Get vendor quotes

A quote is a vendor's price for the materials on an order. Each order can hold several quotes. One of them is the selected quote, and its amount shows in the order's Quote column.

Every order starts with a quote named Calculated by BidUnity. Its amount is the total of the materials on the order. It stays the selected quote until you select a vendor quote.

Ask the vendor for a quoteCopy Anchor Link

You can send the vendor a link to a page that lists the materials on the order.

1. Open the order. See Find and track orders.
2. In the Quotes card, click Request quote.
3. In Request a quote, click Copy to copy the link.
4. Paste the link into an email to the vendor.

To see the page yourself first, click the open-in-new-tab icon next to Copy (its tooltip says Preview in new tab).

The vendor doesn't need a password or a BidUnity account to open the link. Anyone who has the link can see the page, so only send it to the vendor.

This link is for this order only. The page shows the order's materials as they are when the vendor opens it, so changes you make to the order show up there. It's a different link from the one on a proposal's parts lists, which lists that proposal's parts for the vendor.

What the vendor seesCopy Anchor Link

The page is titled Request for quote and asks the vendor to price the materials listed. The vendor can only read it. It shows:

• Your company's name, shop address, phone and email.
• The project name and proposal number.
• The person who finalized the proposal, with their email.
• A Material list with the units needed, part number, finish and description of each item.
• Glass sizes for glass items. The vendor can show them in 16ths of an inch or in millimeters.
• A Doors table, when the order has doors, with the door schedule, frame and leaf (the part of the door that swings).

If the order has no parts or doors, the line under the title reads "Please provide pricing for this request." instead, and a No line items box tells the vendor to contact your company for the materials to quote.

The page never shows files attached to the order.

The vendor sends their quote back to you outside BidUnity, for example by email.

Add a quoteCopy Anchor Link

1. Open the order.
2. In the Quotes card, click New quote.
3. Enter the Quote number and Quote amount.
4. Under File to upload, choose the vendor's quote file, or drag it onto the window. You can add one file.
5. Leave Set as selected quote checked to use this quote for the order, or uncheck it.
6. Click Create quote.

All three fields are required.

Pick the quote you'll useCopy Anchor Link

1. In the Quotes card, open the menu next to the quote.
2. Click Set as selected.

The selected quote has a Selected badge.

From the same menu you can also:

• Click View quote to open the quote file.
• Click Delete quote to remove a quote. You're asked to confirm. You can't delete Calculated by BidUnity. If you delete the selected quote, Calculated by BidUnity becomes the selected quote again.

What happens nextCopy Anchor Link

• Enter the quote number and amount on the requisition. See Issue requisitions and purchase orders.
• You can also request quotes from a proposal's parts lists before you start procurement. See Use parts lists and request quotes.