3 THINGS EVERY EDI VAN PROVIDER’S PRICING STRUCTURE SHOULD INCLUDE
The world of EDI VAN pricing can be confusing to navigate, but it really shouldn’t be. Unfortunately, many EDI VAN providers advertise one price but then tack on a bunch of fees that wind up costing you a lot of money.
The cost of EDI VANs has steadily gone up over the years as more companies rely on EDI technology to ensure smooth relationships with their trading partners. Unfortunately, many EDI VAN providers have taken this uptick in usage as an opportunity to raise prices and create additional fees.
We want you to avoid getting gouged by your EDI VAN provider, so we’ve come up with a list of things to look for when you’re pricing out vendors. When evaluating fees for EDI VAN services, they should include these four things – otherwise, you may end up paying for it IN ADDITION to the base cost of your EDI VAN service.
1) SCALABILITY
Kilo-character pricing can be astronomical when your business is small, but when you’re trying to scale, it can be a budget killer. Of course, there will always be added cost as you grow, but you need to be sure that the pricing during your growth phase is reasonable and predictable.
Most retailers experience seasonal surges or times of the year where their volume of exchanged data fluctuates. If your EDI VAN provider charges per kilo-character, it can be extremely expensive to get through these busy seasons. BOLD VAN’s pricing moves with you and makes seasonal scaling affordable and simple. You’ll never experience overages, get asked to renegotiate your contract, or get nickled and dimed with fees.
Don’t let your EDI VAN hold you back when you’re trying to scale, make sure your provider can tell you with certainty what you’ll pay per partner so that you can plan accordingly.
2) TRANSPARENCY
Remember when we said if a trading partner doesn’t list a necessary service on their pricing menu, it will probably cost you extra? Make sure that every service you need is listed under ONE price when you’re vetting providers.
Our advice is to only go with EDI VAN providers who are extremely up-front with their pricing. If you have to pry to get their fee information, that’s a red flag.
If a provider lists their fees right on their website, that’s a great sign! It means they’re confident in their pricing and aren’t trying to hide anything.
Transparent pricing helps make EDI decisions easy: you never have to wonder if you can afford to take on a new partner.
3) SUPPORT
Have you ever implemented a technology only to realize that any service outside of implementation was going to cost you a lot of money? You want to avoid that with your EDI VAN provider, but unfortunately, it’s really common for companies to do this.
EDI VAN’s are complex. When selecting a new provider, support could include migration (setup and implementation), trading partner requirements, compliance checks, AS2 EDI translation, and other technical support. Your monthly price should include all of these support services otherwise you could end up with a massive charge on your monthly EDI bill.
DON’T SETTLE!
Don’t settle for an EDI provider who doesn’t provide all of the benefits we listed here in their pricing. You’ll be surprised at how many providers lack transparency in their fees. BOLD VAN is proof that you don’t have to sacrifice quality and scope of service for the cost.
If you’re ready to see what transparent, competitive EDI VAN solutions look like, learn more about BOLD VAN’s comprehensive pricing today.
28899 Center Ridge Road Unit 301,
844-265-3777
