It is a real challenge to accept a job as Buyer or Purchasing Manager and find that your new employer has kept no record of prices paid. Price histories are a highly valuable tool to use when comparing new prices and before placing new orders.

Most companies either maintain price history files or have the information somewhere that can be retrieved if necessary. Fewer companies keep records in any quickly accessible file of quotes obtained. These records too can be a valuable source of information to estimate what you need to pay.

The quotes may be for slightly different specifications and may be months or even years old, but they are still useful. For differences in specifications, simply estimate the cost of the different specifications and add or subtract to determine what you will probably need to pay.

For differences in time, look up the Producer Price Index at the time the quote was made and compare it with the current producer price index. Then multiply the quote price times the percentage change in the index to give you the new estimated price.

It is more accurate to use the index for the product you are interested in, if you can locate it, rather than the more general Producer Price Index that is a composite of all products.