Frequently Asked
Questions

PriceLantern is the UK's first trade price transparency platform. Upload any supplier quote or invoice — PDF, image, or phone photo — and we compare it line-by-line against real UK market data. You get a clear breakdown of where you're paying a fair price and where you're being overcharged.

Builders, contractors, sole traders, and anyone regularly receiving merchant quotes who wants to verify the numbers before paying. If you're in the UK trades and you've ever wondered "is this price fair?" — this is for you.

From the home page, click Upload Quote or Invoice and pick a file from your device. PDFs from merchants work best, but phone photos of printed quotes are fine too — we run OCR on images before comparison.

For multiple quotes at once, use the Batch Upload page (requires a signed-in account).

You can upload a single quote without signing in to see a one-off comparison. For batch uploads, saved history, and comparing two quotes side-by-side, you'll need a free account — sign up here.

Upload your quote or invoice, we extract the items, compare them against real UK market data and your own purchase history, then show you — line by line — where you're paying over, at, or under the going rate.

A clear breakdown of each item on the quote: the market price we found, what you've paid for the same item before (if we have it), and where you may be overpaying. Totals at the top, per-line detail below.

PDFs, photos, screenshots, or scanned documents. Phone snaps of printed quotes are fine — we OCR them before matching.

No. Just upload it as it is — merchant PDFs, photos, scans. We handle the extraction.

Yes. Use the Batch Upload page to process several at once, or Compare Quotes to put two or three side-by-side on the same job.

Usually under a minute per quote. Scanned PDFs with lots of line items can take a little longer because of the extra OCR step.

We aggregate live pricing from major UK merchants — Screwfix, Toolstation, Wickes and others — combined with anonymised historical quote data submitted through the platform. Market prices refresh regularly so comparisons reflect current rates, not last year's.

Each line item is matched against products with the same specs (dimensions, grade, material) and the same unit of sale (per metre, per pack, per m³). When we can't find a confident match — for example, a bespoke product — we mark that line as "no comparison available" rather than guess.

If a result looks wrong, use the feedback button at the bottom-right of the page — every report is reviewed.

You can start with a free upload. Paid plans will unlock more history and features — we haven't finalised pricing yet. Drop us a line if you'd like to be notified when plans launch.

It varies, but many users find differences of 10 to 30 percent on individual items once they start comparing across suppliers.

Both. You see what the market pays and what you've personally paid before, side by side on the same item.

Google shows retail pricing. We focus on real trade pricing and do like-for-like comparisons — same spec, same unit of sale — so the numbers actually mean something for a tradesperson negotiating with a merchant.

We cover most common building materials today and expand coverage as more data comes in. If an item isn't matched yet, we flag it rather than guess.

Yes. You can compare like-for-like products across multiple merchants to see who's actually giving you the best price on a given spec.

We match on product name, manufacturer/merchant codes, sizes, and descriptions — cross-referenced against our supplier catalogue — so a "22mm copper tube × 3m" from one merchant lines up with the same item from another.

We normalise units, sizes, and naming conventions so minor wording differences don't break the match. Matching keeps improving as more quotes come through.

We flag it as "no comparison available" rather than show a misleading number, and continue expanding coverage. Feedback on unmatched items helps us prioritise what to add next.

It's built on real trade data and designed specifically around how trades actually buy — per-pack, per-metre, per-m³ — not generic retail snapshots. Every matched item comes with its source so you can verify.

Most trades don't realise they're quoted different prices for the same product over time — sometimes by the same merchant. PriceLantern makes that visible so you stay in control of what you pay.

It gives you clear, specific evidence to question pricing with a merchant, negotiate better rates, and pick suppliers that are consistently fair.

Yes. Every quote you upload builds your purchase history, so you can see how pricing on specific items moves over weeks and months.

Yes. If you've bought the same product from the same merchant at different prices, we highlight the inconsistency clearly on the item.

Yes. When a quote has you paying more than you have before on the same item, it gets flagged on the analysis and on your dashboard.

Your average price, best price, worst price, and price trend over time — per item and across your portfolio. Plus a dashboard view of overcharge exposure and frequent items.

Yes. The Suppliers insight on the dashboard shows which merchants are most consistent and competitive across your purchase history.

Yes. Once an item shows up across multiple quotes, you can track how its price has moved over time using your own data.

Yes — that's the core use case. Many users take the line-by-line breakdown and their price history straight back to a merchant as evidence when asking for a better rate.

Yes. Your uploaded quotes are tied to your account and aren't shared with other users. Supplier names and customer details on the document never leave your account. Only anonymised product + price signals contribute to aggregate market data — and you can opt out.

Full details are in our Privacy Policy.

Yes. Your documents are processed and stored securely, and access is scoped to your account only.

Only if you choose to keep them for tracking and history. You can delete individual quotes from your dashboard at any time.

No. Your data stays private to your account — suppliers and merchants have no visibility into what you've uploaded or how they compare against other merchants in your history.

Yes. Individual quotes can be deleted from your dashboard. To delete your entire account and all associated data, go to Delete Account.

Only essential cookies (session + CSRF) by default. Optional analytics cookies are only set if you accept them in the cookie banner. Full breakdown on the Cookie Policy page.

Analysis usually completes in 20–60 seconds. Large scanned PDFs with many line items can take longer because we run OCR and then a per-item market lookup for each. If it hangs past two minutes, refresh the page — your analysis is almost certainly saved and will appear in your dashboard.

Either the product is bespoke (custom-cut joinery, made-to-order steelwork) or we couldn't find a confident match in market data. We'd rather show nothing than a misleading number. If you think we should have a match, please submit feedback — it helps us expand coverage.

Email us at pricelantern@gmail.com — we usually respond within one working day.