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The Act on Public Contracts defines two basic evaluation criteria: the lowest tender price and the economic advantageousness of the tender. The paper concentrates on the price, discusses its advantages and disadvantages, risks and consequences of the evaluation according to the price. The analysis of the usage of the price is based on the data from the Czech Republic from years 2011 - 2013. Contract notices were collected from the Information System on Public Contracts, large data file consisting of several thousand forms was retrieved. The dataset was cleared for errors. A standard set of statistical tools is used for the analysis including descriptive statistics. Czech contracting entities choose the lowest tender price more often than the economic advantageousness of the tender. Research shows dependency between the subject-matter of the contract and the basic evaluation criterion. The typical difference is observed between types of construction works that is execution and design. The data reveal changes within the analyzed years caused mainly by frequent act amendments. The research provides insight in the real behavior of contracting entities. Recommendations for the use of price as the only criterion are provided and discussed. The discussion can serve as a guidance for contracting entities to gain more quality outcome of the tender. The main impact of the paper is the quantitative analysis focusing not only on sample data but all tenders realized under the Act on Public Contracts in the Czech Republic. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]