Sending one identical RFQ to two suppliers, as lesson 2.1 teaches, does not guarantee two comparable answers. A merchandiser at a factory writes a quotation from its own costing method, its own minimum order quantity, and its own reading of the fabric spec; a second factory does the same from a different starting point. The two documents that come back can differ in quantity assumed, in what is included in the price, and in how long the quote itself stays valid, before price is even considered. This lesson mainly teaches the information flow: reading a quotation for what it actually includes, not only for its headline number.
You need: the six RFQ facts from lesson 2.1, and the cost-component vocabulary from T12-C01.
By the end of this lesson you can:
Not covered here: how to adjust quotes onto one common basis (lesson 2.3), weighing price against lead time and quality (lesson 2.4), and building a full comparison sheet (lesson 2.5).
| Term | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Quotation | A supplier's written answer to an RFQ, stating its price and the terms that price is based on. |
| Minimum order quantity | The smallest amount a mill will accept or process as one order, which a calculated yarn requirement is often rounded up to. |
| Quotation validity period | The length of time a supplier's stated price remains valid before it must be re-confirmed. |
| Inclusions | The costs a quoted price already covers, such as trims, printing or packing, stated or implied by the quotation. |
| Exclusions | The costs a quoted price does not cover, which the buyer would need to add separately if it accepted that quote. |
| Landed cost | The FOB price plus shipping and duty once goods reach the buyer's own country, USD 3.70 per piece on Order A. |
A quotation is not only a number; it is a number attached to a set of conditions. Two factories can read the identical RFQ and still return quotes priced for different quantities (one assumes the full 15,000 pieces, another quotes a smaller pilot batch), covering different inclusions (one bundles printed labels into its price, another bills them separately), valid for different lengths of time, and occasionally stated on a different delivery point than the one asked for. None of these differences is dishonest; each factory is answering from its own normal practice unless the RFQ pinned every detail down. Reading a quotation means checking all four before the headline price is even compared. A merchandiser who skips this step and jumps straight to the price column risks comparing two numbers that were never meant to answer the same question, and only discovers the mismatch once an order has already been placed on the wrong assumption.
| What can differ | The shapes you will meet | Why it matters to you |
|---|---|---|
| Quantity quoted against quantity asked | A large factory like Delta Garments quotes the full 15,000-piece order as asked. A smaller factory may quote its own preferred minimum order quantity instead, if that differs from what was requested. | A price quoted at a different quantity than requested is not comparable until adjusted for volume, since unit cost usually falls as quantity rises. |
| What the price includes | One factory's FOB price already includes trims, printing and standard export packing. Another factory prices bare making and fabric only, billing trims and packing as separate line items. | Two quotes with the same headline price can leave the buyer paying very different real totals once every inclusion is added up. |
| How long the quote stays valid | An exporter with steady fabric supply may hold its quoted price for 30 days. A factory buying fabric on the spot market may only hold its price for 7 to 15 days, since fabric cost can move before the order is confirmed. | A cheaper quote that expires before the buyer is ready to confirm is not a usable offer; validity period is part of what is being compared. |
| Domestic ex-factory quotes versus export FOB quotes | Cedar & Co., buying domestically, receives ex-factory quotations with no port hand-over. An export buyer like Northline Apparel receives FOB quotations that already include moving goods to the port. | The reading method is the same either way, but an ex-factory quote and an FOB quote for the same style are not on the same basis until converted (lesson 2.3). |
Sara receives two quotations for the identical RFQ she sent in lesson 2.1. Before placing either price into her comparison sheet, she reads what each quotation actually states.
| What Sara checks | Delta Garments | Factory Y |
|---|---|---|
| Quantity quoted | 15,000 pieces, as asked | 12,000 pieces, its own preferred minimum |
| FOB price | 3.20 | 3.10 |
| Inclusions | Trims and standard export packing included | Trims included; printed label billed separately at 0.03 |
| Validity period | 30 days | 15 days |
A merchandiser comparing two quotations under time pressure often reads only the FOB figure and ranks the lower number first, treating the rest of the document as background detail. A price quoted for a smaller quantity, with an exclusion the buyer would still have to pay for, or a validity period that expires before approvals finish, is not actually the better offer once those differences are accounted for. Ranking by headline price before checking these four points can select the wrong supplier for reasons that have nothing to do with real cost.
