NoSaveNoPay vs Reseller / VAR
The short version: your reseller's revenue is a percentage of what you spend. Ours is a percentage of what you save.
Honest head-to-head: fees, incentives, vendor independence, outcome accountability. No marketing. The decision factors we'd want if we were choosing.
Fast procurement, consolidated billing, sometimes access to SKU-level flexibility that manufacturers won't grant directly.
A reseller's compensation is a margin percentage on the contract value. Their software-negotiation 'support' is free because it generates the transaction they make money on. The larger the deal you sign, the larger their commission, which is the exact opposite of the incentive you want on your side of the table.
Head-to-Head: Every Criterion That Matters
Identical criteria across every comparison we publish. No cherry-picking.
| Criterion | NoSaveNoPay | Reseller / VAR / channel partner negotiation support |
|---|---|---|
| Revenue model | 25% of savings delivered to the buyer. | 2-18% margin on the vendor's contract value paid to the buyer. |
| Incentive direction | Lower spend = higher fee. | Higher spend = higher fee. |
| Vendor independence | No partner agreements, no rebates, no preferred-vendor relationships. | Formal reseller agreements with MDF funds, quota targets, and backdoor rebates from the vendor. |
| Contract-language advocacy | We re-write audit clauses, price holds, swap rights on your behalf. | Minimal redlines, most VARs use vendor-drafted paper as-is to preserve the relationship. |
| Audit defence independence | Full advocacy for the buyer. | Often contractually prevented from working against the vendor they resell. |
| Price-benchmark transparency | We share our full cross-client benchmark data. | Benchmark data is commercially sensitive; rarely shared. |
| Post-sale involvement | Track renewal triggers; re-engage for next negotiation cycle. | Deal closed, commission booked; next conversation is at renewal, at the vendor's price. |
| Regulatory scrutiny | None, we are independent advisors. | Growing, several EU jurisdictions require reseller rebate disclosure. |
When to choose what
Resellers serve a real procurement-logistics purpose. They should not be your negotiation counsel. Use us to negotiate, use the reseller to execute the paperwork, never the same firm for both.
How our gainshare actually works
We sign a one-page engagement letter that says three things: (1) we negotiate your nominated contract on your behalf; (2) 25% of verified savings vs. your baseline contract is payable to us; (3) if verified savings are zero, so is our fee. No retainer. No time-and-materials. No hourly billing. Read the detail on our pricing page or see a live walk-through on how it works.
Next steps, two paths, both zero-risk:
- If you have a renewal in the next 120 days: Request a free estimate. 30-minute call, we tell you whether we think there's savings worth chasing, no commitment either way.
- If you're earlier in the cycle: read our vendor-specific playbooks, Oracle, Microsoft, SAP, AWS, Salesforce, ServiceNow, Workday, or browse the blog and case studies.