Use this outline when requesting quotations from a China supplier shortlist. Send the same controlled package to every candidate and require deviations to be stated.
Buyer and project
- Buyer company and responsible person
- Project name and RFQ revision
- Intended destination market
- Target order date and required delivery window
- Confidentiality or intellectual-property instructions
Product definition
- Product name, model, and current drawing revision
- Intended use and user
- Dimensions, tolerances, materials, colors, finish, and components
- Reference sample status
- Required performance and test methods
- Prohibited substitutions
- Required destination-market compliance evidence
Quantity and commercial request
Ask for unit prices at several quantity levels. Separate tooling, setup, sample, packaging, labeling, testing, inspection, and documentation charges.
Require the quotation to state:
- MOQ for finished product, each variant, material, and custom packaging;
- sample and production lead time;
- Incoterms® 2020 rule and exact named place;
- quotation currency, validity, and payment milestones;
- quantity overrun or underrun tolerance;
- estimated carton size, gross weight, and units per carton;
- assumptions and deviations from the RFQ.
Supplier response evidence
Request the Chinese legal company name, business-license copy, factory address, manufacturing role, relevant equipment, comparable-product experience, current capacity assumptions, outsourced processes, and proposed quality plan.
Comparison rule
Do not normalize quotations until missing assumptions are resolved. A lower quote based on generic packaging, a different material, or excluded testing is not directly comparable.
Version the RFQ, retain supplier responses, and reference the final approved specification in the purchase order.