If you sell to other businesses, sooner or later an email arrives asking for "a quote on the following". That is an RFQ. This guide explains what an RFQ is, what one looks like, why it matters and the mistakes that lose the order.
What an RFQ is
RFQ stands for request for quote, sometimes written as request for quotation. A buyer sends one when they know what they want and need your price and terms for it. It lists products and quantities, and it asks you to reply with a quote: a priced offer the buyer can accept, negotiate or compare with others.
A concrete example
A cafe owner emails you: "Could you quote me for 40 of the 12oz ceramic mugs in white and 20 of the matching saucers, delivered by the end of the month?" Nothing in that message is a SKU, but it holds everything a quote has to answer.
| In the request | What your quote needs |
|---|---|
| 40 white 12oz mugs | The matching SKU and unit price at that quantity |
| 20 saucers | The matching SKU, and whether 20 meets your minimum |
| Delivered by month end | Lead time and shipping cost |
| An implied order | Payment terms and how long the price holds |
Why it matters for a store
An RFQ comes from a buyer with a defined need, and they have often asked more than one supplier. Your reply is the sales conversation.
- Speed: A buyer comparing quotes can act on whichever arrives while they are still deciding
- Accuracy: A wrong SKU or price has to be corrected later, which costs trust
- Order size: Quote requests are usually larger than a typical retail order
Common mistakes
Most problems come from treating the quote as a quick email instead of an offer you will be held to.
- ❌ Guessing which product the buyer means instead of asking
- ❌ Quoting retail price when the quantity qualifies for a volume break
- ❌ Leaving out shipping, lead time or how long the quote is valid
- ❌ Quoting a quantity below your minimum without saying so
- ✅ Sending the quote in a form the buyer can accept and pay without retyping it
For the reply itself, see how to respond to a request for quote. To turn an accepted quote into an order, see wholesale quote to draft order on Shopify.
Doing this at scale
QuoteWeaver reads a buyer's free-text quote request, parses it into line items and matches each to a real catalog SKU with a confidence score. It prices the request against your B2B list, including volume breaks, MOQ and the next-break upsell, then builds a Shopify draft order and a drafted reply. Low-confidence lines are flagged, and it never invents a SKU or price. See QuoteWeaver.