Three quotes, three prices, three different products. Comparing them by unit price is the fastest way to choose the wrong one, and the difference is usually visible in four places.
Normalise to a landed cost
Ex-works price plus freight plus duty plus compliance cost plus the expected claim rate. That last item is the one buyers omit and the one that reverses most decisions.
A 10 % cheaper quote with a 3 % claim rate is more expensive than a 10 % dearer quote with no claims, and the difference compounds because claims cost administrative time as well as money.
Read the specification, not the price
Line the quotes up against your RFQ. Where a quote is silent, treat it as a deviation until the supplier confirms otherwise in writing.
The four places where silent deviations hide: tolerance, testing, packing, and what is excluded from the price.
Price the difference in service life
If one material lasts three years and the other five, the annual cost is the comparison, not the unit price. This is arithmetic most buyers skip and it changes the answer more often than any discount.
Ask the same question of all three
What did you assume where the RFQ was silent? What is excluded? What is the lead time measured from? What happens if a lot fails our test? The answers are comparable in a way that prices are not.
A comparison sheet that fits on one page
| Line | Quote A | Quote B | Quote C |
|---|---|---|---|
| Construction, as quoted | |||
| Deviations from the RFQ | |||
| Testing included | |||
| Packing included | |||
| Lead time, from what date | |||
| Payment terms | |||
| Landed cost estimate |
Fill it in before you discuss price. The conversation changes once the deviations are visible, because the cheapest quote usually has the longest list.
The question that separates the quotes
Ask each supplier: if I needed to reduce the price by 10 % without changing the performance, what would you change? The answers are directly comparable, and they tell you where each supplier believes their own slack is. A supplier who says nothing can change is either at their limit or not interested, and both are useful to know before the order rather than after.
When the cheapest quote is the right one
Sometimes it is. If the product is short-life, the failure is cosmetic, and the order is small, the premium for durability buys nothing the customer will notice. The mistake is not choosing cheap; it is choosing cheap without knowing which failure you are accepting.
Write the accepted failure down. If it happens, you will know it was priced in, and the conversation with your own customer is different.
Currency, payment terms and the real comparison
Two quotes in different currencies are not comparable until the payment date is fixed, because the rate moves. Two quotes with different payment terms are not comparable either: a 30 % deposit and a 100 % advance differ by the cost of capital for the production period.
Convert everything to the same currency, at the same date, with the same payment structure. It takes ten minutes and it changes the ranking more often than the price negotiation does.
Related detail: how we document quality is on the quality control page, our commercial terms are on the logistics page, and specification ranges for both product lines start from the fabric and wooden blinds overviews.
Questions buyers ask before ordering
Can you quote against a specification I write myself?
Yes. Send it as written and we will come back with a line-by-line response, including where we would deviate and why. That is more useful than a price against a document we have silently reinterpreted.
What do you need to start?
End use, quantity per colour, destination market and the date you need the goods. With those four we can quote; without them we are guessing.
Questions worth asking before the price is agreed
The questions below are the ones that cannot be answered from a catalogue, which is exactly why they are worth asking.
| Question | Answer that should worry you | Answer that holds up |
|---|---|---|
| Who signs the test report, and against which standard? | “Our QC department signs it.” | A named standard, a named method and a signature that belongs to somebody who can be asked again next year. |
| How do you hold stretch recovery at >= 90 % after 5 cycles? | “That is standard for us, no problem.” | The last three lots’ readings, the instrument used and who signs the report. Recovery loss at seams starts here. |
| What happens if upf misses the UPF 50+ requirement? | “It will not happen.” | A re-test clause, the tolerance on the re-test, and the point at which the lot is remade rather than discounted. |
Failure modes worth a clause in the purchase order
Claims rarely come from a batch that was obviously wrong. They come from a chlorine resistance figure that sat inside the quoted band and outside what the product needed.
| Failure | What triggers it | Test to demand on the production lot |
|---|---|---|
| Recovery loss at seams | Seam construction that does not stretch with the fabric. | Chlorine resistance — ISO 105-E03 / retained elongation 50 h; acceptance >= 80 % retained |
| Spandex degradation in chlorine | Standard spandex breaks down in chlorinated water; resistance is a polymer choice, not a finish. | Colour fastness to chlorinated water — ISO 105-E03; acceptance >= grade 4 |
The other two, with acceptance numbers attached, are in the full failure analysis for swimwear fabric. A supplier who cannot name the mode he sees most often is describing a catalogue, not a process.
The same question, asked of motorised blinds
The two lines fail differently, so the wording that protects you differs too. On motorised blinds the recurring modes are these, caught with a different test.
| Failure | What triggers it | Test to demand on the production lot |
|---|---|---|
| motorised blinds: Limit drift | Mechanical limit switches or unstable encoder counts. | IP rating — IEC 60529; acceptance IP44 for bathroom use |
| motorised blinds: Motor stall on wide blinds | Torque below what the blind weight and friction require. | Operation noise — 1 m, anechoic or quiet room; acceptance <= 35 dB |
Want a line-by-line response to your RFQ?
Send the end use, the quantity and the destination market, and we will come back with a specification that meets it, a price at your volume and the test reports that back it up. Samples are free for qualified programmes; we charge the courier only.
Related reading
Sample cut with your values on it · Neutral packing and private label · Consolidation, documents and lead times
