The reason buyers spend weeks comparing quotations is usually not supplier quality. It is that the quotations answer different questions. A vague request produces an approximate number, and no two approximations match.
What a complete RFQ contains
For pressed glass candle jars, a request that produces an accurate, comparable quotation contains these items. Send them together in one message.
Product identification
- Model number if you have seen one, or a link or photograph if you have not
- Dimensions: diameter, height, base diameter
- Capacity: nominal, brimful, and the usable volume you need
- Wall thickness target and piece weight target
Quantity and commercial terms
- Quantity per model, and total across models
- Whether you are open to a combined shipment
- Target price if you have one, and whether it is firm or indicative
- Payment terms you can work with
- Incoterm and destination port, if you have a preference
Finishing
- Colour: standard or custom, and Pantone or reference if custom
- Decoration: silk-screen, decal, frosting, plating, engraving, or none
- Artwork status: ready files or still in development
- Number of colours and number of decorated sides
Packaging
- Master carton quantity if you have a requirement
- Retail-ready packaging, or bulk cartons only
- Any barcode, labelling or pallet requirements
Timeline
- Target delivery date, and whether it is fixed or flexible
- Whether the date is needed for a retail season or a fixed event
Compliance
- Destination market, since labelling and documentation requirements differ
- Any specific tests you need: food contact, lead and cadmium, thermal shock
The template
This structure works reliably:
Product: [model or reference]
Dimensions: [dia] × [height] mm, base [dia] mm
Capacity: [X] ml brimful, [Y] ml usable fill
Quantity: [X] pcs per model, [Y] pcs total across [n] models
Colour: [standard / custom, reference]
Decoration: [process], [n] colours, [which sides]
Packaging: [X] pcs/carton, bulk or retail-ready
Destination: [port]
Required delivery: [date, fixed or flexible]
Please quote FOB [port] and CIF [destination] separately, with a validity period.
Ask for line-item pricing
The most valuable line in an RFQ is a request to break the price down:
\”Please quote the base price of the clear jar, then each finish as a separate line item showing its individual cost and any setup fee.\”
Without this you cannot compare suppliers, and you cannot tell whether one quote is cheaper because it is genuinely cheaper or because decoration was silently omitted.
Ask the questions that reveal reliability
A serious supplier answers all of these without hesitating:
- How many units fit in a 20ft and 40ft container for my quantity?
- What is the production lead time after artwork approval?
- Can you send samples, and what is the sample cost and lead time?
- What is your tolerance on piece weight and capacity?
- What quality inspection do you run before shipment, and can I see the report?
- What is your policy if delivered goods do not match the approved sample?
If you get vague answers, that is the most important information in the quotation.
Common RFQ mistakes
- Mixing several questions in one email. Send one consolidated request. Fragmented emails produce fragmented quotes.
- Not stating the destination. FOB and CIF are different products with different risk. Be explicit.
- Asking for \”your best price\” first. That signals you have not compared quotations. Ask for a quotation against your specification.
- Omitting the delivery date. Without it, lead time gets padded and you cannot compare on that axis at all.
- Sending RFQs to twenty suppliers with the same vague text. Quality over quantity. Ten well-specified RFQs beat forty vague ones.
Send us a proper specification and you will get a quotation you can act on. Request a quote here.