Normalize price, weight and delivery point

One buyer offers 18 currency units per box; another offers 2.1 per kilogram. Which is better? We first need net product weight per box, grade, delivery point, packaging and transport obligations, expected rejection or loss, and payment timing. A larger quoted number may apply to less saleable product or require additional services. The specialist's job is to translate offers to a common basis and mark what remains uncertain. The figures here are invented; they are not current market prices.

Specify the **price unit** as currency per net kilogram of a defined grade at a defined date and delivery point. Net weight excludes packaging when the contract pays for product alone. Convert explicitly. A box holding 10 net kilograms at 18 per box equals 18÷10=1.8 per kilogram. If the label instead means 10 kilograms gross including a 0.5-kilogram box, the product weighs 9.5 kilograms and the price is 18÷9.5≈1.895 per kilogram of product. The denominator changes the result. Where box weights vary, check a defensible sample rather than trusting a label as a measurement for every box.

Separate the quoted price from **net proceeds to the farm**. An offer requiring the farm to deliver and pack at a collection center can be put on a farm-gate basis. Calculate revenue from the quantity expected to be accepted; subtract transport, packing, commissions and any loss borne by the farm; then divide by the relevant starting quantity. The numerator and denominator must follow the same product flow. Subtracting a shipping cost per kilogram sold from a price per kilogram harvested without accounting for rejection mixes bases. Likewise, the difference between a farm price and a retail price is not automatically a trader's profit: handling services, loss, risk and costs intervene.

Check grade and payment terms next. One buyer may advertise a high premium-grade price but reject lower grades, while another pays a moderate price for more of the lot. Deferred payment is not equivalent to cash today just because prices are expressed in the same weight unit. Record the date and payment exposure for a later cash-flow analysis. A normalized price table should show expected accepted quantity by grade, each price, delivery point, services paid by the farm, payment date, and net proceeds per unit of starting product. Missing rejection rules or grade definitions are questions to resolve before a sale recommendation.