Compare supplier quotations before you price a tender
Compare the cost of fulfilling the same requirement, not just the supplier's unit price. A lower quote can leave delivery, installation or warranty work for your team to fund. This guide shows how to make those differences visible before building your own tender price. It is a supplier's internal planning method, not the procuring entity's tender evaluation formula.
Start with the buyer's scope and price schedule
Create one requirement list from the current tender documents and amendments. Record the item reference, specification, unit, quantity, delivery location, schedule and any installation, testing, training or warranty obligations. Send the same relevant requirements to the suppliers you approach, so they are quoting comparable work.
Use the actual forms and instructions issued for your package. BPPA publishes online standard documents for different procurement types and methods; a convenient spreadsheet does not replace the applicable tender's price schedule or submission requirements.
Confirm six things in each written quotation
- Product fit: model, specification, quantity, unit and any supporting certificates or authorizations required by your tender.
- Included work: transport, unloading, installation, testing, training and other obligations. Record an exclusion as an open cost, not as zero.
- Timing: availability, delivery lead time and the date from which that lead time runs.
- Price validity: the quotation's expiry date and any stated condition that can change the price.
- Payment: advance, balance and credit terms, including when each payment becomes due.
- After delivery: who handles warranty service, replacement, freight and the evidence required to claim support.
Keep the quotation date, version and contact with the comparison. If something is unclear, ask that supplier to clarify its own offer in writing. Build your bid independently; this worksheet is not a way to coordinate prices with competing bidders.
A worked comparison: the lower unit price costs more
All quantities and amounts below are invented for arithmetic only. They are not market prices, supplier offers or a recommended tender price. Assume 100 identical items, equivalent acceptable specifications, the same destination, matching warranty obligations and a delivery schedule both suppliers can meet. Taxes are excluded from this teaching example and must be resolved in a real comparison.
| Cost for the same scope | Supplier A | Supplier B |
|---|---|---|
| Unit price | 1,250 | 1,290 |
| Goods: unit price × 100 | 125,000 | 129,000 |
| Delivery to the required location | 6,000 | 2,000 |
| Installation | 4,000 | Included in the goods price |
| Comparable supplier cost | 135,000 | 131,000 |
Supplier B's unit price is BDT 40 higher, but its complete quoted scope is BDT 4,000 cheaper: 135,000 − 131,000 = 4,000. “Included” is valid here only because the hypothetical written quotation explicitly includes installation. An empty cell or a verbal assumption would leave the comparison unfinished.
Price is only one decision input. If Supplier B could not meet the specification or delivery date, the arithmetic would not make that offer suitable. Resolve those conditions before selecting a cost basis.
Turn the selected quote into your own cost sheet
A supplier's quoted scope is only part of your delivery responsibility. Add costs your business must still cover, keeping the basis of each allowance visible. For example, using the fictional Supplier B quote:
- Quoted goods, delivery and installation: BDT 131,000.
- Your internal handling and coordination: BDT 4,500.
- Allowance for warranty obligations you retain: BDT 2,500.
- Financing and bank charges: BDT 2,000.
- Allowance for identified delivery risks: BDT 1,500.
The illustrative cost subtotal is BDT 141,500. Adding an illustrative profit amount of BDT 8,500 gives BDT 150,000 before the tax treatment omitted from this example. These allowances and the profit amount are arbitrary teaching inputs, not recommended rates. Do not use BDT 150,000 as a submission-ready price.
Finish the tax and cash-flow review
Have the person responsible for your accounts confirm applicable taxes, duties and deductions, what each quotation includes, and how the tender's forms require prices to be expressed. Keep deductions affecting receipts visible in the cash-flow plan; do not automatically add them again as a separate cost. Record security principal separately from issuance fees and financing costs so the same amount is not counted twice.
List when money leaves and arrives: supplier advance, delivery balance, your operating costs and the buyer's payment milestones. A satisfactory accounting margin does not by itself mean you can finance delivery. See the tender security guide for questions to verify against the actual documents.
Copy this review worksheet for your next quotation
Copy or print the table and replace the blanks with your evidence. This page does not save entries or calculate totals. The “unresolved” column matters: an unknown cost is not a saving.
| Check | Evidence or amount | Unresolved item / owner |
|---|---|---|
| Tender item, unit and quantity | Reference: ___ | ___ |
| Specification and supporting documents | Confirmed by: ___ | ___ |
| Supplier quote, version and expiry | Reference / date: ___ | ___ |
| Same-scope supplier cost | BDT ___ | Excluded work: ___ |
| Your remaining delivery costs | BDT ___ | Basis: ___ |
| Tax and price-schedule treatment | Reviewed by: ___ | ___ |
| Funding needed before buyer payment | Amount / dates: ___ | Funding source: ___ |
| Independent arithmetic review | Reviewer / date: ___ | Final open issue: ___ |
Approve the price only after the open items are closed
Have a second person trace the proposed price from the buyer's quantity and unit, through the supplier quotation, to your final schedule. Check multiplication, currency, exclusions, duplicate costs and quote validity. Review the latest amendment once more. Keep the approved version and the supporting quotations together so a later change is visible.
For related preparation, use the BOQ pricing guide, bid readiness checklist or বাংলায় প্রথম টেন্ডারের প্রস্তুতি চেকলিস্ট.
Explore Tenderytics for suppliers to organize relevant opportunities and preparation. Review plans and pricing before requesting a trial. Trials start after approval. Keep your final quotation comparison in your own approved records and verify tender requirements against the original documents.
Source checked on 8 October 2026: BPPA's online Standard Tender Document catalogue establishes that different procurement types and methods use different documents. The comparison, worksheet and fictional numbers are original Tenderytics teaching material. No tax rate, procurement threshold or universal evaluation rule is assumed.