There is an amazing little gem located in Price Codes file: the Price Comparison side bar button.

You can price compare moulding, matboard, fabric, mat designs, mounting, hardware, extra and fitting but the group that we find it most helpful with is glass/glazing.

When considering the types of glass you carry, you want to make sure that you have a smooth transition up to the next grade of glass. You also want to make sure that you don’t have any price dips. The Price Comparison screen was designed to do just that, by giving you a cross-reference of your retail prices.

How to Read a Price Comparison

• Price Comparison displays items from the Price Codes List View vertically.
• It shows the retail prices for UI measurements (18, 36, 54, 72, etc.) horizontally across the screen.
• Check your pricing both horizontally (for the individual item) and vertically (to see how it compares to other items) for price dips.
• By reading vertically, you can compare the prices for each type of glass (same size) and ensure a reasonable price increase as you move up to the next grade of glass that you carry.

Tip: Make your most profitable glass option your default.

It is easier to downgrade a sale from museum to conservation clear than it is to start with premium clear and try to upgrade the glass. This may give you an opportunity to discuss glass qualities with your customer.

How to Perform a Price Comparison

1. In Price Codes, find the items for which you want to compare prices, e.g. Glass (in the Group field)
2. You can mark the records you want to view and then perform a find for just the marked records.orFind a group of items and omit the ones you do not want on the list (from Records menu > Omit Records).
3. Click the Form View button.
4. Click the Price Comparison Button sidebar button.
   The Price Comparison screen appears.
5. Change the cost, markup, and set price.
6. You can sort by Item (0-9, A-z) or Cost (lowest to highest) by clicking the underlined column heading.
7. Click the Printer icon to print.
8. Click an Item to return to form view.
9. You can also select the Combine box (to add a Code Table to your existing pricing). However, you cannot change code tables on this screen, instead you must return to the Form View in the Price Codes file in order to select a code table.
10. Click Done.

Note: You can only view items from the same group in order to have the prices appear correctly, e.g. Glass, Hardware, Matboard, etc. The screen is determined by the Group of the first item listed.

Tip: If you have used the Marked box, be sure to Unmark the records (with the Unmark All button) when you are done so that you are ready to use this feature again. See also:  Using the Marked Field

Tip: Print out the price comparison screen and have a price chart for when your computer is not available.

How to Find the Records for Comparison

There are three ways to locate the set of records you need to use with the Price Comparison feature.

Using a group button:

1. In Price Codes file, click Glass side bar button. The list view appears with your found set.
2. Click Price Comparison side bar button.
3. Your items will be displayed. You may sort them, using the Sort button.

Using the Find button:

1. In Price Codes file, click Find.
2. Find the items you wish to compare so that you have a found set.
   See Our Video Tutorial – Techniques for using the Find feature (6min)
3. Click Form View button at the top of the screen.
4. Click Price Comparison side bar button.

Using the Marked box:

1. In Price Codes file, click Glass side bar button. The list view appears with your found set.
2. Click List View button at top of screen.
3. Click Marked box located beside the items you wish to view in your comparison list.
4. Click Find button and locate the Marked records by clicking the Marked box, then Perform Find button. This list will appear on the screen and you may sort them using the column headings.
5. Click Form View button at the top of the screen.
6. Click Price Comparison side bar button. This will take you to the Price Comparison screen.
7. Your items will be displayed. You may sort them, using the Sort button if not done previously and compare your price points.

It will display Costs, Markups, Set price and retail prices for 6 common sizes allowing you to compare the ease of upgrading customers to the next item. Eg. Conservation Clear to Non Glare or Non Glare to Museum glass. It also can be used to check the pricing incline (how rapidly the price increases with the size). To adjust a code table or combination of pricing, you will need to go to the Form View.

The Reset button recalculates the displayed prices after modifying the wholesale Cost, Markup or Set Price fields (the same function as committing the field with the Enter key).