A custom drinkware quotation should itemize the body, the lid, the decoration, the packaging and the freight as separate lines, because those five are the ones that change independently between two quotes for the same bottle. A single landed figure hides which of them your supplier is actually competing on — and a quote that is cheaper on the body is often more expensive on the decoration.
The five lines that decide the comparison
Two suppliers quoting the same capacity and the same Pantone will still land in different places, and it is almost never the body that differs. It is what sits inside the price.
| Line | What it should state | What moves it |
|---|---|---|
| Body | Item number, capacity, material grade, wall construction | Capacity, grade, whether the mould already exists |
| Lid | Which lid, and whether it is the standard fitment | Lid family — a carrying handle and a straw cap are different tools |
| Decoration | Method, number of print positions, number of colours | Silk screen against laser against water transfer |
| Packaging | Retail packaging or bulk, and the carton quantity | Colour box, PDQ or mailer, and how they stack |
| Freight | The Incoterm, the port and what is excluded | FOB against CIF against DDP |
Ask for the tolerances, not just the price
A quotation worth the paper should also carry the two figures that turn into a dispute six months later: the accepted deviation on colour, and the accepted deviation on capacity. Powder coat is not a perfect Pantone match on every body shape, and a 32oz vessel that holds 31.4oz is still a 32oz vessel. Naming the tolerance up front is what stops a container being rejected on a colour that was always going to land slightly off.
What a quotation cannot tell you
It cannot tell you whether the supplier has the mould. When a quotation contains a tooling line, that is usually the honest signal that the item is not in their catalogue — and the tooling line is also where the lead time comes from, not the production line. Ask which it is before comparing anything else, because a quote for a new mould and a quote off an existing one are not comparable at all.
Questions buyers ask
Should I ask for a price at several quantities?
Yes, and at the quantities you would actually order rather than a spread of round numbers. The useful breakpoints are the minimum order and roughly three times it: below the minimum the price is dominated by setup, and above it by material.
Is a cheaper quote usually a smaller factory?
Not reliably. It is more often a quote with a narrower scope — no decoration, bulk packaging, and the customer arranging freight. Those are legitimate choices, but they are not the same product.
How long should a quotation be valid for?
Long enough to be approved internally. Ask for the validity window explicitly, because steel and coating costs move and a quote with no stated expiry is a quote you cannot plan against.
When you are ready to compare, the fastest route is to send one brief and ask two suppliers to quote against exactly the same line structure. Our own quotation is built that way, and the cost guide explains each line.
