A request for quote decides how comparable the answers you receive actually are. Send three suppliers a thin enquiry and you get three thin prices, each hiding different assumptions; send one complete enquiry and the differences between quotations become real information instead of guesswork. For buyers ordering from a China furniture manufacturer for global projects — where the quotation also carries packaging, freight and finish decisions — the quality of the answer starts with what you attach to the request.

Start with scope, not with a product name

Before any line item, state what the project is: a villa refurbishment, a boutique hotel fit-out, an apartment handover, an office floor. Give the location, the storey or room schedule, and the date the goods are needed on site. Suppliers who understand the whole scope can group items into one production run and one shipment instead of pricing each product as an isolated order.

Then attach a schedule rather than a shopping list. A room-by-room schedule with quantities, sizes and reference numbers lets the factory price from drawings and dimensions instead of guessing. If your scope spans several categories — furniture and building materials together, say loose furniture, cabinetry, sanitary ware, lighting, flooring and wall finishes — list them as separate sections under one project heading, so the supplier can confirm which parts they produce themselves and which they would source on your behalf.

Specify what "the same product" means

For every item, record the four things that move price: material, finish, dimension and hardware. On a cabinet line that means panel type, surface finish (matte, high gloss, lacquer, veneer), overall dimensions, and the hinges, slides and legs supplied with it — custom built-in kitchen cabinets quoted with matching hardware are not comparable to the same carcass quoted bare. On outdoor pieces it means frame material and coating, fabric type and cushion fill: an aluminium frame with outdoor performance fabric and teak armrests, as in the modern aluminum outdoor sofa set, is a different quotation from the same silhouette in untreated steel.

Where an item belongs to a family rather than a single specification, name the variant. Ceiling tiles come as solid, perforated or embossed panels with different hole patterns and colours, and a suspended aluminium ceiling tile quoted with acoustic fleece is not the same line item as a plain solid tile. Ceramic ware needs the trap type and rough-in stated, the mounting style, and whether taps are included. Screens, partitions and panelling need pattern, panel size and surface treatment — brushed gold, matte black and antique bronze each price differently.

If a catalogue item is close but not right, say so in the enquiry. Custom furniture design and prototyping are part of normal project supply, and raising them in the first message means the quotation reflects what you actually intend to buy.

State quantities, packaging and how the goods must arrive

Give real quantities per item, plus any split by room or phase, because unit price follows batch size. If you want a trial order before committing to a full floor, say so — flexible minimum order quantities exist for exactly this situation, and it is better to settle them at quotation stage than after a deposit has been paid.

Packaging belongs in the request too. State whether items travel flat-packed or assembled in crates, whether timber-free pallets or specific marking are required, and how delivery must be addressed — a building site, a bonded warehouse or the final address. As a one-stop furniture and building materials supplier, SANTERSON arranges sea, air and rail freight with customs paperwork and door-to-door delivery, so the freight element can be quoted alongside production. Ask for that in writing and you receive an all-in landed figure rather than an ex-factory number you have to price yourself.

Ask for a quotation you can audit

Tell suppliers how you want the answer structured, and every quotation arrives on the same page. A format that works:

• Item reference, description, material and finish — written out, never "as discussed".
• Quantity, unit of measure, unit price and line total.
• Trade terms and what they cover: packaging, inland haulage, freight, insurance, duties.
• Production sequence and shipment grouping, with the details to sign off before cutting starts.
• Price validity period and the currency the figure is quoted in.
• What is excluded: installation, spare parts, samples, custom tooling.

Two confirmations are worth asking for by name. The first is a sample or prototype before production — routine for carpets and upholstery, and for cabinetry it takes the form of a drawing and material board approved before panels are cut. The second is the specification sheet you will inspect against on delivery. Both protect the buyer at handover, when a snag list costs far less than a replacement order.

What to expect back

A supplier working from a complete enquiry answers with a line-by-line price, a plain note on anything they cannot make to your drawing, and the assumptions behind the number. At SANTERSON that reply follows the same route as the rest of the service: project brief and design proposal, quotation and detail confirmation, then production, shipment and follow-up — the stages set out on our services page.

Preparing an enquiry for a villa, hotel or apartment project? Send the room schedule, the finishes you want and the delivery address, and the quotation will be built against that scope rather than around it. Enquiries reach the team through the contact page.