How to write an RFQ that gets comparable quotes

If three quotes arrive and you cannot compare them, the problem is almost never the suppliers. It is that they were asked three slightly different questions, and each answered the one they preferred.

A good RFQ removes the supplier's freedom to reinterpret the requirement.

First, check it should be an RFQ

An RFQ asks for a price on something already specified. If you do not yet know what you want, an RFQ produces prices for different things presented as comparable — and the cheapest is usually the bid that understood the least.

Not sure what you need? That is an RFI. Know the outcome but not the method? That is an RFP.

The structure

1. Identify yourself properly

Legal entity name, GSTIN, and a named contact. Suppliers price risk, and an anonymous request from a free email address is priced accordingly — if it is answered at all.

2. Specify the item, not the impression

Bad: "Supply of office chairs, good quality, 50 nos."

Better: "Supply of 50 task chairs. Mesh back, adjustable lumbar support, 5-star nylon base with castors, gas-lift height adjustment 45–55cm, weight rating 110kg minimum, BIFMA-compliant, 3-year warranty on gas lift and frame."

The first invites fifty different chairs. The second invites fifty comparable prices.

Include, per line: description, specification or standard, unit of measure, quantity, and HSN or SAC code where you know it.

3. State the commercial terms you require

Do not leave these for the supplier to propose, or every quote will propose different ones:

• Delivery location and date, and Incoterms if goods cross a border
• Payment terms you are offering — net 30, advance, retention
• Warranty period required
• Quote validity you expect — 30 days is common
• Taxes — quote inclusive or exclusive, stated explicitly

4. Supply the response format

This is the step that actually creates comparability. Give suppliers a table to fill:

A quote that arrives as free-form prose has to be normalised by hand, and normalising by hand is where mistakes enter.

Ask for unit rates, not just totals. Totals hide the line where a supplier is uncompetitive, and unit rates are what you need when quantities change.

5. Say how you will decide

Even for an RFQ, state whether you are choosing on landed cost, on lead time, or on a combination. Suppliers optimise for what you say you are measuring.

6. Set a deadline and a questions window

A week is a reasonable minimum. Invite questions and circulate every answer to every supplier — answering one privately hands them an advantage and corrupts the comparison you are trying to make.

Ask for landed cost, not ex-works price

The commonest false comparison in Indian B2B procurement. Quote A at ₹100 ex-works and quote B at ₹105 delivered are not what they appear once freight, insurance, packing and unloading are added.

Ask every supplier to state: unit rate, packing, freight, insurance, taxes, and total delivered cost. Compare the last column.

Common mistakes

Sending the same RFQ to fifteen suppliers. Good suppliers can tell when they are one of many and price for the low probability of winning, or do not bid. Three to five credible suppliers produce better prices than fifteen indifferent ones.

Leaving quantity vague. "Approximately 50" gets priced as 20.

Not stating your payment terms. Then discovering the best price assumed 100% advance.

Ignoring MOQ. If your quantity is below a supplier's minimum, you will get a refusal or a padded price. Ask what would change it.

Choosing purely on price without checking capability. The lowest bid from a supplier who cannot deliver is the most expensive one available.

On Bidancer

A structured enquiry works as an RFQ by construction: the requirement is captured as fields rather than prose, so responses arrive in a shape you can compare. The receiving business is already verified, and your contact details stay private until they accept — so requesting a quote does not put you on a call list.

See how enquiries work.