Reading a Chinese quotation: 8 details that decide everything

Written for global buyers. A quotation is not a price — it is a set of commitments. Here is how to read what you are actually being offered.

You receive a PDF with a price and a lead time. It looks complete. Then production starts, and the assumptions behind it surface one by one.

These eight details determine whether a Chinese quotation is actionable — or a source of disputes later.

1. Is the MOQ a number, or a feeling?

"MOQ is negotiable" is not information. You need a number to plan inventory, cash flow and container loading.

Ask for: the MOQ per SKU, and the price breakpoints above it. A supplier who cannot state a number has not thought about how your order will be produced.

2. Are the delivery days working days or calendar days?

This is the most common source of missed deadlines in cross-border sourcing. "30 days" could mean 30 working days — roughly 42 calendar days.

Ask for: working days or calendar days, explicitly. Then separate order-confirmation time from production time from shipping time. Each has its own clock.

3. Does the packing information allow you to price freight?

Without carton dimensions, gross weight and units per carton, you cannot calculate freight, storage or customs costs — which means you cannot calculate landed cost at all.

Ask for: per carton — dimensions, net weight, gross weight, quantity; plus container loading for 20ft and 40ft.

4. Do the certificates match your market?

A CE certificate is not useful for the United States. UL and FCC are not useful for the EU. A supplier who does not ask which market you sell into is not thinking about your compliance risk.

Ask for: the certificate number, the issuing body and the scope — matched against the market you actually sell in.

5. Are the payment terms a structure or a word?

"T/T" alone tells you nothing. You need to know: deposit percentage, when the balance is due, and what happens if the inspection fails.

Ask for 2-3 options: for example 30% deposit + 70% against B/L copy; or 100% LC at sight; or a structure tied to an inspection report. Then agree which applies to new versus repeat orders.

6. Is there an expiry date?

Quotations without validity periods create ambiguity for both sides — the supplier can revise, and you cannot plan.

Ask for: "This quotation is valid for 15 days." It protects the supplier against raw-material movement and gives you a decision deadline.

7. Which Incoterm is the price based on?

EXW, FOB, CIF and DDP produce very different landed costs for the same product. A quotation that does not state an Incoterm cannot be compared with a competing quotation.

Ask for: the Incoterm plus the named port. Then ask for the same product quoted on a second Incoterm — the difference tells you how much of the logistics the supplier is carrying.

8. What is included — and what will be added later?

The most expensive quotations are the ones that grow. Tooling, moulds, setup fees, logo printing, custom packaging, testing and certification are frequently quoted separately.

Ask for: a single line-item list of every cost, including one-time costs, so the total is visible before you commit.

A quick comparison test

Take your two best quotations and score each against the eight points above. In most cases, the quotation that looks more expensive initially turns out to be the one that answers more of these questions — and that is usually the one that will not surprise you later.

The bottom line

A quotation is a contract draft, not a price list. Read it for what it commits to, and ask for the missing eight details before you compare numbers.