Comparing and accepting quotes

Responses land in Active RFQs, one card per shop. Accepting one turns it into an order at that price — so it is worth ten minutes of comparison, because the cheapest number is very often not the cheapest job.

What a response actually contains

• A price for the whole quantity, not per unit. Divide it yourself when comparing shops that quoted different quantities.
• A line-by-line breakdown of what makes up the price — the material, the machine time, any finishing.
• A delivery estimate, usually in business days from the moment payment clears, not from today.
• The shop's own notes — a suggested material change, a warning about a thin wall, a question about a tolerance.

How to read three quotes on the same part

Say Neha has three responses for eight nylon motor mounts. Shop A quotes ₹4,800 in twelve days. Shop B quotes ₹6,200 in five days and asked a sharp question about which holes carry load. Shop C quotes ₹3,900 in nine days but has substituted PETG for nylon.

Shop C is not really quoting the part she asked for, so it is not comparable until she decides whether PETG is acceptable. Between A and B she is buying a week of calendar time for ₹1,400 — an easy decision if the drone flies at a show next month, and an easy decision the other way if it does not.

Negotiating

Every request has its own chat with that shop, and it is the right place for everything: asking for a revised price, proposing a different material, checking whether a longer lead time would be cheaper. The shop can send an updated quotation, which replaces the number on the card.

What works: telling the shop what you actually need — a target price, a firm date, a quantity you would commit to for a better rate. What does not: quoting another shop's price at them without saying what you want done about it.

What accepting commits you to

Accepting creates an order for that price, that quantity and that specification, and takes you to checkout. Once payment is confirmed, the shop starts work — so this is the point after which changing your mind means talking to the shop rather than clicking a button.

If nobody responds

Silence usually means the job does not fit the shops you asked. Widen the list, check that the material is one they stock, or reconsider a quantity that is very small for the process. A request with no requirements written down also gets skipped — a shop that cannot price it confidently often will not price it at all.

In short

Compare price, date, material and finish together; use the chat before you accept, not after; and remember that accepting one quote leaves the others live. Next: orders, payment and delivery.