What is a request for quotation and when to send it?
A request for quotation (RFQ) is a formal request to price specific items at a supplier or wholesaler. In B2B trade it is the first document of the sales cycle: based on it, a sales rep selects catalog items, applies the customer group discount and returns a commercial offer.
You send an RFQ once you have a list of needs — even a descriptive one. You don’t need to know catalog indexes; the more parameters you give, the fewer follow-up questions on the seller’s side. The difference between a good and a bad RFQ is usually the difference between a same-day quote and a week of email ping-pong.
What should a request for quotation contain?
The minimal, complete set of information that lets the seller quote without asking back looks like this:
- Company and contact details — VAT ID, name, email, phone (for terms and group discount).
- List of items with parameters — for each: name/type, key technical parameters (e.g. diameter DN, pressure PN, material, standard), quantity and unit.
- Lead time — when you need the goods; distinguish “urgent” from “within a month”.
- Delivery method and place — pickup, delivery to address, pallet vs parcel.
- Commercial terms — payment method, expected payment term, whether you need a price-binding offer.
- Context — whether it’s a project quote, stock replenishment or a repeat order (it affects the discount).
How to describe technical parameters to avoid mistakes?
Most quoting errors come from under-specified parameters. In water and gas installations the nominal diameter (DN) and nominal pressure (PN) are key: “90° elbow DN50 PN16, stainless steel” is unambiguous, while “2-inch elbow” is not — because the thread, flange, material and pressure class are unknown.
If you have a manufacturer index (e.g. a JAFAR or Kaczmarek catalog symbol), provide it — it reduces matching to zero effort. If you don’t, describe the function and parameters: material, dimension, standard (EN), design. For electrical, give conductor cross-section, rated voltage and insulation type; for steel — grade, profile dimension and length.
Copy-paste RFQ template
You can paste the skeleton below into an email and fill it in. It works both for a single item and a list of dozens of lines:
- Subject: Request for quotation — [short description], lead time [date]
- Company: [name], VAT ID [______], contact: [name, email, phone]
- Items: 1) [name + DN/PN/material/standard] — [qty] [unit]; 2) … ; 3) …
- Lead time: [date / “urgent” / “within X days”]
- Delivery: [pickup / delivery address]
- Payment: [transfer X days / prepayment]
- Notes: [e.g. “please make the offer binding for 14 days”, “equivalent acceptable”].
What does the request look like on the seller’s side?
On the other side, the rep has to turn your description into specific catalog items, pick substitutes where something is missing, apply the discount and check availability. For a descriptive 30-line request that means hours of work — and this is exactly the step OferIQ automates: a natural-language request (email or form) is turned into a draft quote with matched items and calculated prices, and the rep only approves and sends.
For the buyer this means a faster reply. For the wholesaler it means no request sits unanswered for two days because “there was no time to write it up”. If you distribute installation or electrical materials, see how it works on the OferIQ product page (/en/product/) and in the installation industry section (/en/industries/instalacje-wod-kan-gaz/).