Material Prices Went Up After I Gave the Quote. What Do I Do?

You priced the job on a Tuesday. The customer said yes on Friday. By the time you call the supplier to order, the number on the material is higher than the one you used. Sometimes it's a little. Sometimes it's the kind of jump that eats your whole margin on the job.

Now you're looking at a signed quote and a bad feeling. Do you eat it, ask the customer for more, or just do the job and be quiet about it?

There's no single right answer, but there is a sensible way to think it through. Most of it comes down to when the price moved and what the paperwork says.

First, figure out when the price actually moved

This is the question that settles most of it.

If the customer signed or paid a deposit, and then your supplier raised the price, that's your risk. You quoted a fixed number, they accepted it, and a deal is a deal. Asking for more after the fact is possible, but you're asking for a favor, not enforcing a right.

If you quoted weeks ago and the customer sat on it, then said yes at the end, the price may have moved before they ever agreed. That's a different conversation. Your quote was only good as long as your numbers were good. This is exactly why a quote should have an expiration date, and why you should re-check the material price before you say "yep, still good" to an old number.

So before anything else, pull up the quote, check the date, and check what the customer actually signed.

Look at what your paperwork actually says

Some quotes and contracts have a line about material pricing. Something like "pricing based on current material costs, subject to change if supplier prices increase before purchase." If you have that, and the customer signed it, you have something to point to.

A lot of small contractors don't have that line. If yours doesn't, don't pretend it does. Don't go back and rewrite the quote and act like it always said that. Customers can smell it, and it turns a price conversation into a trust problem.

If there's nothing in writing about material changes, treat any increase as a request, not a bill.

Decide how big the hit really is

Before you call the customer, do the math. A lot of guys panic about the jump and then find out it's smaller than it felt.

Take what you quoted for materials and what it costs now. What's the actual difference on this job? A thirty dollar swing on a four thousand dollar job is not worth a hard conversation. Eat it, tighten the next quote, and move on. A customer who feels you nickel-and-dimed them over thirty dollars will remember it longer than you'll remember the thirty dollars.

If the jump is a few hundred or more, or if it's a job where materials are most of the cost, it's worth a conversation. Roofing, framing, anything lumber-heavy, anything with copper or a lot of fixtures. That's where the swing can wipe out your profit.

When it's your problem to eat

Here's the honest version. Most of the time, on a normal residential job, a price moved after a signed quote is a cost of doing business. You're the one who set the price and took the risk. The customer isn't a bank.

It's usually yours to eat when:

• The customer signed or paid a deposit before the price changed
• The increase is small compared to the total job
• You didn't put any price-change language in the quote
• You already ordered or locked in the materials at the old price

Take the hit, do a good job, and use it as the reminder to fix how you quote.

When it's reasonable to ask the customer

There are cases where bringing it up is fair. A big, sudden jump the whole industry saw. A quote that was sitting for a while before it was accepted. A job where the material cost was never going to stay still, and you said so up front.

If you're going to ask, keep it clean and honest. Here's roughly how I'd say it:

"Hey, quick heads up before I order. The supplier's price on the [material] went up since I wrote the quote. It's about [amount] more on this job. I wanted to tell you before I ordered rather than surprise you. Here's the supplier's updated price so you can see it. I can hold the original number if you're able to [sign off today / adjust slightly], or we can look at a different option that keeps it close to what we planned."

A few things make that work. You tell them before you buy, not after. You show the real number, ideally with the supplier's sheet or a screenshot. You don't make it sound like their fault. And you give them an actual choice, not just a bill.

If they say no, that's their right, and you're back to deciding whether to eat it or walk away from the job. Don't punish them for saying no.

Offer options, not just a bigger number

Customers take an increase better when it comes with choices.

You could suggest a similar material that costs less. You could split the difference, where you eat half and they cover half. You could change the scope slightly to bring it back to the original budget. You could move the start date if prices are expected to settle.

Anything that makes the customer feel like they're solving the problem with you, instead of being handed a surprise, helps. If the change does alter the scope or the price in writing, put it in a change order so nobody is arguing about it at the end of the job.

Don't quietly change the quality

This is the one that gets guys in trouble. The price goes up, you don't say anything, and you swap in a cheaper product and hope nobody notices.

Don't. If the customer was told one thing and gets another, you've turned a price problem into a honesty problem, and that's the kind that turns into a bad review or a dispute. If you want to change the material, tell them and get a yes first.

What if the customer already paid a deposit

A deposit doesn't lock in your costs, but it does lock in the deal. If they paid a deposit on a fixed quote, assume the price is fixed unless you wrote otherwise. Asking for more at that point is a harder conversation, because they've already committed money and may feel trapped.

If you have to ask, be extra careful with the tone, and be ready to hear no. If the job is in progress, it's also a good moment to think about asking for a progress payment, so you're not carrying the extra material cost out of your own pocket while you wait. And if the price jump is going to push the schedule too, tell them early instead of letting them find out on their own.

How to stop this from happening again

The real fix is in the next quote, not this one.

Put an expiration date on every quote, and keep it short on material-heavy jobs. Thirty days is common, less if your supplier's price is only held for a couple of weeks.

Add one plain line to your quote about material pricing. Something like: "Material prices are based on current supplier costs. If prices change significantly before materials are purchased, we'll let you know and talk it through before ordering." That's fair, it's honest, and it gives you something to stand on. A good estimate template has a spot for exactly this.

Order or lock in the materials as soon as the customer signs. The sooner you buy, the less time the price has to move.

On jobs where one material is most of the cost, split the quote so the customer can see the material number on its own. That makes it much easier to talk about if it changes.

And build a little cushion into your pricing in the first place. If you've been running thin margins, one bad week at the supplier can wipe out a job. Raising your prices a bit is a lot easier than asking customers for more after they've signed. If a job does start running hot anyway, here's how to handle a job that goes over budget.

A short version

Check when the price moved compared to when the customer signed. Check what your paperwork says. Do the math to see how big the hit really is. If it's small, eat it and fix the next quote. If it's big and you have a fair reason, tell the customer before you order, show the real number, and give them options. Never swap in cheaper material without telling them. Then add an expiration date and a material line to every quote after this.

The part that slips

Most of the pain here comes from the gap between quoting and ordering. The quote sits, the customer takes a week, you forget to re-check the price, and suddenly the job's underwater before you start.

That's the work QuoteChaser takes off your plate. It follows up on your quotes by text and email in your own voice, so customers get an answer back faster, and a quote that gets accepted quickly is a quote that matches today's prices. When somebody replies, it pings your phone.

Join the QuoteChaser waitlist and let the follow-ups go out while you're on site.