This page answers: what a formal quotation to a B2B export buyer must say, in the email and in the attached quote, so the buyer can compare it and reply.
How to write a quotation email
A buyer with four quotes puts them side by side in one sheet. If your numbers drop straight into that sheet, your quote gets read. If the buyer has to guess the port, the payment split or how long the price holds, it often gets skipped. Below is each part of the quote, what "clear" looks like for it, and a sample you can adapt.
The email gives the answer, the quote sheet gives every condition
"Please find attached our quotation" with nothing else forces the buyer to download a file on their phone just to see a number. A price written only in the email body is hard to file or forward for approval. Send both, and give each a different job.
| Where | What goes there |
|---|---|
| Email body | Which inquiry this answers; one line per item with unit price, Incoterm and place, lead time, payment and validity; anything that differs from what they asked for; one clear next step. |
| Quote sheet (PDF, plus Excel if useful) | Quote number and date; both company names; model, spec and photo; quantities and price tiers; packing data; Incoterm, lead time, payment, validity; what is not included; sample terms; country of origin and HS code if the buyer needs them. |
The numbers in the email and the sheet must match. Change one, change the other. Name the file so it can be found later, for example Quotation_Q2611-018_LED-Panel-600_2026-11-12.pdf. If the buyer is clearly building a comparison, attach an Excel version too so they do not have to retype your PDF.
If this is the first message from the buyer and you do not yet know enough to quote properly, start with how to reply to a new inquiry.
Unit price, MOQ and price tiers
A price is only complete with four things attached: currency, unit, quantity and Incoterm. "USD [x.xx]" is not comparable. "USD [x.xx]/pc, FOB Ningbo, for 2,000 pcs" is.
- Use the buyer's unit. Per piece, per set, per metre, per kilo: match the inquiry. If they asked per set and you quote per piece, someone will compare the wrong numbers.
- Say what the MOQ applies to. Per model, per colour, or per order in total. If you can go below it, say how: "From 500 pcs at USD [x.xx]/pc."
- Two or three tiers, not ten. Quote the quantity they asked for, and one step above it so they can see what a bigger order saves.
- Options on their own lines. A different driver, a printed logo, a custom box: "add USD [x.xx]/pc". Folding them into the unit price makes you look expensive next to someone quoting the standard version.
- One-off costs separately. Tooling, printing plates, certification tests each get a line, with whether they are refunded once orders reach a certain volume.
| Quantity | Unit price (FOB Ningbo) | Note |
|---|---|---|
| 500–1,999 pcs | USD [x.xx]/pc | Below standard MOQ |
| 2,000–4,999 pcs | USD [x.xx]/pc | Your requested quantity |
| 5,000 pcs and up | USD [x.xx]/pc | Full container possible |
This is a format example. The bracketed numbers are placeholders.
Incoterms: the rule, the place and the version
"FOB price" leaves the port open. "CIF" leaves the destination open. Write the rule, the named place and the version:
- FOB Ningbo, Incoterms 2020. With FOB, the place is the port of loading.
- CIF Gdansk, Incoterms 2020. With CIF, the place is the port of destination. You pay freight and insurance to Gdansk, but risk passes to the buyer once the goods are on board at the loading port. People get this wrong often.
- EXW [factory address]. Give a city or a real address. "EXW China" is not a place.
Details that are easy to miss:
- CIF insurance. Under Incoterms 2020, CIF only requires the seller to buy the minimum cover (Institute Cargo Clauses C), for at least 110% of the contract value. If the buyer wants broader cover, quote it as an extra.
- What the price excludes. A CIF price normally does not cover destination terminal handling, customs clearance, import duty or VAT. One line saves an argument later: "Destination port charges, import duties and taxes are for the buyer's account."
- Containers and FCA. When you hand a container to the carrier at a terminal or depot and never load the ship yourself, the ICC suggests FCA with a named place fits better than FOB. If the buyer insists on FOB, use FOB.
- No Incoterm given? Quote two. FOB your port and CIF their port, so they see the freight difference at a glance. Date the freight rate and say how long it holds; ocean rates move faster than your product cost.
When lead time starts, and how much packing detail to give
"Lead time 30 days" can be read at least three ways: from the order or from the deposit, until goods are finished or until they sail, calendar days or working days. This version leaves no room:
"Lead time: [30] days after receipt of deposit and approval of the pre-production sample, ready for shipment from Ningbo."
- Start the clock at deposit and sample approval, whichever is later. If the deposit arrives a week late, the date moves with it, and that is already in writing.
- End it at "ready for shipment" or "shipped", not "delivered". Under FOB or CIF, the weeks at sea are not yours to promise.
- If a long holiday falls inside the window at your factory, say so in the quote, not after the order is placed.
Give enough packing data for the buyer to get a freight quote on their own: pieces per carton, carton dimensions, gross and net weight, volume per carton, and roughly how many pieces fit in a 20GP or 40HQ. On an FOB quote, their forwarder will ask for exactly these.
