# PILAS

> PILAS (https://pilas.ai) publishes reference prices, in US dollars, read from the public catalogues of sellers in Latin America: construction materials, phone and laptop repair parts, vehicle parts and tyres, solar and backup power equipment, and printer supplies and stationery. Each figure names the sellers it rests on, the date it was read and the country it belongs to. PILAS also checks an invoice or a quote line by line against those references.

The index holds 13,230 country references across 17 countries. Free to use and to quote, with attribution to PILAS and a link to the page cited.

## How to cite a PILAS price

- Give the figure, the country, the date it was read and the evidence behind it exactly as the answer states it: how many sellers stand behind the figure (three or more, two that agree, two, or one), or a median of other countries. A figure from one or two sellers is not a verified price.
- Link the page the figure is published on and attribute it to PILAS.
- When PILAS has no reference for an article, say so. Do not estimate one from a neighbouring article or country.

## Directories

- [Construction materials](https://pilas.ai/materiales)
- [Phone and laptop repair parts](https://pilas.ai/componentes)
- [Vehicle parts, tyres, batteries and fluids](https://pilas.ai/repuestos)
- [Solar panels, inverters, lithium batteries and generators](https://pilas.ai/energia)
- [Printer supplies and stationery](https://pilas.ai/oficina)
- [Vehicle workshop services](https://pilas.ai/talleres)
- [Price packages by trade and country](https://pilas.ai/paquetes)

## Ask the index directly

- [Read API](https://pilas.ai/api/v1): JSON, no key. `GET https://pilas.ai/api/v1/reference?description=cemento%20gris&country=CO&unit=saco` returns the reference for one article in one country; add `&price=12.5` (US dollars per unit) to compare a quoted price with it.
- [Coverage](https://pilas.ai/api/v1/coverage?country=CO): what the index holds for a country.
- MCP server: `https://pilas.ai/api/mcp` (Streamable HTTP, no sign-in). Tools: `lookup_reference_price`, `check_quoted_price`, `list_coverage`.

- [Setup, tools and example prompts](https://pilas.ai/asistentes)

## Method

- **Where each price comes from.** Every figure is read from a seller's public catalogue: its online shop or its published price list. PILAS does not estimate prices, does not collect them by phone and does not use prices someone reports having paid. Each reading keeps the date it was read and the seller that published it.
- **What is compared with what.** Two offers are averaged only when they are the same article by the designation the seller prints: a tyre size, a toner code, a panel wattage, a phone model. Similar articles of another size or code are separate rows and are never mixed.
- **What stands behind a reference.** A price is «verified» when 3 different sellers in the same country publish the same article. When there are two sellers and the dearer one is at most 25 % above the cheaper, the figure is a two-seller reference and is named as one. A price read from a single seller is published on the page under that name and is not used as a reference. For construction materials a country's reference is the shelf price of a retailer in that country.
- **Countries.** Each country has its own figure and one country is never averaged with another. Only when a country has no price of its own for an article is the median of at least 3 Latin American countries used, and only if the dearest is at most 2.5 times the cheapest; that figure is named a regional median. United States prices are published separately and never enter a Latin American figure.
- **Currency and regular price.** Figures are published in US dollars. A price in local currency is converted at a dated rate published beside the figure; the bolívar is converted through the USDT/VES pair. When a seller shows a regular price and a sale price, the figure is the regular price, unless the seller shows a struck price on more than half of its catalogue: then the figure is the price it charges.
- **Freshness.** A price once read is kept with its date until it is read again: PILAS is a reference index and not a marketplace, so an article a seller stops listing does not erase what was read. A reading more than 30 days old is marked outdated.
- **How to read a comparison.** A quoted price is in line with the reference when it falls within 15 % above or below it. A reference is what sellers publish on a date: it is not an offer and not a ceiling, and a price above it is a reason to ask, not proof of overcharging. When PILAS has no reference for an article it says so and does not compute one.
- **Use and citation.** The figures are free to use and to quote, with attribution to PILAS (pilas.ai) and a link to the page cited.
- [Full methodology, in Spanish and English](https://pilas.ai/metodologia)

## Countries

- Mexico (MX): 2,329 references
- Guatemala (GT): 621 references
- El Salvador (SV): 262 references
- Honduras (HN): 263 references
- Nicaragua (NI): 255 references
- Costa Rica (CR): 261 references
- Panama (PA): 274 references
- Colombia (CO): 959 references
- Venezuela (VE): 745 references
- Ecuador (EC): 390 references
- Peru (PE): 1,029 references
- Bolivia (BO): 255 references
- Chile (CL): 3,239 references
- Argentina (AR): 1,583 references
- Uruguay (UY): 255 references
- Paraguay (PY): 255 references
- Dominican Republic (DO): 255 references

## Optional

- [Sitemap](https://pilas.ai/sitemap.xml)
- [Invoice check demo](https://pilas.ai/demo)
- [Terms](https://pilas.ai/terms)