Before preparing a bid, review the complete RFQ to understand what the buyer is requesting and when your response is due.
After reviewing the request, you can:
- Click Apply to Request to begin a bid.
- Click Decline if your company does not plan to bid.
- Ask the buyer a question if you need more information.
Open the RFQ
You can open an RFQ from your invitation email or the supplier dashboard.
From the dashboard:
- Locate the RFQ.
- Click the request title.
- Review the request detail page.
Review the request overview
Start by reviewing the information at the top of the request.
Confirm:
- RFQ title
- Buyer or buying company
- Request description
- Submission deadline
- Time remaining
- Current request status
The description may include project requirements, delivery expectations, sourcing instructions, or other information that applies to the entire RFQ.
Check the deadline
Review the deadline before deciding to participate.
The deadline identifies when the bidding period closes. The request may also display the amount of time remaining.
After the deadline passes:
- You cannot begin a new bid.
- You cannot submit a draft.
- You cannot retract, edit, and resubmit an existing bid.
If you need clarification from the buyer, ask your question early enough to receive an answer before the deadline.
Review the requested items
Review every item included in the RFQ before applying.
Depending on the request, item information may include:
- Part number and revision
- Item description
- Requested quantity
- Unit of measure
- Requested delivery date
- Specifications
- Buyer notes
- Other buyer-provided fields
Also identify the information the buyer expects you to provide, such as price, available quantity, lead time, or item notes.
Review documents
The buyer may attach drawings, specifications, terms, or other supporting files to the RFQ.
Before preparing your bid:
- Locate the documents section.
- Review the attached file names.
- Open or download the documents you need.
- Confirm that your bid accounts for the requirements in those files.
The document count may also appear on the supplier dashboard.
Review FAQs
FAQs contain information the buyer wants to share with all invited suppliers.
Review the FAQs for:
- Common requirements
- Clarifications
- Submission instructions
- Delivery expectations
- Terms that apply to all suppliers
Check this section again before submitting your bid in case the buyer adds information while the RFQ is open.
Review and ask questions
The buyer may post questions for all invited suppliers or send a question specifically to your company.
Review any open questions before preparing your response. Your answers are visible to the buyer but not to other suppliers.
If you need clarification, use Ask Question to contact the buyer. Questions you submit are not visible to other suppliers.
Apply to the request
Click Apply to Request when you are ready to begin preparing a bid.
Applying to the request:
- Opens the bidding page.
- Changes the request from an invitation to an active bid.
- Allows you to enter supplier-response information.
- Does not submit your bid to the buyer.
The buyer cannot see your draft bid values. Your response becomes available to the buyer after you click Submit to Buyer.
Decline the request
Click Decline if your company does not intend to bid on the RFQ.
Use Decline when you do not want to submit a bid for any of the requested items.
Before declining, confirm that you do not want to participate in any part of the RFQ.
Not ready to respond?
You do not have to complete the response immediately.
Return to the Requests dashboard to reopen the RFQ later. Monitor the deadline carefully so you have enough time to prepare and submit the bid.
If you applied to the request but have not submitted it, the bid appears with a Draft status.
Next steps
- To enter and submit your quote directly in SourceDay, see Submit an RFQ bid.
- To prepare a multi-item response in a spreadsheet, see Complete an RFQ bid using Excel.
- To contact the buyer, see Ask and answer RFQ questions.