How to Get a Furniture Quotation from a Chinese Factory

2026-09-10 · Buyer Questions Answered · Rosy Rose Trade Journal

How to Get a Furniture Quotation from a Chinese Factory

A usable furniture quotation comes from sending structured information, not from asking for a price list. Prepare drawings with dimensions, quantities per item, materials and finishes, packing expectations, destination port, preferred Incoterm and target date. Send the same package to every factory you approach, and ask each one for a project-specific quotation against it.

What is the fastest way to get a usable quotation?

Speed comes from removing ambiguity, not from chasing suppliers.

The fast route looks like this:

1. Assemble one complete enquiry package
2. Send it to a shortlist of qualified factories on the same day
3. State the Incoterm and destination clearly
4. Ask for the construction standard to be quoted in writing
5. Request a sample or sample room proposal alongside the price

The slow route, which most first-time buyers accidentally take, is sending a reference image and asking "how much". That question has no answer a factory can stand behind, because hundreds of combinations of dimensions, materials and construction sit behind a single photograph. The factory either invents an assumption or asks you a list of questions, and either way time is lost.

Our own export desk answers enquiries within one working day, and the practical difference between a fast and a slow quotation is almost always the completeness of the enquiry rather than the size of the order.

What should you prepare before requesting a quotation?

Build one enquiry document and reuse it for every supplier. It should contain:

• Item list - a table of every piece, with a reference or drawing number
• Drawings - dimensioned, with materials and finishes annotated where known
• Quantities - per item, plus any phased delivery requirement
• Materials and finish intent - including acceptable substitute ranges
• Performance requirements - expected use intensity, cleaning regime, durability
• Packing expectation - where and how goods will be unpacked
• Destination - port, city and delivery address if beyond port
• Incoterm preference - and a second term if you want a comparison
• Target installation date - the date that actually matters to your project
• Testing and warranty requirements - anything the project mandates
• Commercial terms - payment structure and currency

Missing items are the reason quotations come back late and then change. A quotation that excludes packing, testing or destination charges is not complete, and the gap will reappear as a change order.

How should drawings, dimensions and materials be described?

Describe to the level you intend to inspect.

If a design is not final, say which parts are fixed and which are open. Factories price open questions conservatively, and conservative pricing is not dishonest - it is the only responsible response to an undefined brief. Freezing the specification is the fastest way to a sharper number.

Which Incoterm should a quotation be based on?

The Incoterm decides where the supplier's responsibility stops and where yours begins. It changes the price more than most buyers expect, so it should be stated rather than assumed.

• EXW - goods collected at the factory. You handle everything from the dock onwards.
• FOB - the supplier delivers to the port and loads. You arrange the ocean leg.
• CIF - the supplier arranges ocean freight and insurance to your destination port.
• DDP - the supplier delivers to your door, duties included, with customs responsibility clearly allocated.

Ask for the term you can genuinely operate, and ask for a second term as a cross-check. If your team has no customs capability, a CIF price with a broker on your side of the border is often the practical choice. If you have your own forwarder and freight contracts, FOB will usually give you more control over cost and routing.

What should a complete quotation document contain?

A quotation worth signing contains more than a number.

• Item-by-item pricing against your reference numbers
• Stated specification - materials, construction standard, hardware ratings, cover grade
• Incoterm and named destination, with packing scope described
• Production lead time with the start condition stated (for example, from approved sample)
• Payment structure and currency
• Validity period and the conditions that would change the price
• Warranty terms in writing, with the structure and finish periods separated
• Sampling and approval route, including who approves what
• Inspection terms - what is checked, at which stage, and how it is documented
• Exclusions stated explicitly

The exclusions matter most. A quotation that lists nothing as excluded is not necessarily complete; it may simply be silent. Read it as a scope document, not a price list.

How do you compare quotations on a like-for-like basis?

Put every quotation into a comparison table on the same headings before you look at the total.

• Scope: identical item list and quantities
• Specification: same materials, same construction standard, same hardware ratings
• Packing: same standard and same unpacking environment
• Incoterm: the same term, named destination
• Lead time: same start condition
• Warranty: same periods and same coverage
• Exclusions: consolidated into one column

When two completed tables differ substantially, the difference is nearly always the specification or the scope, and the correct next step is to ask the cheaper supplier to match the specification, not to accept the lower number. Wide differences on an identical specification usually point to a difference in the construction standard, which is invisible until the furniture is in service.

How do you verify a factory before placing the order?

A quotation is a document. A factory is a set of workshops, people and controls - and it should be verified as one.

• Ask what is self-operated and what is subcontracted
• Ask for the quality check process and at which stages it applies
• Confirm the quality team is independent of the production teams it inspects
• Ask for the warranty process in practice, not only the warranty period
• Request a video walkthrough of the workshops that will build your order
• Visit if the project scale justifies it, and ask to see your construction, not a show piece

Rosy Rose runs four self-operated workshops - joinery, upholstery, finishing and packing - on a single 200,000 square metre site in Foshan, with a 100,000 square metre showroom in Lecong, and applies 16 quality checks before any piece leaves the floor. That structure is why a lead time quoted is a lead time kept: there is no queue between external subcontractors.

How do you move from quotation to sample to production?

The transition should be a sequence with approvals at each step.

1. Quotation accepted against a frozen specification
2. Drawings issued for production confirmation
3. Sample or sample room built and shipped, or reviewed on site in Foshan
4. Sample approved in writing with a signed colour and finish reference
5. Production released with the approved sample held as the inspection standard
6. In-process and outbound inspection against that standard
7. Packing and loading to an agreed plan
8. Documentation issued for clearance and delivery

The step that protects the project most is step four. An approved physical sample, signed and retained by both sides, converts a subjective conversation about "matching the design intent" into a measurable inspection standard. Without it, every later disagreement is unresolvable.

At our workshops a sample room proposal and a full material pack are options on any project of scale, and the sample cost is credited against production. It is the cheapest insurance in the whole process, because it catches proportion, comfort and finish problems while they are still drawings on a bench.

Key facts

• A quotation is only as good as the enquiry behind it - send one complete package to every supplier
• Include dimensions, quantities, materials, packing, destination, Incoterm, target date and testing requirements
• State the construction standard you want quoted, and ask for it in writing
• Compare on identical scope and specification, not on the total alone
• Ask for two Incoterms to cross-check freight and clearance costs
• Verify what is self-operated, how quality is checked and who is independent from production
• Approve a physical sample in writing before production is released
• Every real number should come back as a project-specific quotation tied to a frozen specification

Ready to price a project? Send your drawings, item list, quantities and destination and we will return a project-specific quotation within one working day, with the construction standard stated and the logistics scope itemised. Rosy Rose has manufactured furniture in Foshan since 1983, exports to more than 125 countries and backs projects with a 10-year structural warranty, 2-year finish cover and a lifetime refinishing programme. WhatsApp our export desk on +86 188 2788 2512, or start with our custom furniture programme and contact the factory.