PCBA Quantity Price Break Worksheet
Customers ask for a quote at 10, 100 and 1,000 boards and expect prices to fall in a sensible curve. This worksheet builds each tier from material, scrap, assembly and one-time costs so the curve is defendable.
| Tier quantity (boards) | Material per board | Attrition and scrap (%) | Assembly cost per board | One-time cost in this tier | Target margin (%) | Cost per board | Unit price | Order value | Gross profit | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
$1,123 | $1,728 | $1,728 | $605 | |||||||
$157 | $231 | $2,311 | $739 | |||||||
$65 | $93 | $4,628 | $1,388 | |||||||
$50 | $69 | $6,893 | $1,930 | |||||||
$37 | $49 | $24,597 | $6,149 | |||||||
$34 | $43 | $43,016 | $9,463 | |||||||
$30 | $37 | $183,439 | $33,019 |
The profit total is a sum across alternative tiers, shown for comparison only: a customer buys one tier. Material per board should come from your costed BOM at the buy quantity of each tier. Margin typically tapers with quantity as competition and negotiating leverage rise; set your own floor, and compare tier prices to the minimum contribution margin your shop requires to cover idle capacity.
Generate tiered quotes from ERP data
An optional discussion of building tier pricing directly from your costed BOMs and routings.
Optional. The tool and every export work without this. No spam.
How to use the worksheet
Keep one row per quoted tier. Enter material per board at that tier's buy quantity, because distributor price breaks and MOQ effects change the cost. Add scrap or attrition, assembly cost per board excluding setup, and a one-time cost that bundles NRE share, setup and first article. Pick a target margin per tier. The computed columns give cost per board, unit price, order value and gross profit. Edit rows, add tiers, and export to Excel to send to a colleague or attach to your quote.
The math behind each tier
Cost per board is material times (1 plus scrap), plus assembly cost, plus one-time cost divided by the tier quantity. Unit price is cost divided by (1 minus margin). Order value is unit price times quantity and gross profit is the difference between price and cost times quantity. The one-time term is why small quantities are so costly: fixed cost is divided across few boards, and a single unit might carry hundreds of dollars of setup.
- Cost = mat x (1 + scrap) + assembly + fixed/qty
- Price = cost / (1 - margin)
- Profit = (price - cost) x qty
Reading the curve
A healthy curve falls steeply at first, because fixed cost dilutes, then flattens as material dominates. If your unit price barely moves between 500 and 1,000, your margin or material break assumptions may be off. Check that the largest tier still clears your minimum contribution and that no tier is priced below the next lower tier. If a customer buys 500 but asks for a 1,000 price, the sheet shows the profit you give up, which helps decide whether to counter with a blanket order or a longer lead time.
Common mistakes
Quoting each tier from the same material price hides the benefit of price breaks and loses deals at volume. Ignoring the cost of carrying excess components when you buy full reels at a high tier is another. Do not forget that large tiers may need several setups, so one-time cost can rise with quantity, as in the 5,000 row. Finally, publish validity dates: component prices and lead times shift, so tier prices should expire.
- Use tier-specific material costs
- Add setups for multi-release runs
- State quote validity and price assumptions
- Check for price inversions between tiers
Frequently Asked Questions
How many tiers should a PCBA quote have?
Three to five is common: a prototype quantity, a pilot lot, and one or two production tiers. Match the tiers to the quantities the customer asks for, and offer a higher tier only if it changes your cost.
Why does the 1-piece price look so high?
Because fixed costs like stencil, programming, setup and first article are spread over a single board. Many shops therefore bill NRE separately and set a minimum order charge, so single unit pricing is not distorted.
Should margin fall with quantity?
It often does in dollars per board and sometimes in percent, because larger orders carry less risk per unit and face more competition. Set a floor based on your contribution margin so large orders remain worth running.
Can I import costs from my BOM costing?
You can paste values in the editable table, or export, edit in Excel and re-import into your own pricing process. For live connections, an ERP integration can feed material cost per tier automatically.
If you want tiered quotes generated from live BOM cost and routing data in your ERP, we can build that workflow with approvals, on your infrastructure if required.
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