Most buyers compare the total they are shown and assume it is the cost of the protection. That total is often a sum of several parts, and one of them may be a share kept by the person who sold the contract. Before you compare offers, ask what that share is and where it sits.
Where the margin can sit
A seller may receive a commission from the contract provider, add a retail markup over the provider's price, or receive a referral payment for connecting you with a provider. These are sales arrangements, not necessarily terms of the contract, so they often do not appear in the contract document. Ask the seller directly whether the total includes a retained share, and ask whether that share changes if you choose a different term or coverage level.
Read the paper and the quote side by side
The contract should name the provider, the term, the price paid for the contract and the coverage it describes. The quote may add lines the contract does not show. Ask the seller to list every line you would pay, and to say which line goes to the provider and which line stays with the seller. If the seller cannot separate them, you cannot compare that offer with another one on equal terms.
Questions to put to the seller
Ask whether the quoted price is the price the seller would give any buyer for the same contract, or whether it can change during the sale. Ask whether the price will be the same in writing if you decline an additional product offered at the same time. Ask whether a discount on the total reduces the seller's share, the provider's price, or both, and whether the contract text changes when the price does. Get the answers in writing and keep them with the quote.
What the state rosters can and cannot tell you
A state roster lists who is registered to sell or obligate service contracts in that state, and some states publish that roster with an as-of date. A roster does not list prices, commissions or markups, and an entry on a roster is not a rating of price. Check that the company named on your contract matches the roster entry for your state. The state pages on this site, such as the Alabama page at https://statecoverageindex.com/alabama.html, show each state's statute, roster status and as-of date. This guide has not read the sales compensation rules for every state, and where a state's rules on that point have not been read, the state page says so.
Compare on matching terms
Place each offer beside the others on the same term, the same coverage level and the same vehicle or home details. Write down the contract price, every added line and the seller's stated share if you can get it. A low total on one quote means little unless the lines beneath it match the lines on the others. Keep the quote, the contract and any written answers from the seller together, so the comparison you made is the one you can show later.