# A product's cost and margin through Dri: who sees it and how to ask > Ask Dri for a product's cost and margin, simulate a discount and see who on the team can see that number. Source: https://vendria.com/en/ajuda/custo-e-margem-pela-dri ## Summary A product's cost and margin can only be looked up through the conversation with Dri. There is no cost field on the product screens: the number only shows up in Dri's replies, and therefore also in that conversation's history. Ask with the code, for example *"what's the cost of AB10298?"* or *"what's the margin on AB10298 with a 10% discount?"*, and it replies with the number and the basis used. The cost Dri shows is always the *"weighted average cost from the ERP record"*, in the unit the product is registered in, which the reply names. It comes from the store's ERP. Today only stores with the Guarani ERP receive cost, and only when sending cost is turned on in the store's integration. With another ERP, or without an ERP, there is no cost to show. Not everyone sees it: owners and administrators do, an in-house seller sees only what they are quoting, and whoever serves through a rep agency never does. The cost and margin lookup is part of the new version of Dri, which Vendria is releasing gradually, person by person. If it has not been released for you yet, ask whoever manages your company to talk to the Vendria team. ## Who can see cost and margin The rule depends on your role in the company, and Dri checks before reading any number. In every case it looks for the product only in the conversation's stores: - **Company owner and administrator**: see the cost of products in all of the company's stores. - **Store administrator**: sees the cost of products in the stores they manage. - **In-house seller**: sees only the cost of products that are on one of their quotes or orders, in the stores where they sell. If they show up on the **Sellers** screen, this applies across all of the company's stores. Drafts count: it is enough for the product to be on one of your quotes, in any status. - **Sales rep**: never sees it, even if they also hold another role in the company. The same rep agency often serves competing companies, and a cost once said cannot be unsaid. Dri replies: *"Cost and margin are internal information of the organization, and I don't share them with whoever serves through the rep agency."* - **Customer (buyer)**: never sees it. The reply is *"I don't share that information here."* When Dri cannot confirm your link to the company, or when the conversation is about a store outside your reach (for example, a store you do not manage), it does not show it either, and says that cost and margin are restricted to owners, administrators and in-house sellers. ## How to ask Dri recognizes a cost question by the word **cost**, **margin**, **profit**, **loss** or **markup**, or by phrases like *"how much do we pay"*. Examples that work: - *"what's the cost of AB10298?"* - *"how much do we pay for AB10298?"* - *"what's the margin on AB10298?"* - *"margin on AB10298 with a 10% discount"* - *"margin on AB10298 selling at R$ 45,00"* Without the code in the sentence and without a product the conversation just showed, Dri asks *"Which product? Ask me again with the code"* and gives one cost example and one margin example. You can ask about up to 3 products in one message. Beyond that, it answers the first three and says which were left out, so you can ask next. After a reply about a single product, you can continue the math without repeating the code: *"and with 15%?"* or *"and at R$ 42,00?"*. The follow-up is valid for 15 minutes, as long as the conversation does not move on to showing another product. **Watch the verb.** *"How much does AB10298 cost?"* is a question about the selling price, and Dri replies with the product card, as in [Check price and stock on WhatsApp](/en/ajuda/preco-e-estoque-pelo-whatsapp). For the cost, use the noun: *"what's the cost of AB10298?"*. ## How the margin is calculated The margin is the price minus the cost, divided by the price: it is margin on the selling price, even if you write *markup*. - **Without a discount in the sentence**, the math is on the ERP's list price. - **With a discount** (*"with a 10% discount"*), it shows the list price margin and the margin with the discount applied. - **With a price stated** (*"selling at R$ 45,00"*), the math is on that price. - **"Does this discount make a profit?" without the number**, about a product the conversation just showed and whose price comes from the ERP: it replies with the margin at the list price and warns: *"I didn't see the discount in the message, so the margin above is at the list price."* Send the percentage next. - **Price below cost**: it says *"below cost"* and how much the loss per unit is. When the store's price does not come from the ERP (for example, it came from a spreadsheet), Dri does not calculate the margin on the price table, because the price may be in a different unit from the cost. It replies *"Margin: I don't calculate it."* and asks for the selling price. Ask again with the amount: *"margin on AB10298 selling at R$ 12,50"*. This also applies to *"does this discount make a profit?"* without the number: the notice about the discount may come along, but the margin was not calculated. The cost does not include allocated freight or import costs. Every reply with the cost reminds you of this: *"This is the record cost: it does not include allocated freight or import costs."* ## When Dri does not show the cost Each refusal has its own sentence, and each one calls for a different path: - *"This store doesn't sync cost with the ERP yet"*: no product in the store has received cost from the ERP. Today only stores with the Guarani ERP receive cost, with sending cost turned on in the store's integration, and that is not turned on through Vendria's screens. If your store uses Guarani, talk to the Vendria team. - *"This product hasn't come with cost from the ERP yet"*: the store receives cost, but this product has not arrived with it yet. Check the product's record in the ERP. - *"The ERP record has no cost registered for this product"*: the cost is empty or zero in the ERP. Dri does not calculate margin on a zero cost, so as not to show a 100% margin that does not exist. - *"For sellers, I show cost and margin only for products that are on one of your quotes or orders."*: put the product on one of your quotes (a draft counts) and ask again. - *"To talk about cost I need to know which store."*: the conversation is not tied to a single company. Choose the store first and ask again. - The refusal for whoever serves through the rep agency, described above. ## Common questions **I'm a sales rep, why doesn't Dri show me the cost?** Because cost and margin are internal information of the supplier company, and whoever sells through a rep agency does not get that number, even with another role in the company. The selling price is still available: ask *"how much does AB10298 cost?"*. **Why doesn't the margin account for freight?** Because the cost Dri reads is the one from the ERP record, which does not include allocated freight or import costs. The margin is math on that cost, and the reply always warns about this. **I asked for a catalog "with a cost of R$ 10" and Dri refused, what do I do?** Write **price** instead of cost, for example *"catalog of adhesive papers up to R$ 10"*. With the word cost, Dri understands you want the cost of a product and does not build the catalog: for whoever cannot see cost, that becomes a refusal. See [Generate a product list on WhatsApp](/en/ajuda/gerar-lista-de-produtos-pelo-whatsapp). **Dri replied with the price instead of the cost, why?** There are three common reasons. You used the verb (*"how much does it cost"*), which is a price question. Or Dri had just asked a question, and your message was read as an answer to it: answer or close its question and ask for the cost again, with the code. Or the cost lookup has not been released for you yet. **Can I see the purchase invoice through Dri?** Owners and administrators can, in a store whose ERP offers the purchase invoice lookup: ask *"purchase invoice 1234"*, and *"items on purchase invoice 1234"* to see the price paid for each item. The list shows up to 10 items; beyond that, it ends with *"… and N more items."*. An in-house seller gets *"The purchase invoice is a lookup for owners or administrators"*, because the invoice shows the cost of products that are not on their quotes. Sales reps do not see it. **Can I see the cost on the product page?** No. The product page has no cost field. The number only shows up in Dri's replies, and therefore also in that conversation's history.