On this page
- Quick answer: what a request has to contain
- Writing the request
- What a complete quote should contain
- How to read a quote
- What to negotiate, and what not to
- Manufacturing perspective: how a costing desk reads your request
- Practical example: one request, three responses
- How long the quote process should take
- Common mistakes
- How we quote
- Frequently asked questions
- Conclusion
This covers the request itself, what should come back, and how to read it. What to send an OEM manufacturer is covered separately, and how to compare several quotes against each other is comparing manufacturers.
One thing to establish early: a request for quotation is a commercial document, and a good one is worth the half hour it takes to write. It will be reused for every supplier, it makes the replies comparable, and it becomes the basis of the order.
Quick answer: what a request has to contain
| Element | Why it is in the request | What breaks without it |
|---|---|---|
| Style and construction | The garment the price is for | A price for a category rather than a product |
| Fabric | The largest single cost input | A number that moves once the cloth is chosen |
| Size range and quantity | Drives the marker and the material booking | A price at a narrower range than you need |
| Finish standard | Determines the operation count | A cheaper garment than you intended |
| Packing and labelling | A freight and compliance cost | A cost discovered at the port |
| Incoterm | Makes the number comparable | An apples-to-oranges comparison |
| Date and quantity type | Establishes feasibility | A confirmed date that cannot hold |
Send the same document, unchanged, to everyone on the shortlist. The moment you tailor one to a particular supplier, the comparison stops working.
Writing the request
Keep it to one page
A one-page brief with complete fields is more useful than a long document with a narrative. The costing desk reads it looking for specific inputs, and anything that is not one of those is length without value. Put the specification first and the background second, if at all.
State your target
A target price is a constraint, not a negotiating position. Told the target, a factory can propose the construction that reaches it — a cheaper lining, a simpler closure, a different finishing method. Not told, it will quote what you described and let you discover after sampling that the garment cannot be sold at your margin.
Ask what is missing
End the request with a line inviting the supplier to name anything they cannot meet or need clarified. That single sentence turns a price into a technical response, and it is often where the most useful information in the whole exchange arrives.
What a complete quote should contain
| Field | Why you need it | Common omission |
|---|---|---|
| Unit price by size | Size affects fabric consumption | A single blended price |
| Construction the price assumes | Two prices for two garments are not comparable | Left implicit |
| Fabric article or specification | The largest cost line | “Satin” with no weight |
| Size range priced | A quote for three sizes is not a quote for eight | Unstated |
| Sample and development charges | A real cost and a real lead time | Not mentioned |
| Incoterm | Makes the number comparable | Assumed ex-works |
| Packing specification | A freight cost | “Standard export packing” |
| Validity period | Fabric and trims move | Open-ended |
If several of those are missing, the quote is not necessarily wrong — it is incomplete, and the honest response is to ask for the rest rather than to compare it against something complete. A supplier who supplies all eight without being chased is telling you something about how the order will be run.
How to read a quote
The outlier is usually a different garment
When one quote is far below the rest, the productive assumption is that it is pricing something else: a cheaper cloth, a simpler construction, a narrower size range, unspecified trims. Send the specified construction back and ask for a price against it. The gap usually narrows, and if it does not, you have learned something worth knowing.
Unit price is one line in a larger sum
Sample cost, freight, packing, inspection and rework risk all sit outside the unit price, and two suppliers quoting the same unit price can produce different landed costs by more than the difference they were competing on. Compare total cost to your warehouse, not price at the factory gate.
Check the validity
Fabric and trim prices move, which is why a quote carries a validity period. A quote without one is a number that will be revisited at the least convenient moment — usually after you have planned around it.
What to negotiate, and what not to
- Negotiate the specification, not only the number. A lower price for the same specification means something changed, and it is usually something you will notice later.
- Negotiate the colour count. It is the lever that most directly reduces the effective material minimum, because it spreads the fabric across dye batches.
- Negotiate the payment structure. Tying the balance to a pre-shipment inspection gives you a decision rather than a claim.
- Do not negotiate against an unspecified quote. It is a weak position, because the other supplier can match the specification instead of the price.
- Do not treat the sample charge as the main event. It is small next to a production run priced on the wrong construction.
Manufacturing perspective: how a costing desk reads your request
A costing desk works from the specification outward: fabric consumption from the panels and the marker, trims as individual lines, labour from the operation count implied by the construction, then finishing and packing. Every field you supply removes an assumption from that chain.
