No Surprise Here: Why Transparent Pricing from an EDI Provider Matters

No one enjoys opening a bill and seeing a total that’s much higher than expected. It happens with cable bills, phone plans, and unfortunately, it happens with business contracts, especially in the world of Electronic Data Interchange (EDI). 

EDI is a powerful tool that provides reliability, predictability, and consistency. EDI not only helps streamline business operations, but it also automates processes for businesses so they can exchange business documents with their trading partners. With all the benefits EDI can provide, it shouldn’t make accounting or billing processes harder, or leave businesses guessing about contract details or unexpected terms and conditions.

In this post, we discuss the importance of working with an EDI provider that offers clear and upfront pricing without surprises, sudden changes, or hidden charges.

The Problem with "Standard" Industry Pricing

Within the EDI industry, pricing can quickly become complicated. Terms can depend on many factors including the amount of data sent and received each month, the number of trading partners, and the volume of documents exchanged. Some providers may charge businesses for any number of reasons, and these may change from year to year, while others may include fees that aren’t obvious when signing up for a service, but show up later when once business is underway.

What do hidden EDI fees look like?

• Setup and Mapping Fees: Some providers charge high fees just to get started or extra costs every time a new trading partner is added
  
• Overage Charges: Many EDI providers charge for the amount of data used or a specific number of documents sent. Once that amount is exceeded, the price may jump drastically. If a business has a busy month they may get penalized with huge overage fees because they couldn’t predict their sudden increase.
  
• Support Fees: While it may seem unreasonable, some companies charge extra just to speak to someone when something goes wrong, or just to receive help in a timely manner.

These hidden costs make it impossible to budget and may affect overall EDI operations. This is especially important for businesses outsourcing a large portion of their EDI operations because a bill may be $500 one month and $1,500 the next.

Why Long-Term Contracts Can be a Trap

Beyond hidden fees, some providers may try to lock businesses into long-term contracts. For a growing business, a long-term contract can be difficult because of unpredictable growth, hardships, or changes in business operations. If a business grows rapidly in six months and their EDI provider’s solution no longer fits their needs, what options will they have? What happens if a big customer changes their requirements? What if a business simply isn’t satisfied with their current service? With a long contract, a business may be stuck paying for a service that doesn't work for their current operations, and for some businesses, specifically small and mid-sized businesses with a limited budget, a rigid contract makes it difficult to adapt to changes quickly.

Edict Systems’ Philosophy: We Work to Earn Your Business Every Day

As an Ohio-based company, we believe in doing business simply and honestly. We don’t want to trap a business with terms and conditions that will make their operations more difficult, we want to help remove the guesswork and streamline operations with proven solutions and reliable customer support. Our policy is simple: No long-term contracts, no hidden fees, and support every step of the way.

Here is what that means for every business we work with:

1. Consistency and Peace of Mind - We don't charge for data overages. Whether a business sends 100 purchase orders or 1,000 this month, the price remains predictable. This gives customers the peace of mind to focus on growing their business, not watching their document count to try to avoid additional fees.
   
   EDI documents are typically charged by the kilo-character (k/c). At Edict Systems, we bill by the k/c for data used, so you know exactly what you’ll be charged and can plan accordingly. There’s no rounding up to the next k/c level, no buckets or overages, and no data minimums or caps. For suppliers using WebEDI, our cloud-based subscription service, we offer tiered pricing so their business only pays for what they use each month.
   
   
2. True Flexibility - We don’t force difficult contracts or annual fees, so if our customers’ needs change, there is no answering to an outdated agreement. We offer the flexibility needed to pivot when the market, operations, or demand changes.
   
   
3. We Are Motivated to Support Our Customers - When a provider locks businesses into a long deal, there’s little incentive to provide great customer service after the introductory period because money has already been exchanged. Since our customers can choose to cancel at any time, our team works hard every day to make sure their EDI operation is running smoothly. Our trained and dedicated technical support staff is available at no charge (phone, email, and chat) - If our customers need help, we have them covered.

We do EDI so You Don’t Have to^®

As a leading EDI provider, our EDI service capabilities range from large multinationals to small suppliers and brands. We have years of experience, allowing us to handle EDI needs from start to finish. We believe in doing business simply and honestly, helping businesses streamline their operations and lowering costs without unwanted surprises and vague conditions.

Our transparent approach offers risk-free confidence with a 45-day money-back guarantee for many of our web-based EDI solutions. Our customers are free to get set up, start trading with their partners, and see the benefits for themselves. If it’s not the right fit, they aren’t stuck.

EDI users deserve a partner who makes the connection less difficult, affordable, and honest, and we pride ourselves on making this possible for our customers every day.

Contact our experts to get started today.