--- title: How to Share a Price List Without It Being Forwarded (2026) url: https://www.helprange.com/insight/2026/11/08/share-price-list-securely --- [Insight](https://www.helprange.com/insight/) # How to Share a Price List Without It Being Forwarded (2026) Updated 8 November 2026 · HelpRange **You cannot make a price list impossible to forward – but you can make forwarding useless, visible and traceable.** A PDF attached to an e-mail is gone the moment you send it: the client can pass it to a competitor, a procurement portal or a distributor you never meant to see your discounts, and you will not know. Send the price list as a link to an online viewer instead: each client reads their own copy with their e-mail stamped on every page, downloads and printing are off, the link expires when the prices change – and you see every new reader. This guide compares the ways to share a price list, what each one really stops, and how to set it up for a sales team. Published 8 November 2026. Disclosure: HelpRange is our product; the comparison applies to any tool that shares documents as links. ## Ways to share a price list – what each one stops | Method | Stops a copy being forwarded? | You see who read it? | Can you take it back or update it? | Leak traceable to one client? | |---|---|---|---|---| | PDF attached to an e-mail | No | No | No – old prices stay in circulation | No | | Password-protected PDF | No – the password travels with the file | No | No | No | | Google Drive or Dropbox link | Partly – only if you restrict it to named accounts | Limited | Yes | No | | Customer login in a B2B shop or portal | Yes, for prices shown in the shop | Yes | Yes | Rarely – exports and screenshots carry no name | | Tracked link to a protected viewer | A forwarded link shows up as a new reader – or does not open at all if the e-mail must be confirmed | Yes – who, when, which pages | Yes – expiry, view limit, switch off, replace the file | Yes – the reader's e-mail on every page | No method stops a determined person from photographing a screen. The realistic goal is that a forwarded or photographed price list carries the name of the client it came from – which is usually enough to stop it happening. ## How to share a price list that stays with the client 1. **Export the price list to PDF**, so every page is tracked and watermarked the same way on every device. 2. **One link per client.** Name it after the client, or let the link ask for the reader's e-mail – optionally confirmed with a one-time code, so a forwarded link alone does not open. 3. **Turn on the watermark** with the reader's e-mail (and optionally date and IP) on every page. 4. **Switch off download and print.** The client reads in the browser or in the mobile app – there is no file to pass on. 5. **Set an expiry date** that matches the validity of the prices, or a view limit. 6. **Send the link**, and when prices change, upload the new version: the same link shows it, so nobody keeps working from last year's list. In HelpRange, the e-mail gate, watermarks, download and print blocking, expiry and view limits are part of Pro – $39 per team per month, for the whole sales team and with no limit on price lists or clients. See [proposal and price list tracking](https://www.helprange.com/proposal-tracking) for what you see after sending. ## What the reading data tells a salesperson - **A new reader from another company** on a client's link – the price list was forwarded. Ask about it, or switch that link off. - **One link opened from many places** – HelpRange flags links opened from several IP addresses in different countries within a week. - **Long time on one product group** – the client is pricing that line; call about it. - **Re-reads before a tender deadline** – a good moment for a short, specific [follow-up](https://www.helprange.com/proposal-follow-up). ## Why "reasonable steps" matter Under the EU Trade Secrets Directive, information is protected as a trade secret only if its holder has taken "reasonable steps under the circumstances to keep it secret" ([Directive (EU) 2016/943, Article 2(1)(c)](https://eur-lex.europa.eu/eli/dir/2016/943/oj)). If confidential net prices go out as attachments to anyone who asks, it is harder to argue later that they were kept secret. Named, watermarked, expiring links and a record of who opened what are the kind of steps that show the opposite. This is general information, not legal advice – confirm your position with a lawyer. ## FAQ ### Can I stop a client from forwarding my price list? Not completely – nobody can stop a photo of a screen. Sending a link instead of a file, requiring a confirmed e-mail, blocking download and print and putting the reader's e-mail on every page makes forwarding useless or traceable, and you see every new reader. ### Is a password-protected PDF enough? No. The password is usually sent with the file or in the next e-mail, and anyone who has both can open and forward it. A password also tells you nothing about who read the price list. ### How do I share different prices with different clients? Upload one PDF per price tier or per client and create a separate link for each client. Each link has its own readers, statistics and expiry date. ### What happens when my prices change? Upload the new version under the same document: every existing link shows the new prices immediately. Or let the old links expire on the date the prices end. ### Can clients read the price list on their phone? Yes – in the browser on any device, or in the HelpRange app for iPhone, iPad and Android. Related: [proposal tracking](https://www.helprange.com/proposal-tracking) · [dynamic watermarks](https://www.helprange.com/feature-documents-watermarking) · [make a PDF expire](https://www.helprange.com/insight/2026/11/07/expire-pdf-access/) · [prevent printing and downloading](https://www.helprange.com/prevent-printing-downloading-pdf-documents). ## More guides - [How to Track PDF Opens (2026): See Who Opened Your PDF and What They Read](https://www.helprange.com/insight/2024/07/12/track-pdf-opens/)