Knitted Bag RFQ Template: Fourteen Fields, Compared Against the Three-Line Enquiry Most Buyers Send

What a Three-Line Enquiry Produces

A three-line enquiry, which is what most buyers send, produces a number rather than a quotation: a price quoted against assumptions the buyer never stated and will discover later.

The mechanics are simple. A request that says knitted tote, 5,000 pieces, please quote leaves at least ten variables undefined, and each one has to be filled in by whoever is quoting. They will fill them in conservatively, because a quotation that understates the specification is a quotation they will have to honour. The result is a price built on a heavier yarn, a denser structure and a tighter tolerance than the buyer intended. When the buyer then supplies the real specification, the price moves, and the week spent waiting for the first number was spent waiting for the wrong one.

There is a second cost that is harder to see. Two quotations produced from a three-line enquiry are not comparable, because each was built on different assumptions. A buyer comparing them is comparing the guesses rather than the suppliers, and the comparison will not survive the first clarification round. Fourteen fields take about an hour to complete and remove both problems at once: the quotation reflects the actual specification, and two quotations can be set side by side line by line.

The Fourteen Fields, and Why Each One Exists

The fourteen fields fall into five groups: structure and material, appearance and dimensions, quantity and price basis, schedule and compliance, and packing and documents.

Grouping them matters because it is how the quotation is built. Structure and material determine the yarn cost and the machine time. Appearance and dimensions determine the finishing and the inspection criteria. Quantity and price basis determine the setup amortisation and the trade term. Schedule and compliance determine whether the date is achievable and which documents are needed. Packing and documents determine what happens at the destination. A buyer who completes one group and skips another has moved the guesswork rather than removed it.

1. Style description and end use

What it is and what it carries; sets the load and durability expectations

2. Yarn count and fibre

300D or 600D polyester or rPET, and the recycled content claim if any

3. Gauge and machine class

E7 for a chunky shell, E12 to E16 for a finer one

4. Structure and panel count

Whole-garment body or an assembled shell of two to four panels

5. GSM and tolerance

Target weight with a tolerance of about 5%

6. Colour reference and Delta E

Reference, formula and illuminant named, target of 1.0 or tighter

7. Dimensions and tolerances

Plus or minus 10 mm, with the measurement points named

8. Component and hardware list

Each item, its finish and its minimum, typically 500 to 1,000 pieces

9. Quantity per style and colourway

100 pcs per style and colourway minimum, with the split stated

10. Price basis and Incoterm

FOB Xiamen, with CIF or DDP as named alternatives

11. Required date and destination

The in-store date, not the ship date, and the delivery country

12. Compliance markets

EU, US, California or children's product, as applicable

13. Packing specification

Pieces per carton, carton dimensions, polybag and markings

14. Sampling and inspection standard

7 working days of sampling, release at AQL 2.5 under ISO 2859-1

Fields One to Four: Structure and Material

The first four fields define what the bag is made of and how it is knitted, and they are the ones that determine most of the unit cost: yarn count and fibre, gauge, structure and panel count.

These four interact, which is why they should be stated together rather than as one fabric specification. A 600D polyester at E7 gives a chunky, structured shell with a high yarn consumption; the same count at E12 gives a denser, heavier fabric from the same yarn; and a 300D at E12 gives a lighter one. A whole-garment body knitted in one piece uses less assembly labour and more machine time than the same bag assembled from four panels. Stating the end use in field one is what lets the production partner propose an alternative if the combination the buyer wrote is not the best way to get the result.

The fibre question deserves a field of its own because it has a compliance consequence. A recycled content claim needs documentation, usually under the Textile Exchange Global Recycled Standard or the Recycled Claim Standard, and that documentation has to be arranged before production rather than after. Naming rPET with a claimed percentage in field two is what makes the transaction certificate possible later. Naming it after the goods are made is a conversation that usually ends without one.

Fields Five to Eight: Appearance and Dimensions

Fields five to eight are what the customer sees and feels: GSM with a tolerance, the colour reference with a Delta E target, dimensions with tolerances and measurement points, and the component list.

Colour is the field that most often causes a second sample round, and stating it properly removes the round. A reference alone is not enough: the formula and the illuminant should be named as well, because two parties measuring under different lights will disagree about a figure both measured correctly. A target of Delta E 1.0 or tighter is achievable and worth stating. On dimensions, a tolerance of about plus or minus 10 mm on a soft knitted body is realistic, and naming the measurement points, including the handle drop, prevents the argument that arises when two people measure the same bag differently.

The component list is where a quotation most often diverges from reality. Each hardware item should be named with its finish and its minimum quantity, because a plated metal component carries a window of about 12 to 15 working days and a minimum of about 500 to 1,000 pieces, and a moulded zipper about 10 to 14 working days. A quotation that assumes a stock component where the buyer intended a custom one will move when the buyer clarifies, which is exactly the failure the fourteen fields exist to prevent.

