executing both simultaneously means you don't have the option to choose between them. You'll end up taking the lower price because you don't have both options available yet; they're still to be completed. It's like entering a supermarket and seeing two types of products; you choose between them by reading their components. This is a readily available option. But in actually execute something I can't see. The product being executed isn't visible to me. So, choosing the lower price isn't practical. And it's not feasible to then go back and execute the second one after choosing the lower price. In that case, I'd be wasting my time, scrapping the first one, and then buying the second one. It all depends on whether your live with guilt and suffer, or perhaps wish you could go back in time and say, "I wish I had time and say, "I wish I had paid a little more." Keep in mind that there are people who can't afford it and know what they want, and they get what they can afford. That's me. With all due respect and appreciation, I'm talking about the person who thinks he'll get 35 for 22 or 35 for 25, and we'll talk about that in another video, which is what makes something cheap and expensive expensive. Yeah.