Quotation, Price list and Catalouges

Quotation

• Is sent in reply to a letter of inquiry.
• It is sent by a seller to a buyer
• It is also send to a potential buyer by a seller.
• It enables a buyer to compare prices from several suppliers.
• It enables a buyer to choose a supplier with the most favourable terms.
• It can be used to prepare a standard catalogue or a price list.
• It shows the following:

1. The date of issue.
2. A full description of goods/services.
3. The prices of the goods/services.
4. Terms of payment including any applicable discounts.
5. Terms of delivery.
6. The names and addresses of both the buyer and the seller.
7. The terms or period over which the quotation will be valid. (This would have been very important during the hyperinflationary environment days in Zimbabwe when prices changed on a regular basis.)

Price List

• Is sent in response to a letter of inquiry.
• It is sent by the seller to a buyer.
• It is also sent out to potential/regular buyers.
• It is suitable for most advertised (popular) brands.
• It shows the terms of payment.
• It is given out subject to price fluctuations.
• The information shown thereon is very brief.
• It shows the following:

1. A list of goods sold by the wholesaler/supplier.
2. The unit price of each item.

Catalogue

• It is a colourful pamplet which carries illustrations of the commodity available for sale by the supplier.
• It shows the prices of various goods/services on sale.
• States the the terms of sale and any available after sales services.
• It is used as an advertising medium.
• It is usually accompanied by order forms.
• It shows the various codes (used in ordering and stock-keeping by the supplier) of the various goods and services on offer.

N.B With the rise in e-commerce and the continued adoption of computers sometimes these documents are available in electronic format especially the universally accepted PDF document format.

To access more topics go to the Commerce Notes page.