How to Compare Quotes From Multiple Chinese Suppliers Fairly

You send the same enquiry to five factories on Alibaba and get five numbers back. One is far lower than the rest, two are close, one is high, and one never replies with a real price at all. Beginners pick the cheapest and regret it; experienced buyers know that the quotes are not measuring the same thing. Before you can compare price, you have to normalise the quotes so they describe an identical delivered outcome. This guide shows how to do that line by line.

Put every quote on the same Incoterm first

The single biggest reason two quotes look different is that they stop at different points in the journey. An EXW price is the goods sitting at the factory gate with nothing else included. FOB adds inland trucking to the Chinese port, export clearance, and terminal charges. CIF adds the sea freight and marine insurance on top. A factory quoting EXW will always look cheaper than one quoting FOB for the identical product, and the gap is real money — export haulage and origin charges are not trivial. Ask every supplier to re-quote on one basis, and for most Bangladeshi importers FOB the nearest major port is the cleanest comparison point because it isolates the factory’s price from freight you can shop separately. Our Incoterms guide explains each term in full.

Check that the specification is genuinely identical

A lower price often hides a lighter product. Compare the concrete numbers, not the description: net weight of the item, material grade, thickness or gauge, motor wattage, battery capacity, the exact components named. If one lampshade quote is 180 grams of steel and another is 240 grams, they are not the same lamp and the price difference is explained. Send every supplier the same written specification sheet and ask them to confirm each line or state their deviation in writing. Where a spec is left vague, the factory will build to the cheapest interpretation that still matches the words.

Separate unit price from tooling, moulds and one-off costs

For custom or private-label products there is usually a one-time charge for moulds, tooling, printing plates, or a custom colour match, quoted separately from the per-unit price. One supplier may fold a low tooling charge into a slightly higher unit price; another may show a high tooling charge and a low unit price. At small volumes the tooling dominates; at large volumes the unit price does. Build a simple table: tooling cost, unit price, and the total for your actual order quantity and for a realistic reorder. The cheapest supplier for a first order of a few hundred pieces is often not the cheapest once you reorder.

Read the MOQ and the price breaks together

A quote of one price at one quantity tells you little. Ask for the price at three quantities that bracket your real order, plus the true minimum. Some factories quote an attractive number at a volume you will never buy. Others have a genuinely low minimum but a steep premium below a full production batch because they have to schedule a short run around their main lines. If a supplier’s good price only appears at triple your intended order, factor in the cash tied up and the storage — a cheaper unit price you have to finance and warehouse for a year is not cheaper. Our note on understanding MOQ covers how to negotiate this.

Compare payment terms as part of the price

Terms are money. A supplier asking 30% deposit and 70% against a copy bill of lading is carrying more risk for you than one demanding 100% before production. If one factory offers a letter of credit at sight and another insists on full advance TT, the LC option has a real financing and security value even at a marginally higher unit price. Write each supplier’s terms into your comparison: deposit percentage, what triggers the balance, whether they accept an LC, and any discount for faster payment. See deposit vs full payment for the trade-offs.

Weigh the things that are not on the quote

Two numbers can be equal and the suppliers still not equal. Response time and answer quality during quoting predict how they will communicate during a problem. Whether they sent a real, complete quotation or a vague figure tells you how seriously they take a buyer of your size. Ask each one: how long have you made this exact product, can you share photos of the current production line, do you export to South Asia, and can you provide a reference. A factory that has shipped to Bangladesh before knows your documentation needs — the packing list detail, the certificate of origin, the BSTI or other compliance marks — and that saves you clearance trouble later. A factory audit or a third-party check is worth its cost before a large first order.

Watch the outlier

When one quote sits well below the pack, it is a signal, not a bargain. The likely explanations, in rough order: it is a trading company that misread the spec and will revise upward; it is quoting a lower material grade or a smaller size; it is a genuine factory with spare capacity this month and a real price; or it is a supplier you should not use. Do not delete it and do not accept it — go back with specific questions about material, weight, and what is included, and see whether the number survives contact with detail. Our guide to import scams and red flags covers the patterns to watch.

A simple scoring approach

• Normalise all quotes to FOB one port, same currency, same quantity.
• Confirm the specification line by line in writing before comparing price.
• Build a total-cost row: tooling + (unit price x your real quantity) + a reorder scenario.
• Score payment terms, lead time, and communication separately, then look at price and score together.
• Shortlist two, order samples from both, and let the sample break the tie.

Currency, bank charges and the real transfer cost

Two FOB quotes in USD can still cost you different amounts in taka. Compare the currency each supplier prices in — a factory that quotes in RMB and lets the rate float to the payment date is passing you exchange risk that a USD quote does not. Add the cost of moving the money: the telegraphic transfer fee, the intermediary bank deduction, and any LC opening and confirmation charges your bank levies. On a small first order these fixed costs are a real percentage of the invoice, and a supplier who accepts a payment method with lower bank friction has a genuine edge. Also note the USD-BDT rate you can actually get from your bank on payment day, not the headline rate.

Build a decision file you can reuse

Put the comparison in one sheet and keep it. One row per supplier, columns for: normalised FOB unit price, tooling and one-off costs, total at your real order quantity, total at a reorder quantity, MOQ, lead time, deposit percentage and balance trigger, payment methods accepted, whether they can issue an APTA certificate of origin, response time during quoting, and years making this exact product. Score the non-price columns first, before you look at price, so a low number does not colour your judgement of a weak supplier. When you reorder in six months, this file tells you who to go back to and what you last paid, which is a stronger negotiating position than starting the enquiry cold.

Keep the rejected quotes too. If your first-choice supplier slips on quality or delivery, the file lets you move to the runner-up in days instead of restarting the whole supplier search.

Want a second pair of eyes on your quotes? Send us the products and the numbers you have and we will normalise them, flag the spec gaps, and tell you which suppliers are worth sampling — and we can place and manage the order for you. See our services, reach us on the contact page, use our China sourcing and buying agent service, or browse the shop.