You sent the same request to five suppliers. You got back five answers in five formats: a PDF with a logo the size of a billboard, an Excel file with three tabs, a WhatsApp voice note, a one-line email that says "best price for you", and a polite reply asking for more details you already sent.
Congratulations, you are now doing procurement.
The hard part of sourcing is rarely getting quotes. It is turning them into something you can actually compare. Here is a practical method, whether you buy packaging, private label products, machined parts or industrial supplies.
1. Decide what "the same" means before you read a single number
Most quote comparisons go wrong because the quotes are not for the same thing. One supplier quoted a thicker material. Another quoted a different quantity break. A third quietly left out the printing.
Before comparing prices, write down the reference spec you will normalize everything against:
- Exact product spec (material, dimensions, finish, tolerances, certifications)
- Quantity, and one or two alternative quantities if you asked for price breaks
- Packaging and labeling requirements
- Delivery location and target date
Then mark every place where each quote deviates from that reference. A deviation is not automatically bad (sometimes a supplier proposes a smarter material), but it has to be visible. If you cannot tell whether a quote matches your spec, that is a follow-up question, not a reason to guess.
2. Break every quote into the same cost lines
A unit price on its own tells you very little. Rebuild each quote into the same set of lines:
- Unit price at each quantity you asked about
- One-time costs: tooling, molds, dies, plates, setup, artwork, samples
- Packaging if it is priced separately
- Freight to your actual destination, with the Incoterm stated (EXW, FOB, DDP and friends mean very different things for who pays what)
- Duties, taxes and brokerage if you are importing
- Payment terms: deposit, balance timing, and any fees for the payment method
Put these in a simple spreadsheet, one column per supplier. Empty cells are information: they show you exactly what you still need to ask each supplier.
3. Compare landed cost, not factory price
The number that matters is what one usable unit costs you once it is sitting in your warehouse or at your customer's door. That is the landed cost: unit price, plus one-time costs spread over the order, plus freight, duties and fees.
This is where rankings often flip. A lower factory price can end up more expensive once freight, a separate tooling charge or a less favorable Incoterm is added.
Also ask yourself what happens on the second order. Tooling you pay for once should not be charged again on reorders, and you want to know who owns it.
4. Score the things that are not on the price line
Two quotes with the same landed cost are not equal if one supplier takes twice as long to deliver or has never made your type of product. Add a few non-price columns:
- Lead time: sample lead time and production lead time, stated separately
- MOQ per item, per color or per SKU, depending on how they count
- Relevant experience with your product category
- Certifications and documents you need (quality system, material test reports, food contact or cosmetic compliance, and so on)
- Responsiveness: how quickly and how precisely they answered your questions
That last one is underrated. The way a supplier handles your questions before you pay is usually the best preview you will get of how they handle a problem after you pay.
5. Send targeted follow-ups, not "any update?"
Your spreadsheet now shows gaps and deviations for each supplier. Turn them into short, specific follow-ups:
- "Your quote does not mention freight. Can you quote delivery to [city, country] on FOB and DDP terms?"
- "Is the mold cost one-time, and will we own the mold?"
- "Can you confirm the material is [spec], as in our drawing?"
Specific questions get specific answers. Vague follow-ups get the same PDF again, sometimes with a new logo.
6. Shortlist, sample, then decide
Once every column is filled, you will usually have two or three realistic options. That is the moment to order samples, not before. Compare the samples against your spec and against each other, and keep the approved sample as your reference for the production order.
Only then negotiate. You now know what each supplier included and where they have room to move.
A simple template to steal
One row per cost or criterion, one column per supplier:
| Line | Supplier A | Supplier B | Supplier C |
|---|---|---|---|
| Matches spec? (list deviations) | |||
| Unit price @ qty 1 | |||
| Unit price @ qty 2 | |||
| One-time costs | |||
| Freight + Incoterm | |||
| Duties / fees | |||
| Landed cost per unit | |||
| Sample lead time | |||
| Production lead time | |||
| MOQ | |||
| Certifications / documents | |||
| Responsiveness | |||
| Open questions |
Not glamorous, but it turns mismatched replies into a decision you can explain to your co-founder, your accountant or your future self.
Where software helps
Most of this work is collecting, chasing and normalizing: reading attachments, spotting missing lines, asking the same follow-up questions to different suppliers, and keeping the table up to date. That is exactly the part we built Dov to handle. Dov is an AI procurement agent that finds suppliers, requests and follows up on quotes, and compares them side by side, and you can see the suppliers it found before you pay.
If your inbox currently contains five quotes in five formats, have a look at hiredov.com.
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