Leveraging competing offers can be one of your most powerful tools during negotiation. Present to commercetools that you are considering other options, such as another provider that offers similar services at a lower price point. Emphasize that budget constraints from your finance team mandate that you look at competitive offers to move forward, which can pressure commercetools to offer a more favorable price.

Emphasizing multi-year commitments can be a strong negotiation lever. Indicate to commercetools that committing to a multi-year contract is unusual for your organization and that it would require significant discounts to manage the associated risks, especially given this is a new vendor relationship.

Point out that due to the nature of a new partnership, your organization is cautious about entering a multi-year payment structure and, thus, is only considering month-to-month or shorter-term contracts. This negotiation tactic provides the flexibility necessary to ensure that the products meet your needs before solidifying a long-term commitment.

Offering to act as a reference or participate in a case study can have significant negotiation value. Make it clear to commercetools that your endorsement through a case study could help them market their services, and in return, you would expect a discount on pricing or better terms in your agreement.

Address the topic of overage fees proactively. During your negotiations, reference any anticipated increases in usage or changes in scope and request that any overage fees be waived, particularly if there's a contractual promise for predictable pricing. This strategy can help avoid unexpected costs later.