Sending Your First RFQ

What Is an RFQ?

An RFQ (Request for Quote) is a procurement request you send to one or more suppliers asking them to provide pricing for goods or services. In Buyer24, an RFQ is your central workspace for a single purchase: it holds your requirements, all supplier conversations, all received quotes, an AI-generated comparison (when you have 2+ quotes), and any attachments — all in one place.

You need to purchase something — office furniture, raw materials, a service — and you want quotes from multiple suppliers. Here's how to do it end-to-end.

Step 1: Create the RFQ

Click New Request in the sidebar, or the + icon at the top of any page. This opens the RFQ creation form.

Field Reference

Subject

The subject is the first thing suppliers see. Make it specific and descriptive:

• Good: "Ergonomic office chairs — 20 units, lumbar support, black, delivery by April 30"
• Not as good: "Office furniture order"

A clear subject helps suppliers understand your request without reading the full description, and makes the RFQ easier to find in your list later.

Description

The description is your full RFQ content. Include:

• What you need — item names, part numbers, or specifications
• Quantity — exact units or estimated range
• Quality requirements — brand, certifications, materials, or technical specs
• Delivery requirements — location, date, and any packaging or labeling needs
• Additional requirements — warranty, after-sales support, payment terms preferences

Use AI Describe if you have a rough idea of what you need but aren't sure how to phrase it professionally. Type a brief rough description and click AI Describe — Buyer24's AI generates a polished, structured RFQ description. Review and edit it before saving.

Priority

Set the priority to help you and your manager focus on what matters most:

Priority is visible to managers in the dashboard and can be used as a filter.

Budget

Enter an estimated budget in your organization's default currency. The budget is used by Buyer24 to flag quotes that exceed it, visible in the manager dashboard as part of spend pipeline tracking, and not shown to suppliers by default.

Deadline

Set the date by which you need quotes or need to make a decision. Buyer24 shows the deadline in your RFQ list, sends alerts as it approaches, and flags overdue RFQs on the manager dashboard.

Attachments

Attach any relevant files: product specifications (PDF, Word), drawings or blueprints, photos of the item, previous quotes for reference, or a bill of materials (Excel, CSV). Drag and drop a file into the attachment area or click Browse.

Supported file types: PDF, Word documents, Excel spreadsheets, images (JPEG, PNG), and most common document formats. Size limit: 25 MB per file.

Tip: Attachments you add here can be included when you send messages to suppliers — in the message composer, select which attachments to include with each outgoing message. And if you have a parts list or spec sheet, you can let AI extract its contents into the RFQ for you — see Uploading Documents to RFQs.

Draft vs. Active

When you're done filling in the form, you have two options:

• Save as Draft — the RFQ is saved but not yet active. You can continue editing later; no messages can be sent to suppliers until it's activated. Drafts appear in the Draft view in the sidebar.
• Activate — the RFQ is ready for supplier communication. You can start sending messages immediately. Active RFQs appear in your Active view and in the manager's dashboard.

You can activate a draft at any time by opening it and clicking Activate.

Your RFQ's ID

Every RFQ is assigned a unique ID when created (format: REQ-YYYYMMDDHHMMSS-xxxxxx). This ID is used as the reply-to email address for supplier communication, referenced in email subjects automatically, and searchable in the global search.

Step 2: Add Suppliers and Send

With the RFQ open and active:

1. Click Add Supplier (or Contact Supplier)
2. Type the supplier's company name or contact email in the search bar
3. If they're in your directory, select them from the results
4. If they're new, type their company name and press Enter, then enter their email address
5. A message thread opens for that supplier

Type your initial message — you can paste in your description or write a shorter covering note; the supplier will read the full RFQ context either way. Click Send.

Repeat for each additional supplier. Each gets their own private thread — they can't see each other's conversations.

Tip: Contact 3–5 suppliers simultaneously to maximize your chance of getting competing quotes within your deadline.

Step 3: Wait for Replies

Supplier replies arrive automatically. You don't need to check your email — everything appears in the RFQ's message thread.

When a reply arrives containing pricing, it appears in the supplier's thread, Buyer24's AI extracts the quote data (items, prices, delivery, terms), a quote card appears in the Quotes tab, and you get a notification.

When you activate an RFQ and attach documents, Buyer24's AI also generates a summary — key requirements, quantities, deadline, budget, and special conditions — visible in the RFQ header. It's a quick briefing for managers without reading the full description.

Step 4: Review Quotes and Decide

Go to the Quotes tab to see all received quotes. Click any quote to see the structured data the AI extracted. If you have 2+ quotes, click Generate Comparison for a side-by-side AI report with a recommendation.

Once you've decided, send a message to the selected supplier to confirm or place the order, optionally let the others know you're going a different direction, and mark the RFQ done when the procurement is complete.

Editing, Duplicating, and Reusing

Editing — You can edit the subject, description, priority, budget, and deadline at any time, even after activation and after messages have been sent. Open the RFQ, click Edit (pencil icon near the title), make your changes, and click Save. The RFQ ID, creation date, and message history cannot be edited.

Note: Editing RFQ details does not automatically notify suppliers. If you've changed the specifications, send a follow-up message to any suppliers you've already contacted.

Duplicating — To create a similar request without starting from scratch, open the existing RFQ and click Options → Duplicate. A new draft is created with the same subject, description, priority, and attachments.

Templates — For recurring purchases, save the RFQ as a template instead of duplicating every time. Templates save the subject, description, priority, budget, deadline offset (relative days from creation), and attachment list. See Using Templates.

Common Questions

What if a supplier replies to the wrong email?

They need to reply to your original Buyer24 message. If they send a new email from scratch to a different address, it won't be captured automatically — you can copy-paste their reply into an internal note for reference.

What if no one replies?

Open the supplier thread and send a follow-up message. You can use AI Improve to draft a polite chase. Consider adding more suppliers if you're not getting responses.

Can I edit the RFQ after sending?

Yes — see Editing above. Just remember to message suppliers about any significant changes.