Last verified 2026-06-27
Technical versus price, in plain terms
Most competitive bids come down to a trade-off between how good your proposal is and how much you charge. Buyers turn that into a number two main ways. The weighted combined score gives technical merit and price each a weight, often 70 to 30, scores you as a share of the best bid on each, and adds them up. The lowest cost per point method divides your price by your technical score, so the bidder who delivers the most quality for each dollar wins. Knowing which one applies changes how you should price.
How the combined score works
Under the weighted method your technical points are your technical score divided by the maximum, times the technical weight. Your price points are the lowest price among the bidders divided by your price, times the price weight. Because the price side uses the lowest price as the benchmark, undercutting the field does not just raise your own price points, it lowers everyone else's. The simulator runs both bidders so you can see the full split, technical and price, side by side.
Reading your break-even price
The break-even price is where your combined score equals the competitor's. If you are weaker technically, you have to come in below it to win, and if their technical lead is bigger than all the price points available, no price will close the gap. If you are stronger technically, the break-even sits above their price, which tells you how much of a premium your quality can carry and still win. For cost per point, the simulator instead shows the price you would need to undercut their cost per point at your technical score.
What this tool leaves out
This is a planning aid, not a guarantee. Real solicitations vary widely: rated technical criteria with sub-weights, mandatory pass or fail requirements, price formulas that are not a simple ratio, and usually more than one competitor. Model against the exact evaluation method written in the RFP, and treat the output as a way to pressure-test your pricing rather than a prediction of the award.