Fields Nine and Ten: Quantity and Price Basis

Fields nine and ten are the commercial core: the quantity per style and colourway, and the price basis with the Incoterm named.

Quantity should be stated per style and per colourway rather than as a total, because setup is amortised per style and per shade. A programme of 6,000 pieces in one style and four colourways is a different production proposition from 6,000 pieces in four styles of one colourway each, and the two will be priced differently at any floor. With a 100 pcs per style and colourway minimum, both are viable, and stating the split lets the production partner propose the arrangement that suits the programme.

The price basis should name the Incoterm and the port, and FOB Xiamen is the usual starting point with CIF and DDP available. This is the field that most often invalidates a comparison: a CIF price and an FOB price differ by the freight and insurance leg, which on a bulky knit shipped by sea is a material amount. Naming the term in the RFQ means both quotations arrive on the same basis and the comparison is real. A price validity period of 30 or 60 days is worth requesting in the same field.

Fields Eleven and Twelve: Schedule and Compliance

Fields eleven and twelve are the ones buyers omit and later wish they had stated: the required date, expressed as an in-store date rather than a ship date, and the compliance markets the goods must satisfy.

The date question is about which date is being quoted. A production partner quoting against a ship date is quoting 30 days of bulk, 2 to 3 days of inspection and nothing else. A buyer thinking of an in-store date needs about 21 days of sea freight from Xiamen and about a week of distribution on top. Stating the in-store date and the destination in the RFQ means the answer that comes back is either achievable or honest about not being. The compliance field works the same way: naming the EU, the US market, California or a children's product determines which screens apply and whether they can be run during production.

Fields Thirteen and Fourteen: Packing and Documents

The last two fields are the ones that decide what happens at the destination: the packing specification, and the sampling and inspection standard the programme will be released against.

The packing specification should state pieces per carton, carton dimensions, whether pieces are polybagged and how, and what the carton markings are. A standard export carton for a knitted bag of this size runs about 60 by 40 by 40 cm and holds roughly 20 to 30 folded pieces, and stating that matters because a bulky knit is charged by volume on air freight and by container space on sea. Getting the carton wrong after production means a repacking exercise at the destination rather than a specification.

The final field states the standard: 7 working days of sampling, and release at AQL 2.5 under an ISO 2859-1 sampling plan with a defect list attached. That is worth putting in the RFQ rather than in the contract, because it tells the production partner what the release will be measured against before they quote, and a partner who knows the standard quotes differently from one assuming an appearance check. Under general inspection level II, a lot of 281 to 500 pieces draws 50 with an acceptance number of 3.

What a Complete RFQ Does to the Quote You Get

A complete RFQ changes the quotation in three specific ways: the price reflects the real specification, the lead time is quoted against the real date, and the compliance scope is included rather than added later.

Those three are worth separating because buyers usually notice only the first. The price effect is the visible one and it can be in either direction: a specification that is lighter than the assumption prices lower, and one that is more demanding prices higher. The lead time effect matters more in practice, because a date quoted against an in-store requirement includes the freight leg and is therefore honest, whereas one quoted against shipment is not. And the compliance effect is the one that becomes expensive later: a screen commissioned after production applies to goods that already exist.

How to Send It, and What to Ask For Back

Send the fourteen fields as one document rather than across a thread, and ask for a quotation that answers them in the same order, because a response in the same structure is the only kind that can be compared.

Four things are worth asking for in return. A unit price against the stated Incoterm with a validity period. A lead time quoted against the in-store date, split into sampling at 7 working days, bulk at 30 days, inspection at 2 to 3 days and freight at about 21 days by sea. Confirmation of the minimum per style and colourway and of the colourway split the price assumes. And the compliance position for the named markets, including which documents are delivered with the goods.

One further request is worth making on a first enquiry, and it costs nothing: ask what the production partner would change. A specification written by a buyer is usually right about the intent and occasionally wrong about the means, and a gauge or a yarn count that would achieve the same result more reliably is worth hearing about before the sample rather than after. Production partners coordinating knit bag programmes since 2014 will usually have a view, and the RFQ is the lowest-cost place to hear it.

Frequently Asked Questions

People Also Ask

One Hour of Fields Saves a Week of Clarification

The fourteen fields take about an hour and remove the guesswork that produces a quotation nobody can act on. They also make two quotations comparable, which is the only real basis for choosing between production partners. The two fields worth adding if nothing else is: the in-store date rather than the ship date, and the compliance markets.

For what the quotation turns into once freight and duty are added, see knitted bag total landed cost, and for the checks that follow the award, see knitted bag sourcing risk management. The framework is in the knit bag sourcing guide.