RFQ: Meaning, Contents and the Difference From RFI and RFP

RFQ is the abbreviation for request for quotation. It refers to the document, often a single page or a short form, by which a buyer asks one or more suppliers about the price, lead time and production terms of an item whose specifications are already set. According to the Chartered Institute of Procurement and Supply (CIPS), the leading British professional body for procurement, in an eSourcing process the request for quotation involves sending selected suppliers forms asking for all their prices and services; this step comes once the specifications and the documentation of the need have already been drafted, at the preceding invitation-to-tender stage.

The word quotation, in the commercial sense, refers to a priced figure proposed by a supplier for a defined service. A request for quotation is therefore not a request for ideas nor an open consultation on how to meet a need: it assumes the buyer already knows what it wants to produce, and is only looking to compare prices and terms on a common basis. This is what distinguishes an RFQ from the two other terms it is often confused with, RFI and RFP, detailed further below.

An RFQ is only as good as what it spells out. A supplier receiving a vague description prices on assumptions it chooses itself, generally to its own advantage, or sends back a clarification question that delays the response. Two suppliers each responding on their own assumptions do not produce comparable prices, even if the two figures look close on paper.

The minimum baseline covers the product's description and its use, the measurable specifications, material, dimensions, tolerances, finishes, the quantities envisaged, packaging, the Incoterm and the destination country, as well as the expected production lead time. Every element left out becomes a choice the supplier will make on your behalf, without saying so.

An RFI, request for information, is used to map a market before knowing precisely what to buy: it asks potential suppliers about their capabilities, certifications and references, without yet asking for a firm price. An RFP, request for proposal, is used when the need is set but the solution remains open: the supplier must propose its own method, timeline and resources, not just a figure. The RFQ, on the other hand, assumes the specifications are already fixed and only asks for a price, a lead time and terms.

In a complex purchase, the classic sequence runs from RFI to RFP then to RFQ, each step narrowing the field of suppliers consulted. For a standard or repeated manufactured product purchase, the practice observed in industrial sourcing jumps straight to the RFQ as soon as the specification sheet is written, without going through a formal RFI or RFP: this is the most common situation for a production order in China.

An effective request for quotation fits on one page and reads as a numbered document, not as an email written stream of consciousness. A numbered list gets picked up point by point in the supplier's response, which makes visible any elements it did not address. Here is the order usually followed:

On the form, work from a single dated reference version, and send the same version to every supplier consulted. A different Incoterm from one supplier to another, or a quantity that varies from one message to the next, makes the final comparison unusable.

An RFQ is neither an order nor a purchase commitment, and the quotation it triggers does not commit the supplier any further before the buyer accepts it. Under French law, a quote remains a simple commercial proposal from the trader until the customer has accepted it; acceptance, on the other hand, is binding on both parties. The principle is comparable for a request for quotation sent to a supplier abroad: nothing obliges the supplier who responds to hold its price indefinitely, and nothing obliges the buyer to order on the basis of a mere quotation received.

The order is formalised at the next step, on a proforma invoice that states the negotiated price, the minimum order quantity, the payment terms and the lead time. Confusing the RFQ with a commitment, in either direction, is the most frequent source of misunderstandings between a buyer and a supplier who discover partway through the discussion that they were not talking about the same document.

The first mistake is sending an incomplete request while assuming the supplier will ask the right questions itself: some do, others price a similar product without flagging it, and the gap is only discovered during production. The second mistake is letting the assumptions vary from one supplier to another, quantity, Incoterm or packaging, which makes the comparison worthless even if all the responses come in.

The third mistake concerns volume: artificially inflating the stated quantity to obtain a better price produces a quote that will never materialise, and a supplier used to this type of request eventually factors it into its margins. The last mistake, more subtle, is not specifying the destination country: the applicable regulatory framework, and therefore certain compliance costs, depend directly on it.

Sorva is a brokerage and sourcing house active between Europe and China. Our Chinese-speaking team in Guangzhou helps frame a request for quotation before it is sent, reviews quotations already received from a factory to check what they actually price, and can run a complete supplier search when the RFQ needs to go to several verified workshops rather than just one.

In most cases, you do not pay any fees: you open a case, we negotiate the goods for you, and we take a commission on their value ex-factory. Open a case with your product, even as a rough draft, and we will tell you how to structure the request to send.