This is why an incomplete request tends to receive a cautious price rather than a wrong one. The desk has to cover the uncertainty somewhere, and the only place available is the margin. A complete brief does not necessarily produce a lower number — it produces a number that is more likely to be the real one.
Practical example: one request, three responses
| Supplier A | Supplier B | Supplier C | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Unit price | Lowest | Middle | Highest |
| Construction stated | No | Yes | Yes, with detail |
| Fabric | “Quality satin” | Article named | Article plus an alternative |
| Sizes priced | Three | Five | Five |
| Incoterm | Unstated | Stated | Stated |
| What the comparison shows | Not a comparable number | Comparable | Comparable, at a higher specification |
How long the quote process should take
The process has a natural length, and knowing it prevents the most common form of delay — leaving a comparison open while one more reply is awaited.
Writing the brief takes an afternoon. Replies should arrive within a working day or two. A round of clarification adds a few days. Sampling, if you go that far, adds a fortnight; in our production that runs around seven to ten days from tech pack approval for a style built on a construction we already hold, and longer where the silhouette is new.
The useful discipline is to set a decision date before sending the brief. A comparison that stays open while one more quote arrives delays the order by exactly the length of the wait, and the answer is usually the same as it was a week earlier.
Common mistakes
- Asking for price before specifying. It produces a number that will change, and comparing several produces a decision based on nothing.
- Sending different briefs to different suppliers. It destroys the comparison you were trying to make.
- Judging on the unit price alone. Freight, packing and rework are real costs with no line in the quote.
- Accepting a quote without a construction stated. You cannot tell what you are buying or what changed.
- Ignoring validity. A price without a period will be revisited at the wrong moment.
- Negotiating rather than specifying. A discount on an unspecified garment is a discount on nothing.
How we quote
Luxudress has manufactured womenswear in Guangzhou since 1995, with pattern, cutting, sewing, finishing and packing under one roof. We reply to enquiries within 24 hours.
- We quote from a specification. If the brief is thin, you get the questions rather than a number that will move.
- We state the construction the price is based on. So it can be compared with anyone else's.
- We price the size range you asked for. Not a narrower one that flatters the total.
- We itemise development separately. Pattern work and sampling are named, not folded into the unit price.
- We tell you what changes the cost. Which levers reduce the price, and what each one does to the garment.
- We name the risks. Fabric availability and the calendar, before the order rather than after.
If you are gathering quotes, send us the same brief you are sending everyone else and we will quote against it. OEM manufacturing covers what the price includes, and our production process shows how the order would run.
Frequently asked questions
When should I ask for a price?
After the specification exists, not before. A price given against a photograph or a description is a price for a category, and it will be revised as soon as the fabric and construction are fixed. The round trip costs a week and produces a number you can actually plan with.
How many quotes should I get?
Three, from a shortlist filtered beforehand. More quotes do not improve the decision, and each one costs you reading time and the supplier pricing time. If one falls away, replacing it is better than starting with six.
Why did my quotes come back so far apart?
Almost always because they are pricing different garments. The usual culprits are a cheaper cloth, a simpler construction, a narrower size range, unspecified trims or a different packing specification. Send the specified construction back and ask for a price against it — the gap usually narrows considerably.
Is the first price negotiable?
Usually, and the productive negotiation is about the specification rather than the number. Asking which elements can change to reduce cost, and what each change does to the garment, produces a better outcome than a discount on a garment whose details were never settled.
Should I expect a sample charge?
Sample charges and whether they are credited against production vary by supplier and by style, and they are a commercial term. What matters is that the arrangement is stated in the quote rather than discovered later, and that it is clear whether the pattern and the sample remain yours.
Why does the incoterm matter so much?
Because it changes what the number means. A price at the factory gate and a delivered price differ by freight, insurance, duties and inland transport, and the difference is often larger than the price gap two suppliers are competing on. Always compare quotes on the same incoterm.
How long should a quote remain valid?
Fabric and trims move, so a validity period is normal and a quote without one should be treated cautiously. What matters more is that the quote states which elements are firm and which are subject to material prices, so you know what you are relying on when you plan around it.
Conclusion
A quote is an answer to a specification. Supply a complete one, send the same version to everyone, ask what is missing, and compare total cost rather than the unit price. Those four habits do more for the outcome than any amount of negotiation.
The outlier is nearly always a different garment rather than a better deal. Fix the brief before comparing the numbers, and the comparison becomes a decision instead of a spreadsheet.