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While Traditional B2B Sales is the standard business model, it is inherently flawed in many ways.
Often referred to as "print for pay", regardless of who you purchase from, there is a built in mark up along with sales commissions. While these can be negotiated to some degree, they have to exist for the vendor to remain viable.
Vendors can only go so low, at which point anything lower would lead to a sacrifice in quality or service, or them simply declining the work as it isn't profitable enough.
One thing you will rarely, if ever, get from a vendor is their true cost. They simply won't disclose that to you. So you really don't know if you're getting a good value, you only know the price is acceptable to pay for the product.
Another pitfall is "value added" services. Sometimes these are included at no charge as an enticement, but more often they are an additional cost added to your invoice. Either way, often times, they bring little to no added value to the finished product.