Two factories quote the same product - why the cheaper one often costs more

Two factories quote the same product and one comes in lower. That gap is usually not in the material. It sits in labor hours, tooling amortization, packaging grade, and who eats the currency risk when it moves. A low quote often trims on the second-tier parts you cannot see in a sample, or builds in a longer queue that bites you later. That is why you cannot judge a supplier on unit price alone. The cheap number has to survive tooling, packaging, and payment terms before it means anything.