What is an RFQ — and why use BharatMart's platform?
A Request for Quote (RFQ) is the standard B2B procurement document — the buyer specifies what they need, and suppliers respond with their best price and terms. The traditional RFQ process is slow: buyers send the document to a hand-picked list of suppliers, then chase responses by email, often waiting weeks. BharatMart compresses this to 24-48 hours by routing your single RFQ to pre-vetted manufacturers in the relevant production cluster automatically.
What to include in your RFQ
Better RFQs get better quotes. The most useful information for suppliers is concrete and specific:
- Product description — name, type, intended use. If you have a reference product (a SKU on Amazon, a competitor brand, an industry standard), link or attach it.
- Quantity — total order size, broken down by SKU if applicable. Mention if this is a one-off or expected to recur.
- Specifications — materials, dimensions, weight, packaging requirements, certifications needed.
- Target landed price — what you're aiming to pay including freight, insurance, duties at your destination.
- Destination — country and ideally the port (JNPT, Mundra, Jebel Ali, etc.).
- Timeline — when you need the goods in your warehouse.
- Compliance — BIS, FSSAI, ESMA, FCC, CE, GOTS, OEKO-TEX, etc.
What you get back
Each matching supplier returns a quote that includes:
- Per-unit FOB price at the offered MOQ
- Production lead time
- Sample availability and cost
- Estimated freight to your destination port
- Estimated landed cost (including expected duties)
- Payment terms (typically 30% advance, 70% against B/L copy — held in BharatMart escrow)
- Supplier verification status and recent buyer feedback score
You see all quotes side by side, can ask follow-up questions through the platform, and place sample orders without leaving the app.
Why our RFQs convert faster than direct outreach
Pre-filtered supplier base
Every supplier on BharatMart has passed our four-step verification — trade licence, factory ownership, export history, banking. You're not negotiating with random factory accounts; you're seeing offers from suppliers who have agreed to platform terms including escrow and inspection.
Buyer-vs-supplier asymmetry resolved
On generic B2B marketplaces, buyers post RFQs and get bombarded with off-topic responses. BharatMart routes RFQs only to suppliers with proven production history in your specific category — typically 4-8 quality responses, not 40 spam ones.
Landed cost, not FOB price
Suppliers naturally quote FOB (their factory price) because it's what they control. We add the freight and duty layer so the comparison you see is apples-to-apples landed cost.
Escrow is built in
Once you accept a quote, payment goes through BharatMart escrow. Funds release to the supplier only after independent quality inspection passes. No need to wire money to overseas accounts you've never met.
RFQs we handle particularly well
- Custom apparel & private-label — see private-label manufacturing
- Industrial machinery — see industrial machinery
- Consumer electronics OEM — see electronics
- Trade-route specific RFQs — China, Turkey, Vietnam
- Low-MOQ wholesale — see low-MOQ wholesale
Get started
Open the BharatMart app and tap "New RFQ". Fill in the structured form (it auto-prompts for the right details based on product category), and you'll have quotes in 24-48 hours. Have a complex spec? Email a sourcing manager first and we'll structure the RFQ template for you.