What a quotation for a research lot should state

A quotation is a short document, and most of its value is in what it says explicitly. This note lists the fields to check on a research lot, marks the ones where a gap changes the price or the timing, and sets out what to keep once you accept. It assumes a single lot, not a catalogue line.

Identity of the lot

The first group answers one question: what exactly are you buying? Five lines do most of that work, and the last of them covers anything outside the standard pack.

• Name and abbreviation, spelled as the lot record will spell them.
• Lot number, or the rule that generates it when the lot is filled after the order.
• Specification: form, fill size, pack count, and whether the pack is one vial or a set.
• Storage condition as it will appear on the label, so receiving can file it without asking.
• Any deviation from the standard pack, stated as a deviation rather than left unsaid.

The deviation line matters more than it looks. A custom fill, a split shipment or a different closure is easy to agree in an email and easy to lose between the quotation and the fill record. If the quotation does not mention it, the order will be read as the standard pack.

Commercial terms

The second group answers what it costs and when it arrives. Five fields cover it, and three of them are the ones most often left vague.

• Unit price and currency, with the currency written as a code rather than a symbol.
• Validity: how long the price holds, and what happens on the day it expires.
• Lead time or dispatch date, with the anchor of the date stated.
• Incoterms with a named place, not the three letters on their own.
• Payment terms: method, currency, and which side carries transfer charges.

A price without a validity date cannot be compared with a second quote, because one of the two may already be out of date. A term without a place names a rule but not a destination, and the difference between two places can be the whole freight cost.

Two quotes are only comparable when they share a currency, a pack basis and a named place. Convert both to the same currency at the same date, then compare the line that includes freight and clearance. If one quote splits freight out, put it back in before you decide.

Statements the buyer relies on

Three statements belong on the quotation even though none of them is a price. The expiry or retest date, or the rule for setting it, tells receiving whether the lot fits the planned schedule. The research-use statement sets the purpose in one sentence and should match the wording on the invoice. A reference to the lot record says what documentation will travel with the goods, which is often the difference between a smooth receipt and a hold at the loading dock.

Our documentation page describes the record we issue with each lot. If your institution needs a page in a different format, ask for it at quotation stage, when there is time to agree on it.

Where a gap is worth chasing

Not every missing field deserves a reply. Four do, and they share a pattern: without them the number on the page cannot be checked against a second quote.

A missing lot number or lot rule makes the price unverifiable, because you cannot tell which fill you are being quoted. A missing currency code makes the total ambiguous. A missing validity date makes the comparison meaningless after a few weeks. A missing Incoterm or place leaves the freight and the clearance risk unassigned.

The rest can usually wait for the order confirmation. Pack count, label wording and the exact record format are worth settling before the lot is filled, but they rarely change the number on the page.

What to keep

Keep the version you accepted, not the last one in the thread. If the price or the date changed during negotiation, the accepted version is the one that matches the order confirmation, and the two should be filed together.

Keep the correspondence that explains any deviation, and keep the document set that arrived with the goods in the same folder. Six months later, the question is rarely what the price was; it is what was agreed about the fill size, or which date was promised and to whom.