Price First, Panic Later: The Buy-Side Trap
There's a common practice in buy-side contracting that doesn't work.
The practice is this:
Agree the price upfront.
Sort out the contract terms later.
It doesn't work because there is a good chance that the contract terms impact the price.
For example, if the seller refuses to take any meaningful risk in relation to how they perform or, worse, asks you to give them a heavy-duty indemnity, that impacts the price.
The simplest practical example of this approach is buying a second-hand car.
Would you agree the buy-price of a car without knowing how many miles it had travelled?
No, you wouldn’t.
And there’s a further problem.
Agreeing the price upfront means you’ve lost negotiating power.
Once the seller knows they’re your chosen supplier, any negotiating power you had has gone out of the window.
Adopt this approach and you have shot yourself in the foot. Twice.
21st April 2026