Below are four RFQ examples for everyday purchases in the UAE. Each one fits in a single email or WhatsApp message, and each is written so that every supplier quotes for exactly the same thing. If you want the empty version to copy, it is in our free RFQ template; if you want the reasoning behind each line, read how to write an RFQ.
RFQ example 1: structural steel
- Item: rectangular hollow section 200 × 100 × 6 mm, grade S355, to EN 10219.
- Quantity: 20 tonnes, in 6 m lengths (cut to length — please state if cutting is charged).
- Documents: mill test certificate (EN 10204 3.1) with the delivery.
- Delivery: to site in Dubai Investments Park by 20 November, unloading by your crane truck if available.
- Price basis: AED per tonne, theoretical weight, delivered, excluding VAT. Please state stock or mill order.
- Quote valid for: 7 days.
The line doing the most work is the price basis. Steel is sold by theoretical weight (from the size tables) or by actual weighbridge weight, and the two give different totals for the same bundle. Ask for one and every quote can be compared on the same tonne. There is more on this in comparing steel suppliers in the UAE.
RFQ example 2: printed cartons
- Item: corrugated shipping carton, internal size 400 × 300 × 300 mm, single wall (3-ply), B flute.
- Contents: 12 glass jars, about 9 kg per carton.
- Print: two colours, one side, artwork attached.
- Quantity: please quote at 2,000 and at 10,000 cartons.
- Set-up: show plate and die charges separately from the unit price.
- Delivery: to our warehouse in Al Quoz; please state lead time from artwork approval.
Asking for two quantities is the trick. It shows you where each factory's set-up costs sit, and it stops a low unit price at 10,000 from hiding a high one at the quantity you will actually buy first. Finding packaging suppliers in Dubai and Sharjah covers the rest.
RFQ example 3: printing paper
- Item: woodfree uncoated offset paper, 80 gsm, sheet size 70 × 100 cm, long grain.
- Brand: [named brand] or state clearly if an equivalent is offered, with the mill.
- Quantity: 3 tonnes, then about 1 tonne a month.
- Price basis: AED per tonne and per ream of 500 sheets, delivered, excluding VAT.
- Availability: stock on hand or import order, with the delivery date for each.
Paper is where substitution happens quietly. The cheaper quote is often a different mill, so the brand line asks the supplier to say so rather than leaving you to find out at the press. Buying printing paper in the UAE explains GSM, grain and the other words on a paper quote.
RFQ example 4: armoured cable
- Item: 4-core 16 mm² copper XLPE/SWA/PVC armoured cable, 0.6/1 kV.
- Quantity: 500 metres, on one drum if possible.
- Brand and approvals: please state the manufacturer and whether it is on the local authority's approved list.
- Documents: test certificate with the delivery.
- Price basis: AED per metre, delivered to site in Business Bay, excluding VAT.
For electrical items, the approval line matters as much as the price: a cheaper cable that the consultant will not accept costs more than the dearer one. Electrical suppliers in Dubai goes through cables, DBs and fittings.
What every RFQ sample above has in common
- A specification precise enough that two suppliers cannot quote for two different things.
- A quantity — or two — so the price is for your order, not a list price.
- A delivery place and date, so delivery is either in the price or clearly not.
- A price basis: the unit, the currency, and whether VAT is included.
- A question about stock against order, because a cheap price with a six-week lead time may not be cheap.
An RFQ is good when every reply to it can be put in the same column of a table.
Sending one RFQ to many suppliers
Writing the RFQ is the easy half; sending it to ten suppliers and chasing the replies is the slow one. On our AI procurement platform you describe the requirement once, and the voice agent calls the suppliers at the same time and asks each of them these same questions, then puts the answers side by side. See how it works or book a demo.