Ask factories for prices

What it is

A request for quotation (RFQ) asks factories to quote for the client’s product. It carries what a factory needs: the product and its photo, the quantity, the Incoterm and destination, the date needed, and whether a sample or compliance documents are needed. The client, its contact and its target price are never on it.

Why it matters

Every factory gets the same facts, so their quotes can be compared. Because the client is never named, a factory cannot go around you to your client.

Steps

1. Open the request and check that Product is filled in.
2. Select Create > Request for Quotation.
3. The factories whose main categories include the product’s group are listed and ticked, best rated first. Untick any you do not want, and add others under Other factories with Add row.
4. Select Create. The draft request for quotation opens.
5. Check the Required Date: it is the request’s target date, or 30 days from today when there is none or it has passed.
6. If the product needs certificates or tests, write them in Compliance Notes. They are printed for the factories.
7. Select Submit. The request’s status becomes Sourcing.
8. Select the printer icon. The Sourcing RFQ print opens; select PDF and send it to each factory, for example on WeChat.

Common mistakes

• No product on the request. Create > Request for Quotation asks you to pick the product first.
• Writing the client’s name or price in Compliance Notes. Everything in it is printed for the factories.
• Expecting the site to email the factories. It does not: send the PDF yourself.

Tips

• Internal Target Price on the request for quotation is the client’s target, for you only. It is never printed.
• Keep each factory’s Main Categories (on its Factory Profile tab) up to date, so the right factories are suggested.