Most RFQs that reach a new exporter through a marketplace are not from a buyer ready to place an order — learning to tell the two apart saves the time a genuine one deserves.
An RFQ, request for quotation, is meant to be a specific ask from a buyer with a real purchase in mind — grade, quantity, destination and rough timeline stated — but on open marketplaces and trade-lead platforms, a large share of RFQs are posted by brokers collecting quotes to shop around, by companies testing the market with no near-term order, or occasionally by competitors benchmarking pricing. Responding to every RFQ that mentions basmati rice with a full, detailed quote wastes real time that would be better spent on the smaller number that are genuine.
The most reliable RFQs rarely originate on an open marketplace at all — they come from an existing customer placing a routine reorder, a referred introduction from another supplier or freight forwarder, or a formal government or institutional tender notice, all of which carry an identifiable, checkable party behind them from the start. When an RFQ does arrive through an open platform, cross-checking the company name against a shipment record — does this company actually clear rice containers regularly? — is a faster filter than waiting to see whether they respond to a follow-up question.
A professional response states the grade-matched spec clearly, gives an indicative price range tied to a stated Incoterm rather than a single vague number, offers a sample, and asks one or two clarifying questions back — expected order frequency, preferred payment terms, destination port — which itself is a useful filter, since a genuine buyer answers and a fishing RFQ often goes quiet.
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A genuine RFQ names the grade, states a real company and destination, and responds specifically when you ask a clarifying question about volume or timeline — a vague "send your best price" with no follow-up is usually a fishing request.
A grade-matched spec, an indicative price tied to a stated Incoterm rather than one bare number, an offer to send a sample, and a question or two back about order frequency and payment terms.
Free to post. Your requirement goes straight to matching exporters and manufacturers on the marketplace, and they contact you on the phone number you give. Your contact details are never published or sold.
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