A garment RFQ gets accurate, comparable quotes when it specifies six things: the exact product with construction details, fabric and trim specifications, quantities broken down by size and colour, quality and compliance requirements, delivery dates and destination, and the commercial terms you expect. Leave any one out and factories will either pad their price to cover the unknown or quote on different assumptions — which makes the responses impossible to compare.
Why most RFQs get slow, uncomparable answers
The usual failure is not that a factory is unresponsive. It is that the request left too much unstated, so the factory has to choose between guessing and asking. Guessing produces a padded number. Asking produces a week of back-and-forth before you see a price at all.
There is a second, subtler failure. When two factories fill the same gap with different assumptions — one quotes a 180 GSM jersey, the other 200 GSM — you end up comparing two different products and calling it a price comparison. The cheaper quote often just described a cheaper garment.
A complete RFQ removes both problems at once. It also signals that you are a serious buyer, which materially affects how quickly a good factory prioritises your enquiry.
The six things every garment RFQ must specify
1. The product, in construction terms
"Men's t-shirt" is not a specification. State the garment type, fit, silhouette, and every construction detail that costs money: seam types, collar and cuff construction, hem finish, pocket count and style, closures, lining, interlining. Attach a tech pack if you have one, and a reference sample or a clear photograph if you do not.
If you are unsure how much detail is enough, apply this test: could a factory that has never spoken to you cut a first sample from this document alone? If not, it is not finished.
2. Fabric and trims, with tolerances
Specify composition, GSM or weight, weave or knit structure, finish, and colour with a reference standard — Pantone TCX, or a physical swatch you are sending. Do the same for every trim: buttons, zips, labels, thread, elastic, interlining, packaging.
State your tolerances explicitly. "180 GSM" and "180 GSM ±5%" are different commercial commitments, and a factory that is held to the tighter one will price it accordingly.
3. Quantities, broken down
Give total order quantity, then break it down by colour and by size. Size curve matters more than buyers expect: a run skewed to XL consumes materially more fabric per unit than one skewed to S, and a factory quoting blind will assume the ratio that protects its own margin.
If you expect repeat orders, say so and indicate the likely cadence. A factory pricing a one-off and a factory pricing the first of four seasonal drops will quote differently, and the second number is usually better.
4. Quality and compliance requirements
State which certifications are mandatory — GOTS, OEKO-TEX, BSCI, WRAP, SEDEX, or a buyer-specific code of conduct. State your AQL inspection level and who performs it. State any testing requirements: colourfastness, shrinkage, pilling, tensile strength.
These have real cost implications. A factory that holds the certification you need will price it in; a factory that does not may quote low and then be unable to deliver against your terms.
5. Dates and destination
Give the dates you actually need, not aspirational ones: sample submission, sample approval, bulk fabric in-house, production start, ex-factory, and delivery to destination. Name the destination port or warehouse and the Incoterm.
Compressed timelines are quotable — factories will often meet them for a premium — but only if they are stated up front. A deadline revealed after a quote is accepted becomes a dispute.
6. Commercial terms
State the Incoterm, the currency, the payment terms you expect, and how long you need the quote to remain valid. Ask for the price to be broken down: fabric, trims, CMT, packaging, and any surcharges, quoted separately.
The breakdown is the single most useful thing you can request. A total price tells you who is cheapest. A breakdown tells you why — and whether the difference is efficiency, fabric sourcing, or a margin you can negotiate.
A structure that works
- Header — your company, contact, RFQ reference, issue date, response deadline
- Product summary — one paragraph a merchandiser can read in twenty seconds
- Technical specification — construction, fabric, trims, with the tech pack attached
- Quantities — total, then split by colour and size
- Quality and compliance — certifications, AQL, testing
- Timeline — every milestone with a date
- Commercial terms — Incoterm, currency, payment terms, quote validity
- Response format — the exact cost breakdown you want back
Ask for the response in a fixed format
This is the step most buyers skip, and it is the one that makes quotes comparable. Specify the columns you want back — unit price broken into fabric, trims, CMT and packaging; MOQ; lead time from order confirmation; sample lead time and cost; validity period; and any assumptions the factory made.
That last column is quietly the most valuable. When a factory writes down what it assumed, you find out which parts of your RFQ were still ambiguous — and you fix them before the next one.
Common mistakes worth avoiding
- Sending to too few factories. Three responses is not a market read; eight to ten gives you a real distribution.
- Sending to too many. Beyond about fifteen, response quality falls — good factories can tell when they are one of a crowd.
- Burying the deadline. Put the response date in the subject line and the header.
- Omitting the size curve, then being surprised when the costed price moves.
- Accepting a total price with no breakdown, which removes any basis for negotiation.
- Treating the lowest quote as the best. Check what was assumed before you compare.
How long should this take?
A well-specified RFQ sent to ten factories should return most responses within three to five working days, and a complete set within about a week. If you are routinely waiting longer, the usual cause is not slow factories — it is an RFQ that made quoting hard.
The time you spend making an RFQ unambiguous is repaid twice: once in faster responses, and again in quotes you can actually compare.
Zushi helps garment brands run RFQs, compare quotes, and track orders in one place.