Request for quotation (RFQ)

A request for quotation (RFQ) is a solicitation that awards on price against a specification the buyer has already fixed. The supplier quotes; the buyer compares; the lowest responsive quotation normally wins. There is no weighted grid and no technical scoring round — conformance first, price second.

RFQs are the workhorse of both sectors. Public buyers use them for goods and simple services below competitive thresholds; private buyers run them constantly — a plant manager collecting three quotes before issuing a purchase order is running an RFQ. For suppliers the economics differ sharply from an RFP: preparation cost is low, margins are thin, and winning is a function of accurate costing rather than persuasion. If the same supplier keeps winning the same buyer's RFQs, price is probably not the only variable — watch for specifications written around someone's catalogue.

@misc{pi-2026-definitions-rfq,
  author = {{The Procurement Institution}},
  title  = {Request for quotation (RFQ) — definition},
  year   = {2026},
  url    = {https://procurementinstitution.org/definitions/rfq},
  note   = {Release 2026.10}
}