An RFQ is a specific document with a specific structure — this page is for exporters trying to tell a genuine buyer’s request apart from a broker fishing for a quote.
A Request for Quotation, in its complete form, is a structured document: grade and specification, quantity, destination port, target delivery window, and the Incoterm the buyer wants priced. What arrives on most marketplace platforms and via cold email on the India–Saudi rice route is frequently a stripped-down fragment of that — a single line reading something like “need rice price for Saudi Arabia” with none of the five elements above filled in, which is the clearest signal that the sender is testing the market rather than actually placing an order.
| Element | Why it matters |
|---|---|
| Grade and spec | Raw, steam, white/creamy sella or golden sella; grain length, broken % |
| Quantity | Container count or tonnage — signals whether this is a real order or a test |
| Destination port | Jeddah, Dammam, Jubail or Yanbu — determines freight and transit time |
| Delivery window | A genuine buyer usually has a real date in mind, not "as soon as possible" |
| Incoterm requested | FOB, CIF or CFR — tells you which side is arranging freight and insurance |
An RFQ with no grade specified, no quantity, and a generic “send your best price” closing line is the single most common pattern of a broker collecting quotes to resell or simply benchmark, rather than a buyer with an actual purchase order behind them. That doesn’t automatically mean it’s not worth a reply — some genuine first-time buyers write vague RFQs simply because they don’t yet know the right terminology — but it does mean it’s worth a short clarifying question before a full, detailed quote, rather than the other way around.
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Rather than sending a full priced quote to an incomplete RFQ, a short reply asking for the missing grade, quantity and destination port accomplishes two things at once: it signals that the exporter is a serious, established supplier who works to spec rather than guessing, and it filters out senders who were never going to follow up with real detail anyway. A genuine buyer answers a clarifying question within a reasonable window; a quote-fishing broker frequently does not.
The most reliable way to skip the RFQ-quality problem entirely is to not wait for one — a shipment record shows which companies are already, demonstrably placing real orders at real volume, which lets an exporter open a conversation with a specific, informed introduction rather than waiting on an inbound RFQ of uncertain quality.
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No grade or quantity specified, combined with a generic "send your best price" closing line — this pattern is common among brokers collecting quotes rather than buyers with a real purchase order.
Not to an incomplete one — asking a short clarifying question about grade, quantity and destination port first filters for a genuinely serious buyer before spending time on a detailed, priced response.
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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