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Sales & Retail vocabulary · Negotiation & Pricing

Bottom line

Meaning in sales & retail, with examples

/ˌbɑːtəm ˈlaɪn/nounCommon term

In sales & retail, bottom line means: In negotiation, the lowest price or worst terms you are willing to accept; more generally, a company's final profit, or the most important point.

In Turkish: son fiyat, alt sınır, işin özü, net kar

How it is used

Used in three related ways. In negotiation: “What's your bottom line?” In finance, a decision that helps the bottom line increases profit. In conversation: “The bottom line is we need a decision by Friday.”

Example sentences

  1. Before the meeting, let's agree on our bottom line: we can't go below 9 euros per unit.

  2. Cutting delivery costs went straight to the bottom line.

Common collocations

  • what's your bottom line
  • bottom-line price
  • impact on the bottom line
  • the bottom line is
  • negotiateTo discuss the price, terms or conditions of a deal with the other side in order to reach an agreement that both can accept.
  • marginThe difference between what a product sells for and what it costs, often shown as a percentage of the selling price.
  • concessionSomething one side gives up or agrees to during a negotiation, such as a lower price or an extra service, in order to reach a deal.
  • list priceThe official price of a product as shown in a price list or catalogue, before any discounts are applied.

This word in other fields

The same English word can have a different meaning in another field:

More terms: Negotiation & Pricing

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