The most common and most likely answer to this crossword clue is the 7 plus 6 letter word SHOPPED AROUND
I've seen this crossword clue in The Guardian
S
H
O
P
P
E
D
A
R
O
U
N
D
Buddy explains!
The straight part
We know that "having sought best price" is the straight/definition part of the clue. The straight part is often a synonym or definition, in this case having sought best price = shopped around.The cryptic/wordplay part
In cryptic crossword there's often an wordplay/cryptic part as well.This part involves a more complex hint, such as an anagram, homophone, hidden word, etc.
Sadly, We don't have an explanation for this specific crossword clue yet.