“Why do you want to know my target price?” It's very common for people to us this question when they purchase something or want to get a quote. They might think "I just want to know your sales price, Why should I tell you my target price?" Maybe you have this question in mind as well! So, today let discuss this question in some detail.
“为什么你需要知道我的目标价？”当人们去买东西或者是询价的时候，这是一个非常普遍的质疑。他们通常这样想，我只是想要知道你的销售价格，为什么我需要向你透露我的目标价。很多人可能有类似的想法和质疑！让我们今天来好好说道说道。
WHAT IS THE TARGET PRICE?
什么是目标价？
In Finance, it can mean the price at which an acquirer aims to buy a company in a takeover.
在金融中，它代表收购方收购一家公司的目标价格。
In Options, it means the price of the underlying security after which a certain option will become profitable to its buyer.
在期权中，它指得是能让期权盈利的标的物的价格。
In Stocks, it means a price set by analysts predicting where the stock will head in the next 52 weeks also price an investor is hoping a stock will go to within a specified period of time.
在股市中，它代表某位股票分析师预测某只股票在未来一年内能达到的价格，或者是一名投资人期望某只股票在一段时间内能够达到的价格。
(From: thestreet.com，朋友兴旺协助翻译)
From above definitions different angles, we can summarize that the target price is a hope, a prediction, or a definition for the value of a product or service. In the following sections, we will talk more in details with two different parts of why knowing the target price is so important in the process:
从上面不同角度的定义，我们可以得到目标价格就是关于期望，预测，或者是产品及服务的价值定义。在接下去的章节，我们将会分两部分详细讨论知晓目标价格在整个服务过程中的重要性。
WHY DOES THE SUPPLIER NEED TO KNOW YOUR TARGET PRICE?
为什么供应商需要知道客户的目标价格？
In his book: The World Is Flat: A Brief History of the Twenty-first Century, Thomas L. Friedman wrote that: In the current world, business become more and more global since the world becomes more and more flat. People can do business with the people wherever, talking with each other through many different conversation apps, phone. And in the business world, the position between the buyer and seller’s status is becoming more and more equal. In general, there is a process of understanding each other when people have a cooperation or do business together. It's a process of matching value between each other -- you need something and I can provide it -- just that. Sometimes, when the supplier asks the target price, it is not really a matter of him wanting to know your price number for the sake of knowledge, but he might be evaluating you, the future potential for cooperation, how you define the price, or how sensitive you are on the price as a part of the overall project.
在Thomas L. Friedman《世界是平的•21世纪简史》书中他写道（笔者理解的意思）：在世界越来越平的当下，贸易越来越全球化，通过互联网社交软件和国际电话，人们可以和世界上任何角落的人进行贸易。而且在贸易中，买卖双方的身份也越来越平等。合作与交易的过程是建立互信的过程，也是相互之间资源匹配的过程，用一句话概括就是我提供你需要的东西。有些时候，当供应商询问客户的目标价格并不意味他想要知道你具体价格，而是他通过这个来认识你，评估未来合作的可能性，知道你是如何得出目标价格，了解价格在整个项目中的敏感程度。
On the other hand, the suppliers do really need to know your target price. If they get your target price, it will help them to understand the product value more quickly. They don’t need to wait for the final quotation they finish themselves since they can already know, rather quickly, whether the price that can be offered is close to the price expected. Since, in the case of NexPCB, it can take up to 3 working days to get a formal quotation of PCBA or a turnkey product, this can save a lot of time. Moreover, the supplier can use the target price to double check if there is anywhere that the design files have a mismatch to the pricing. Overall, this means the supplier can make the requests more consistent with the real request and make amendments to correct and errors in a shorter time if there is anything not correct.
除此之外，供应商也确实需要知道你的目标价格。如果他们得到你的目标价格，这会帮助他们更快理解产品价值。不需要等到最终的报价单，根据已知的信息和经验，就可以快速确定报价是否大致接近客户期望的价格。比如在NexPCB的业务流程中，PCB制作及贴片业务和交钥匙产品业务的正式报价可能需要3天的时间来完成，而如果客户告知目标价格的话会省下很多的时间。不仅如此，供应商可以根据目标价格推断设计文件所代表的需求是否和目标价格匹配。这样意味着供应商可以获得更真实的客户需求，并以此迅速对错误的理解做出调整（最终达到给出与客户真实需求相符的报价以及服务方案）。
WHY DO YOU NEED TO KNOW YOUR FINAL PRODUCT TARGET PRICE IN THE EARLY STAGE?
