How do you write a price increase letter?
Say what's changing, from when and why in the first few lines. Give the new prices or the size of the rise, say what happens to orders and quotes already open, and name someone the customer can call. Keep it to one page, and send it early enough for customers to plan.
What should a price increase letter include?
A price increase letter needs six things. Leave out any cost figure you haven't checked, and keep the reason short.
- 01The date the change starts, in the first line.
- 02What it covers: the products, part numbers or customers affected.
- 03The new prices, on an attached price list, or the size of the rise.
- 04A short reason, in a sentence or two.
- 05Open orders and quotes: what happens to orders you've acknowledged and quotes still within their validity date.
- 06Who to call, by name, with a direct number.
The price increase letter
Replace everything in square brackets, and delete the bracketed lines you don't need.
[Your company name] [Address] [Phone] [Email]
[Date]
[Customer contact name] [Customer company] [Address]
Dear [name],
Price changes from [date]
We're writing to let you know that our prices for [products or part numbers] will change from [date].
[One or two sentences on why, for example: the cost of aluminium and energy has risen since we last set our prices, and we can no longer absorb it.]
The new prices are on the attached price list. [Or: prices will rise by an average of [x]%, and by no more than [y]% on any part.]
Orders we've acknowledged before [date] will be supplied at the price we quoted. Quotations already sent will hold until their validity date.
If you'd like to talk about the change, or plan orders ahead of it, please call [name] on [number].
Thank you for your business.
Yours sincerely, [Name] [Role]
How much notice should you give for a price increase?
Give at least the notice your terms of sale or supply agreement ask for. If they say nothing, give customers time to plan their orders and budgets, and put the start date in the first line. If a long-term contract fixes your prices, ask a solicitor first.
This is general information, not legal advice.
Should you explain why prices are going up?
Yes, briefly. A sentence or two on the cost that moved, such as metal, energy or wages, is enough. A figure you can't back up invites an argument, so leave the detail for anyone who rings.
What happens to orders already placed?
Say in the letter that orders you've acknowledged stay at the quoted price, and open quotations hold until their validity date. Your terms of sale decide whether you could change an accepted order's price at all.
Can you send a price increase by email?
Yes. Attach the letter and the new price list, and keep the email to a few lines: what changes, from when, what happens to orders already placed, and who to call. Send it from a named person rather than a general inbox, so customers have someone to reply to.
Subject: Price changes from [date]
Hello [name],
Our prices for [products] change on [date]. The new price list is attached.
Orders we've acknowledged before then stay at the price we quoted. If you'd like to place orders before the change, or talk it through, call me on [number].
[Your name]
Can AI write price increase letters?
AI can draft a letter for each customer from your new price list, with the parts they buy and the change on each. A person checks every figure and each customer's terms before anything goes, because a wrong price in a letter is hard to take back.
Give it
- The new price list
- Each customer's parts and current prices
- This letter as the wording to follow
A person checks
- Every old and new price
- The start date and the notice given
- Each customer's terms allow the change