I get exactly what you guys are saying. I still think there are other ways to work things out.
My thought are that the non-profit was approached by another vendor. This vendor most likely asked what he was getting, and when the vendor saw the prices were moving down offered more just to get the account. After getting the account, and perhaps overpaying for a month or two, the vendor would simply drop the price down. It didn't much matter at that point, they now have the account. If you think you would then be getting a call, I'd bet you are WRONG. Many times people have too much pride to call and say I was wrong, you were giving me the best price. He would just suck up the lower price.
I feel pretty confident that the person running the company has MANY other things on his plate than "shopping" around every month to find the highest price for scrap metal. I would do what I needed to do temporally to KEEP the account, then re-evaluate the arrangement in a month or two. At this point, the other offer will be the farthest thing from his mind, and I'd bet he would be open to a price drop. I think you are fighting a losing battle making the argument now with someone waving a carrot in front of him.
Keep in mind, when prices move up in the spring, as I posted before, I would NOT offer MORE than the .09# and recoup.
I actually think the correct course of action is to explain the market swings, how valuable a customer he is, how because of this you are going to give him special pricing, a flat rate where he doesn't have to worry about market swings.
Its really easy to say just let the customer go, for me, not so much. I'd be looking for another solution.
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