Fabric RFQ: Ask for a Comparable Proposal

End use

Name the garment and important handling or performance concerns. Include a reference identity or description rather than only a broad fabric category.

Composition and dimensions

State fixed composition and buyer targets for finished weight and usable width. Include units and known conditions. Keep unknown values open for the proposal.

Colours and quantity

Record quantities per colour and the total with units. State whether the numbers are a forecast, trial need or intended order. Ask for current quantity conditions.

Samples

Explain whether you need a direction swatch, colour development, trial metreage or a production standard. State the question the sample should answer.

Commercial scope

Add destination, requested timing, price target if relevant and test or document requirements. Ask for included fees, exclusions and quotation validity. Keep the reference revision in the message.

Write the RFQ around the decision you need

Begin with the garment, reference and request type: existing direction, development, sample metreage or repeat bulk. State the next decision the quotation should support. A budget exploration and a final order proposal need different levels of definition.

Include the known composition, finished weight, usable width, finish, colour references and performance requirements. Identify which values are mandatory and which may be proposed. For missing inputs, ask what evidence or sample can resolve them. This gives the team a basis for a focused response rather than an undefined request for a best price.

Make quantity and timing inputs usable

List quantity by colour and state the unit. Include the destination and explain whether the date is a sample need, production milestone, dispatch target or receiving need. Avoid one unlabeled deadline for the whole project.

Ask for the quotation’s assumptions, validity and scope. Current minima and timing depend on the actual proposal and must be confirmed. If the buyer can accept an alternative colour distribution or specification, show it separately so the response does not silently quote a different project.

Illustrative RFQ that receives incomparable answers

Imagine a request says wool blend, 1,000 metres, black, urgent without a usable width or sample basis. One response may assume an existing article while another assumes development, making the prices and dates difficult to compare.

Clarify the garment, accepted reference or target, required width and meaning of urgent, then ask each proposal to state its assumptions. This hypothetical example does not promise that the quantity is available; it shows how missing inputs create false comparisons before the buyer even reaches negotiation.

Check the response field by field

Compare the response with the original brief and identify changed, confirmed and unanswered points. Keep the original buyer requirement visible. Ask for clarification of the few gaps that prevent the decision instead of issuing an entirely new request without context.

Use the quote comparison tool to preserve currencies, units and inclusions, and the specification sheet for technical differences. A complete RFQ cycle ends with a coherent proposal or a clearly defined development step, not just a price copied out of a message.