A request for quotation is not a formality. It is the document that determines whether the prices you receive are accurate, whether they can be compared to each other, and whether the factory reading it takes your project seriously.
Most RFQs we receive are missing at least half the information needed to quote properly. The result is a range of guesses that fall apart the moment a real specification arrives.
What an RFQ is for
An RFQ has three jobs: to give the manufacturer enough information to quote without guessing, to make quotes from different manufacturers comparable, and to establish that you are a serious, organised buyer.
That third job matters more than most brands realise. Factories triage enquiries. A complete, well-structured RFQ signals a project likely to reach production, and gets attention accordingly.
The information every RFQ needs
Company and project context
State who you are, what the brand is, and where you are in development. A manufacturer needs to know whether they are quoting a first sample for a new label or a repeat production run for an established one — the answer changes how they staff and price it.
Include your destination market, since it determines which compliance requirements apply.
Product specification
This is the core. For each product, provide:
- Product type and intended use
- Reference images, sketches or a physical sample
- Approximate finished dimensions
- Leather type, weight and finish, if decided
- Lining material and construction
- Hardware — type, finish, and whether stock or custom
- Edge treatment — painted, folded, raw or burnished
- Branding requirements — embossing, foil, metal plate, labels
- Any interior features such as pockets, dividers or card slots
If a decision is not made yet, say so explicitly and ask for options. "Undecided, please quote two alternatives" is far more useful than silence, which forces the factory to assume — and assumptions are exactly what makes quotes incomparable.
Quantities
Give three numbers where you can: first order quantity, expected annual volume, and the split across colours or variants.
The colour split matters more than brands expect. An order of 500 units in one colour and 500 units across five colours are different manufacturing problems with different costs, because each colour carries its own material minimum and setup.
Timeline
State your required delivery date and work backwards. Be explicit about whether the date is fixed or flexible, because a factory can often meet a hard date by planning around it — but only if it knows the date is hard.
Commercial terms
Specify the Incoterm you want quoted, the destination, and your expected payment terms. Without an Incoterm, one factory quotes ex-works and another quotes delivered, and the comparison is meaningless before it starts.
What to ask for in return
A good RFQ tells the manufacturer what form the answer should take. Ask explicitly for:
- Unit price at each quantity tier
- Sampling cost and whether it is credited against production
- Tooling and setup costs, itemised
- Sample lead time and production lead time, stated separately
- Minimum order quantity, per style and per colour
- Payment terms
- Which operations are performed in-house
That last question is the one most brands forget and the one that most often reveals what kind of supplier you are dealing with.
Common mistakes
Sending a sketch with no specification. A sketch shows shape. It says nothing about leather, lining, hardware or construction — all of which dominate cost.
Not stating quantity. Price is meaningless without it.
Asking for "your best price" without a specification. This produces the cheapest interpretation of your product, not the one you intended.
Omitting the Incoterm. Guarantees incomparable quotes.
Requesting an unrealistic timeline without saying it is fixed. Factories will either decline or quietly plan to miss it.
Sending the same RFQ to twenty factories. Serious manufacturers can tell, and deprioritise accordingly. A short, well-researched list gets better engagement.
A simple structure that works
- Brand and project summary — three sentences
- Product specification, one section per product
- Quantities and colour split
- Timeline, marking fixed dates as fixed
- Commercial terms and Incoterm
- What you want quoted, as an explicit list
- Attachments — sketches, tech packs, reference images
If you have a tech pack, most of sections 2 and 3 are already written. Our tech pack guide covers how to build one, and our overview of how to find a manufacturer covers who to send it to.
What good looks like in the reply
A strong response asks clarifying questions before or alongside the numbers, separates sampling from production timing, itemises tooling rather than burying it, and flags anything in your specification that is impractical or unusually expensive.
A response that arrives instantly with a single number and no questions has almost certainly not been engineered. It is a placeholder, and it will change.
Where to go from here
If you have a project ready to quote, send us the brief. If parts of it are still undecided, send it anyway and say which parts — we will tell you what we need to give you a real number rather than a guess.