Two factories can answer the same request with two quotes that are not really answers to the same question. One might quote a smaller quantity than asked. One might leave something out of its price that the other included. One might only hold its price for a short time. None of this means either factory did anything wrong; it means a quotation has to be read fully, not just glanced at for its one headline number, before any price comparison means anything.
Sara's manager asks her, before she has read either quotation in full, which factory to recommend, since Factory Y's headline price of USD 3.10 is lower than Delta Garments' USD 3.20.
Here is the summary line her manager is looking at:
Should Sara recommend Factory Y on this comparison alone? Decide before opening the answer.
No, not yet. Two facts decide this.
First, the two quotes are not quoted for the same quantity. Factory Y priced 12,000 pieces, its own preferred minimum, against the 15,000 pieces actually requested; a price for a smaller run is not directly comparable to a price for the full quantity.
Second, Factory Y's price excludes the printed label that Delta Garments' price already includes. Adding the excluded 0.03 back to Factory Y's price gives 3.13, narrowing the real gap to 0.07 rather than the 0.10 the headline figures suggest.
Sara should ask Factory Y to re-quote at the full 15,000-piece quantity with the printed label included, so both prices are read on the same basis, before recommending either factory.
Framed qualitatively, if Sara had recommended Factory Y purely on its lower headline number, the buyer could end up paying for a re-quote at the correct quantity later, discovering the real gap only after some approval work has already gone into the wrong supplier. The cost is not usually the small per-piece difference itself, but the time spent unwinding a decision made on an incomplete reading.
Reading all four points, quantity, inclusions, exclusions and validity, before any ranking avoids this cost entirely.
Open the Quotation comparison sheet workbook linked below. Its "Quote reading" tab lists the four checks this lesson teaches, with Delta Garments' and Factory Y's own quotations filled in as the worked example. Fill in the yellow "Your quotes" columns with your own incoming quotations before ranking any supplier by price.
[Download the Quotation comparison sheet](../../templates/T13-C02-quotation-comparison-sheet.xlsx)
1. Beyond price, which four things should be checked before comparing two quotations for the same RFQ?
2. Factory Y quotes USD 3.10 per piece but excludes the printed label, which costs 0.03. What is Factory Y's comparable price once the exclusion is added back?
3. A different order's two quotations both state the same FOB price, but one is valid for 10 days and the other for 45 days. Why does this matter to the buyer?
| EN | AR | FR | TR | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Quotation | عرض السعر | Devis | Teklif (fiyat teklifi) | A supplier's written answer to an RFQ, stating its price and the terms that price is based on. |
| Minimum order quantity | الحد الأدنى لكمية الطلب | Quantité minimale de commande | Minimum sipariş miktarı | The smallest amount a mill will accept or process as one order, which a calculated yarn requirement is often rounded up to. |
| Quotation validity period | مدة صلاحية عرض السعر | Durée de validité du devis | Teklifin geçerlilik süresi | The length of time a supplier's stated price remains valid before it must be re-confirmed. |
| Inclusions | البنود المشمولة | Éléments inclus | Dahil edilen kalemler | The costs a quoted price already covers, such as trims, printing or packing, stated or implied by the quotation. |
| Exclusions | البنود المستثناة | Éléments exclus | Hariç tutulan kalemler | The costs a quoted price does not cover, which the buyer would need to add separately if it accepted that quote. |
| Landed cost | التكلفة بعد الوصول | Coût rendu | Teslim maliyeti | The FOB price plus shipping and duty once goods reach the buyer's own country, USD 3.70 per piece on Order A. |
You now know why two quotes for one identical RFQ can still differ in ways that are not about price at all. The next lesson shows how to adjust each quotation onto one common basis before the prices are compared. Back to the course map