Payment terms with only one possible reading
"T/T 30/70" is common, but it does not say when the 70% is due. Before shipment and against a copy of the bill of lading are very different risks for you. Write it out:
- "30% deposit by T/T on PI confirmation, 70% balance by T/T before shipment." The safest version for the seller.
- "30% deposit by T/T, 70% balance by T/T against copy of B/L." Easier for many buyers to accept. Release the original B/L only once the balance has arrived.
- Letters of credit: name the type, such as "irrevocable L/C at sight", and the latest date it must be opened.
Add who pays bank charges (a common line is that each side pays its own bank's fees) and the payment currency. Leave bank details out of the quotation. Send them with the proforma invoice, and tell the buyer to confirm by phone if they ever receive "new" account details. Fake change-of-bank emails are a well-known fraud in export trade.
Validity: a date, and the reason behind it
"Valid for 30 days" from when? Three weeks later, neither side is sure. Write the date: "This quotation is valid until 12 December 2026."
If you quote in US dollars and pay your costs in another currency, every exchange rate move changes your margin. Raw materials such as copper, aluminium or plastic resin do the same. Set validity by how long you are willing to carry that risk. When prices are moving, a shorter validity and a quick reconfirmation beats a long one you cannot honour.
A short line explains the deadline without sounding defensive:
"Prices are based on the current [copper] price and the USD/[your currency] rate. If either moves by more than [x]% before order confirmation, we will reconfirm the price with you."
Also say when the price locks, usually "once the deposit is received". The buyer sees a reason to order sooner, and you are not repricing halfway through production.
Sample fees and refunds
A sample line needs four things: the fee; who pays the courier (the buyer's courier account, or an estimate you add to the fee); how many days to make it; and when the fee comes back. "Refunded against the first order of [1,000] pcs or more" is far clearer than "refundable on order". Treat stock samples and custom samples differently. Custom samples are usually not refunded.
Sample quotation email
This is a sample that continues the made-up case from the first-reply guide: the buyer in Poland has answered. They want a DALI dimmable driver, CIF Gdansk, for one project. Company and product are fictional. Replace everything in brackets with your own details, and do not copy the numbers.
Subject: Quotation Q2611-018: LED panel 600x600, DALI, 2,000 pcs, CIF Gdansk
Hi [Name],
Thank you for confirming the details. Our quotation is below, and the full version (PDF and Excel) is attached.
Item: LED panel light 600x600, 40W, DALI dimmable driver, CE
- 2,000 pcs: USD [x.xx]/pc CIF Gdansk, Incoterms 2020
- 5,000 pcs: USD [x.xx]/pc CIF Gdansk, Incoterms 2020
- For reference, FOB Ningbo: USD [x.xx]/pc for 2,000 pcs
Lead time: [30] days after deposit and sample approval, ready for shipment.
Payment: 30% deposit by T/T on PI confirmation, 70% balance by T/T before shipment.
Packing: [4] pcs/carton, [xx] cartons in total, details in the attachment.
Valid until: 12 December 2026. Ocean freight is based on rates as of [date].
Not included: destination port charges, import duties and taxes.
One difference from your request: you mentioned a 3-year warranty. Our standard is [2] years; 3 years adds USD [x.xx]/pc, shown as an option in the Excel.
Sample: USD [xx] for one piece, refunded on orders of 1,000 pcs or more. It can ship within [5] days.
If the prices work for your project, please confirm the quantity and warranty option, and I will send the PI within one working day.
Best regards,
[Your name]
[Company] | [Phone / WhatsApp] | [Website]
Why it works:
- The subject carries the quote number, item, quantity and Incoterm, so it is easy to find among other suppliers' quotes.
- Every price has currency, unit, quantity, Incoterm and place. It drops straight into a comparison sheet.
- The one point that differs from the request (warranty) is raised by the seller, with a price, before the buyer finds it.
- Validity is a date, the freight rate has a basis, and the exclusions are stated.
- There is one next step, and the buyer can answer it in a line.
Common mistakes
- No numbers in the email at all. Everything is in the attachment.
- "FOB" with no port, or "CIF" with no destination.
- A lead time with no start date, so each side counts differently.
- "T/T 30/70" with no word on when the balance is due.
- "Valid 30 days" with no start date, or no validity at all.
- Options folded into the unit price, so you look expensive against a standard-spec quote.
- The email and the attachment show different numbers after a late edit.
- Last client's quote sheet reused with their name, currency or port still in it.
- No next step and no follow-up date. The quote goes out and that is the end of it.
After you send it
Note the quote number, the prices and terms you gave, the validity date and when you will follow up. Do the same for quotes sent through a marketplace RFQ, not only by email. A few quiet days, or a validity date coming up, is your reason to write again. See when a buyer goes quiet for how.
This is the part RelaySolo is built for. Inquiry to quote drafts a quote from your own price list, shows where every number came from, and sends nothing until you confirm. Price lists, certificates and packing data live in your files, and drafts pull from them. The translated inbox sends your reply in the buyer's language, and before sending checks that model numbers, figures and prices match the original; if they don't, the reply is not sent. Client pages and follow-ups keep what you quoted to whom and remind you when a buyer has not replied. It runs on Windows and Mac; see all features.