为什么你需要在产品开发的早期阶段知道最终的产品目标价格？
Normally, the target price has two different levels. One is the final product price of sales that will be provides to the end customer. The other one is the production cost. From our experience working with successful hardware companies, the final product price should be around 3 times the production cost. If you want your business to grow, you must be very clear about your product price. You can only do this when you are very clear about your industry, deeply understand your product, and its marketing. Only then you can give a definition for your product and define its price.
这里说的目标价格包含两层意思，一是最终的产品销售价格，二是产品的成本。我们合作的硬件公司有很多，和他们合作的经验总结得出最终产品的销售价格一般是产品成本的三倍。如果你希望你的业务增长，你需要很了解产品价格。而只有你非常了解行业、产品和市场，你才有可能了解产品价格。在此基础上，你才能准确地给出产品的定义和价格。
A correct price will positively affect your competitiveness in your market. If you set a too low price, some customer will doubt about your product's quality or it may be viewed as a low value product. On the other hand, if you set a too high price, the customer might choose the product of your competitors. Unless you have a very wealthy target customer set, everyone will want to save money in the same situation.
合适的定价会帮助提升产品在市场上的竞争力。如果定价太低，有些客户会质疑产品的质量并视它为低端产品。如果定价太高，客户可能会选择竞争对手的产品。谁都想买物美价廉的产品，除非你有一批富有的忠实客户。
Furthemore, if your target price is not correct, it could affect your final results. For example, if your production cost is high and you need to keep the final price consistence with the market tolerance, then it can harm your business. It's at this point you might have think about the reason of this high cost. Maybe something is wrong with your design? Maybe the BOM parts are too expensive? Maybe the production supplier doesn't understand what you really need and the costs are too high? Maybe you will need a DFM (Design For Manufacture) project to help with the project to try to bring the price down.
如果你的目标价格不合适，它会影响产品最终的结局。比如说你的产品成本太高，同时你又要将产品的售价定在市场能够接受的价格，这样会害了这门生意。这个时候你可能需要想想成本太高的原因，是设计有问题吗，是元器件太贵了，产品生产单位没有理解你的真实需求，还是说加工成本太高了？也许这时候需要一个面向生产的设计调整来满足降低成本的项目需求。
In the end, the target price is not only a price. It is related to the design, production, marketing and just about all of your business. Checking the correctness of this number has a correcting effect on many levels.
最后我们还要说一点，目标价格并不只是价格。它和设计、生产、市场有关，和你的业务的方方面面有关。反复核算得到的合适价格会在很多的层面产生正向的作用。
What we've shared here is only a part of the overall topic that centers around target price. We hope it can help you get a better understanding regarding the target price and that it also can help you for your project and business getting smoother.
我们上面讲的只是目标价格相关的一部内容而已，我们希望可以帮助你更好地理解目标价格，以及帮助到你的业务开展。
We understand it is not easy to have a target price in the early stage (layout or prototype stage). This is especially true for the startups. There is a lot of business work that needs to be done to have it ready. Having a trusted production partner early in your project cycle can help a lot. NexPCB has had the privilege of working with many early stage startups to help guide them through this path. We are always willing to help our customer find the right balance between form, function, manufacturability, and cost. If you're in this situation, don't hesitate to contact us today!
其实我们也知道在产品原型设计之初就想要得到目标价格并不容易，特别是对于初创团队来说更是如此。对于创业者而言，除了目标价格之外还有很多的事情有待解决，所以在创业早期拥有一名可靠的产品经理合作伙伴至关重要。NexPCB在和早期创业团队合作方面拥有相当丰富的经验，帮助他们在工业设计、功能设计、生产加工、成本控制等等方面寻找平衡点，和他们一起完成了产品的打造。如果你也有这方面的需要，请不要犹豫，快来联系我们吧！
原文链接
https://www.nexpcb.com/blog/why-do-you-need-to-know-my-target-price
