This month, however, we'll talk about the elusive goal of lowest price. Sometimes locales cite laws to this effect in their solicitations. The prices to the state government under this agreement shall be as low or lower than those charged to the contractor's most favored customers under similar terms and conditions. There are several problems with clauses like these. The first is ambiguity.
Ambiguity poses one problem.
The conflicting terms of existing contracts pose another. In such cases, it may be difficult or impossible for the contractor to comply with your request. These are practical issues. There is a policy issue lurking here, too. It is true that some large-volume commercial customers extract pricing commitments from their vendors, and in a few special cases such commitments may be warranted.