Line-by-Line Quote Comparison: How to Compare Supplier Quotes

You asked five suppliers to price a 30-line request. Three answered in full, one quoted 22 lines, one quoted only the items it stocks. Which quote wins? This is where a line-by-line quote comparison pays off.

Usually, none of them on its own. Compare each line separately, pick the best acceptable price per line, then decide whether splitting the order is worth it. This guide shows how, and what to watch for along the way.

Why totals mislead

A total hides everything that makes quotes different:

• Partial quotes can't be compared by total at all. A supplier who skipped the expensive lines will always look cheapest.
• One high line can sink a good quote. A supplier may be the cheapest on 25 of 30 lines and lose on total because of one item it doesn't normally carry.
• Totals mix currencies, discounts and units unless you've normalized them first.

Line by line, each price is compared with prices for exactly the same thing.

Step 1: Put every price on the same basis

For every line and every supplier, you want one number: the net unit price for the requested unit, in your selling currency.

• Net: after the supplier's own discount. A $20.00 price with 10% off is $18.00.
• Requested unit: if your customer wants meters and the supplier quotes per 100 m reel, divide.
• Your currency: multiply by the exchange rate you'll actually pay. Use one rate per currency for the whole comparison, so every EUR price is converted the same way.

Write down anything that isn't a like-for-like answer: a different quantity, an equivalent instead of the exact part, a long lead time. Those notes matter in step 3.

Step 2: Find the best price per line

For each line, take the lowest net price. In a spreadsheet, one row per line and one column per supplier works well:

Two formulas fill the last two columns. With the item in column A, the quantity in B, the three suppliers' prices in C to E and their names in the header row, for the first line (row 2):

• Best price: =MIN(C2:E2)
• Best supplier: =INDEX($C$1:$E$1, MATCH(F2, C2:E2, 0)), which finds the best price in the row and returns that column's supplier name.

Copy both down for every line. They work in Excel and Google Sheets.

• Leave a cell empty when a supplier didn't quote the line, not zero: MIN ignores empty cells but would happily pick a zero.
• Add a line total column (best price × quantity) and sum it to see the best possible cost for the whole request.
• Keep a notes column per supplier for lead times, equivalents and quantity differences.

Step 3: Check the winners

The lowest number on each line is a candidate, not a decision. For each one, check:

• Quantity. Did the supplier quote the full quantity? A cheaper price for 30 of the 40 pieces you need isn't the same offer.
• Specification. Exact part, or an equivalent your customer may not accept?
• Lead time. Will it arrive in time?
• Validity. Will the price still hold when your customer decides?
• Minimums. Does the supplier have a minimum order value that this one line won't reach?

If a winner fails a check, move to the next-lowest price on that line.

Step 4: Decide whether to split the order

Line-by-line winners often come from several suppliers. Each extra supplier can add:

• another purchase order to place and follow up;
• another delivery, possibly with its own freight charge;
• another invoice to check and pay.

So compare the saving with the extra cost. If buying three lines from a third supplier saves $40 but adds a $60 freight charge, give those lines to one of the other two. A useful habit: once you have the line-by-line best, also calculate the best option using only one or two suppliers, and choose knowingly.

Common mistakes

• Comparing list prices instead of net prices. The supplier with the bigger discount may be cheaper even if its list price is higher.
• Mixing currencies. Comparing 18.20 (EUR) with 19.50 (USD) as plain numbers. Convert first.
• Treating "no quote" as zero. It drags averages down and wins every MIN.
• Ignoring quantity differences. Different quantity, different offer.
• Comparing once and never again. When a supplier sends a revised price, the best supplier per line may change. Keep the comparison live until you send your offer.

Doing this in RFQ Manager

In RFQ Manager, the comparison is built from the offers you record, so there's no separate spreadsheet to maintain:

• Each supplier gets a Sub-RFQ with only the lines they should price. When their offer comes in, you record it against that Sub-RFQ: the lines are already there, you enter their unit prices and any discount, in the offer's currency.
• Proposal Studio lines them up. For every line of your customer's RFQ, it shows every accepted offer from all your suppliers side by side.
• The lowest converted cost is marked per line, after each supplier's discount and your conversion rate. A rate you enter for one currency applies to every offer in that currency; until every offer on a line has a rate, nothing is marked and the line tells you which rate is missing.
• Mismatches are flagged: an offer for a different quantity than your customer asked for, or in another currency.
• You choose per line, set your markup and any customer discount, and see the total, your profit and your overall margin update as you go.

The offer you pick on each line stays linked to that proposal line, so you can see which supplier and price each line was quoted on. When your customer orders, you order from that supplier from their offer.

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Summary

• Normalize first: net price, requested unit, one currency, one rate per currency.
• Pick the lowest acceptable price per line; empty means "no quote", not zero.
• Check quantity, specification, lead time, validity and minimums.
• Weigh the saving from splitting against extra orders and freight.
• Keep the comparison current until your offer goes out.