How to Handle Tariffs in Your Quoting Process in 2025

If you’re an MSP in the U.S., you’ve probably noticed that tariffs on imported hardware can make quoting a challenge. Pricing from distributors or other vendors fluctuates, hardware costs can spike, and explaining these rapid changes to clients isn’t always easy (if you explain them at all).

The good news? You can turn this uncertainty into an opportunity to build trust with your clients. By being transparent about tariffs, keeping customers informed, and staying flexible in your quoting process, you can set yourself apart from the competition. Here’s how to do it right.

Understanding the Impact of Tariffs on Hardware Costs

Tariffs are taxes on imported goods, and for IT hardware, they can significantly increase costs before products even reach your distributor. When tariffs go up, distributors pass those import costs down the supply chain. That means MSPs like yours pay more for hardware like firewalls, switches, laptops, and servers.

If you’re not factoring tariffs into your pricing strategy, you could be taking a hit to your margins – or surprising your clients with unexpected cost changes later. Neither is a good option.

Why Transparency Builds Trust

No one likes unexpected price increases, especially clients who depend on your expertise for IT planning and budgeting. Being upfront about why costs are changing helps avoid confusion and builds trust.

How to Be Transparent:

• Educate clients on tariffs. A simple explanation of how tariffs impact pricing can go a long way. Your clients may not understand why producers outside the US aren’t actually paying tariffs or how tariffs increase costs on imported goods. 
• Include a tariff breakdown in quotes. Show how much of the price increase comes from tariffs versus other factors like inflation or supply chain issues.
• Communicate early. If you know tariffs will affect pricing, tell clients before they get their quote, not after.

When clients understand that these price hikes aren’t arbitrary, they’ll appreciate your honesty. This helps strengthen long-term relationships and keeps them from looking elsewhere for answers.

Keeping Clients Informed on Hardware Pricing

Hardware pricing isn’t static, and tariffs can shift due to trade policies, economic conditions, or political changes. As an MSP, you should take a proactive approach to keeping your clients informed.

Ways to Keep Clients Updated:

• Send periodic pricing updates. A quarterly or semi-annual email about hardware market trends, including tariffs, shows that you’re looking out for their bottom line. Telegraphing information like this reduces future surprises.
• Discuss tariffs in QBRs. Use your QBRs to explain how tariffs are impacting IT costs and budget planning. A quick discussion during a one-on-one meeting might be a better way to communicate the challenges with some customers, as it allows you to immediately answer questions that might otherwise linger and create doubt.
• Offer cost-saving alternatives. If hardware costs are spiking due to tariffs, be ready with recommendations for comparable competing products that offer better value, especially if the cost increase forces prices above budget forecasts or earlier estimates.

When clients feel informed, they’re less likely to be frustrated by tariff-related price changes and more likely to trust your recommendations.

Staying Flexible in Your Quoting Process

Tariffs can change suddenly, so it’s important to have a quoting strategy that adapts to shifting costs. Here are a few ways to keep your quotes accurate and competitive:

Best Practices for Flexible Quoting:

• Use dynamic pricing. Instead of locking in prices too early, use real-time data from distributors to adjust quotes as needed with just one click. Quoter makes it easy to make changes and revisions to your MSP’s quotes, and to instantly access live price/availability updates from your distributors when creating, editing or saving quotes.
• Include expiration dates on quotes. Let clients know that prices are subject to change after a certain period. You may want to adjust how you set your quote expiration dates and create a tighter window; this was a critical best-practice during the supply chain challenges during COVID, and tariffs are another reason to not keep quotes open for too long. This benefits clients by providing greater certainty, and your MSP by reducing the sales cycle time and closing deals faster.
• Work with multiple vendors. Some distributors pass through tariff costs differently, so shopping around can help find better deals. Quoter gives you the ability to compare multiple vendors and distributors with integrations to major distributors like TD Synnex, Ingram Micro, Dicker Data, and D&H in over 30 countries. Where available, Quoter’s Product Cloud pulls in photos and descriptions of products using the international Etilize Product Information Catalog.
• Offer leasing or as-a-service options. If upfront hardware costs are a concern, provide financing or Hardware-as-a-Service (HaaS) solutions to ease the burden. This could be an opportunity to build a profitable new line of business for your MSP and further differentiate your service offering. 

A flexible approach ensures you don’t get caught off guard by incoming tariff spikes while keeping your quotes competitive and fair. And if you’re curious to explore how Quoter can enable a more flexible quoting workflow for your MSP, we’d love to have a conversation.

Conclusion

The threat of tariffs on imported IT hardware isn’t going away in the next few years, but how you handle it in your quoting process can make all the difference. By being transparent about costs, keeping clients informed, and staying flexible with your pricing and supplier strategy, you can turn what might seem like a headache into a trust-building opportunity.

The best way to combat future uncertainty is present action. Reduce the time quotes are with clients, and follow-up sooner. This shortens the sales cycle, and quicker decision-making is the best way to keep costs low and business humming for both your MSP and your clients.

Clients appreciate honesty, and when they see that you’re proactively managing costs on their behalf, they’ll be more likely to stay loyal to your MSP. Embrace the challenge, communicate openly, and keep delivering great service – tariffs and all.

Not quoting with Quoter yet? Speak with your ScalePad Partner Success Manager, or book yourself in for a demo to see what you’re missing.