RFQ Builder: Get Comparable Factory Quotes

Your product

Leave anything blank that you genuinely do not know. Blanks are dropped from the document rather than left as empty headings, but every one of them is a decision you have handed to the factory.

Your companyFactories quote differently for a brand than for a trading company. Say which you are. Your name Product nameWhat you call it. If you have a competitor link or a reference product, add it in the notes at the end. What it is, in one lineThe line a stranger could read and picture the object. This is what stops a factory quoting the wrong thing. MaterialsGrade matters more than name. 304 and 201 stainless are both “stainless” and are not the same price or the same product. Key dimensionsThe dimensions that define the product, not every dimension. Capacity, footprint and anything that has to fit something else. Critical tolerancesUnstated tolerances are the most common reason a sample you approved and a production run you rejected are both “to spec”. Finish and colorName the standard you will measure against. “Matte black” is not a standard; a Pantone reference is. Certifications requiredSay which market. A factory that cannot meet your market's requirements should self-select out now, not after tooling. PackagingPackaging is quoted separately and forgotten constantly. It also drives your carton size, which drives your freight. First order quantityGive a real number. “What is your MOQ” invites a number chosen to suit the factory rather than you. Expected annual volumeQuoted price bends to expected repeat volume more than to a first order. Say it if you have a genuine view, and say it is an estimate. Target unit costOptional, and a real trade-off. Naming it anchors the quote; withholding it wastes a round. If you name one, name the Incoterm too. Custom toolingTooling is usually the first large payment and the longest single stage. Who owns it should be settled before any money moves. Samples wantedSay how many and where. Sample cost and sample lead time both belong in the quote. IncotermA price with no Incoterm is not a price. FOB is the usual starting point for a first ocean shipment out of Asia. Named placeThe rule and the place together, plus the edition. Write it exactly as you want it on the purchase order. Needed in hand byWork backwards before you commit to this. Our timeline planner does it stage by stage. Anything elseReference links, constraints, things you are flexible on. Saying what you are flexible on is often what unlocks the price.

Your RFQ

0 fields · 0 lines

Plain text on purpose. It has to survive being pasted into WeChat, into Alibaba's message box, into an email and into a translation tool, and anything richer breaks in at least one of those.

The link carries everything you typed, so you can come back to it or hand it to a partner. Nothing is stored on our side.

The part that does the work

Every quote comes back in the same shape

A quote that folds tooling into the unit price looks cheaper than one that itemizes it, and a buyer comparing the two picks the wrong factory on a number that was never comparable. The builder appends this block to every RFQ automatically.

Unit price at the quantity above, and at one step up and one step down
Tooling cost, itemized separately, and who owns the tooling
Packaging cost, itemized separately
Sample cost and sample lead time
Production lead time from approved sample and cleared deposit
Carton dimensions, units per carton, gross and net weight per carton
Which certifications you already hold, with certificate numbers
Payment terms you are proposing
Whether you are the manufacturer or a trading company

A supplier that ignores the format of your request has told you something useful about how it will handle your revisions later.

Two things worth adding to the request that people leave out until it is expensive: the labeling and packaging you need, and any compliance testing. Our guide to barcodes, carton marks and packaging requirements covers what to specify, and doing it here makes it the factory's obligation rather than a later conversation.

Take it with you

RFQ template for manufacturing, in plain text

The builder above fills this in and formats it for you. If you would rather keep a blank request for quotation template of your own, to paste into email, drop in a shared doc, or send to a factory that is not on any platform, this is the same structure with the fields empty.

rfq-template.txt

REQUEST FOR QUOTATION

Your company: 
Your name: 
Product name: 
What it is, in one line: 
Materials: 
Key dimensions: 
Critical tolerances: 
Finish and color: 
Certifications required: 
Packaging: 
First order quantity: 
Expected annual volume: 
Target unit cost: 
Custom tooling: 
Samples wanted: 
Incoterm: 
Named place: 
Needed in hand by: 
Anything else: 

Please quote the following, itemized separately. Answer every numbered item, in this order.

1. Unit price at the quantity above, and at one step up and one step down
2. Tooling cost, itemized separately, and who owns the tooling
3. Packaging cost, itemized separately
4. Sample cost and sample lead time
5. Production lead time from approved sample and cleared deposit
6. Carton dimensions, units per carton, gross and net weight per carton
7. Which certifications you already hold, with certificate numbers
8. Payment terms you are proposing
9. Whether you are the manufacturer or a trading company

Please reply with your quotation and a proforma invoice.

Keep the numbered questions at the bottom exactly as they are, and in that order. The value is not in the politeness of the request, it is in every supplier answering the same questions in the same shape so the replies can be laid side by side. A quote that skips a numbered item is not an oversight to chase down later; it is the answer.

Or hand it over

Send us the RFQ and we will run it

We will put it in front of factories that already make something close to your product, read the replies with you, and tell you which quote is actually the cheapest once tooling and freight are in it. If the answer is that you do not need us, we will say that too.

How we source What agents charge Plan the calendar

Questions

Frequently asked

What is an RFQ?

A request for quotation: the document you send a factory so it can price your product. The whole point is that every factory on your shortlist gets the identical document, because that is the only way the quotes that come back can be compared to each other.

Why does everyone say to send the same document to everyone?

Because otherwise each factory quotes a slightly different product. One assumes cheaper steel, one assumes your packaging is their stock box, one quotes without tooling. The prices differ and you learn nothing, because you are not comparing the same thing.

Do I have to fill in every field?

No. Leave anything blank that you genuinely do not know and it is dropped from the output rather than left as an empty heading. But be aware that every blank is a decision you have handed to the factory, and they will decide it in the direction that is easiest for them.

Should I really tell them my target price?

It is a real trade-off and reasonable people disagree. Naming a target anchors the quote and can cost you a better price you might have been offered. Withholding it can waste an entire round on a quote that was never in range. If you do name one, always name the Incoterm with it, or you are comparing a factory-gate price against a delivered one.

What if I do not know whether I need tooling?

Say so. “Not sure yet, please advise” is a legitimate answer and a good factory will tell you. Guessing wrong in either direction distorts the quote, because tooling is usually the largest single line in it.

Is this sent to you?

Only if you press the button that says so. The builder runs entirely in your browser, nothing is stored, and the link you copy contains your inputs in the address itself rather than on any server of ours. Take the text and send it to whoever you like, including factories we have never heard of.

What do I do with the replies?

Read the answers as hard as the numbers: who asked good questions, who quoted the product you described rather than the one they already make, who broke out the lines you asked them to break out. A factory that ignores the format of your request is telling you how it will handle your revisions.