Two quotations arrive for the same part. One is lower, you have a deposit to send this week, and nothing in either document is wrong — they answer slightly different questions, because the request never pinned the questions down. Before you can call either cheaper, you have to rebuild both as the same scope, in one currency, on the same tax basis.
💬 Holding two quotations you cannot line up? Sunsho Trade is a Japanese-managed trading company in Ho Chi Minh City. We put the follow-up questions to both factories in Vietnamese and hand you one comparable sheet in English. Start with the part you are buying.
The two lines a generic comparison misses on a Vietnamese quotation
Ask both suppliers which currency the figure is in and whether it carries VAT before you look at the number — a properly documented export sale from Vietnam is zero-rated, so a domestic-facing quotation can sit a whole tax line above an export one with neither supplier having done anything wrong.
That zero rating sits in the Law on Value Added Tax No. 48/2024/QH15 — the statute, its guiding decree and the reduced rate running to the end of 2026 are set out in local charges by Incoterm in Vietnam. The conditions are the seller’s to meet, but they run through documents your own order controls — a signed contract, an invoice, and payment by bank transfer rather than cash — so an order structured loosely can cost your supplier the 0% and you the difference.
The currency line has its own rule behind it. Article 3 of Circular 32/2013/TT-NHNN restricts quoting, pricing and recording contract prices in foreign currency inside Vietnam; Article 4 lists the permitted cases, and clause 16 covers a non-resident recording contract prices in foreign currency and paying a resident by bank transfer for exported goods. A quotation written for a domestic buyer is therefore normally in VND, and one written for you can be in USD. Convert on a basis you write down — the State Bank of Vietnam publishes a central rate for VND against the US dollar each day, so “the SBV central rate on 12 September” is a usable basis and “roughly” is not. Checked on 15 September 2026 — confirm the current text before you rely on it.
The second language sits on top of both. Your specification is read, discussed and priced in Vietnamese, then answered back in English, so anything implied rather than stated has to survive that trip. “Polished” or “standard packing” has a house meaning inside your company and none on a factory floor. Where a drawing is ambiguous someone has to decide, and the person who decides is the one who has to make the part — production cannot wait overnight for an email.
The twelve lines that must match before you compare price
Normalise these twelve lines first, because until they match the two numbers at the bottom are not measuring the same thing and the gap between them tells you nothing.
| Line | What to specify | What happens if you leave it out |
|---|---|---|
| Incoterm and named place | The three letters and the named place | A factory-gate price and a price at Cat Lai or Hai Phong carry different haulage and handling |
| Unit of measure and quantity break | Per piece, per set, per kilo — and the exact quantity priced | One prices your trial run, the other your annual figure |
| Material grade and its standard | The grade designation plus the standard it is named under | One grade name can sit in two standards with different composition limits, so both quote “the same” material and buy different metal |
| Surface treatment or finish | The process, the acceptance criterion, and whose scope it is in | Excluded entirely, or quoted to a house standard you have never seen |
| Tolerances that actually matter | Critical dimensions marked as critical, a general tolerance for the rest | Everything is treated as critical and the price rises, or nothing is and it falls |
| Tooling, moulds and jigs | A separate line, never inside the unit price, plus who owns and stores the tool | The cost is amortised at a quantity you never agreed, and ownership surfaces when you move the tool |
| Packaging and export packing | Inner pack, outer carton, pallet, markings, and whether the pack is built for export | You receive a domestic-market pack and pay to have it repacked at the port |
| Inspection standard and sign-off | What is checked, against which document, by whom, at which point | ”Inspected” defaults to the factory’s own release check, not an acceptance you can reject against |
| Documents included | Name them individually — test report, material certificate, certificate of origin | They return as chargeable extras, or arrive after the goods and delay clearance |
| Currency and tax | VND or USD, whether the figure is before or after VAT, and the payment schedule | A VND figure and a USD figure converted on different days are not a comparison, and a tax line on one side is not a discount |
| Validity of the quotation | A validity date on the face of the document | You negotiate against a price the supplier stopped standing behind |
| What is explicitly excluded | An exclusions list in writing, however short | The gap between the two quotations turns out to be the list nobody wrote down |
On the Incoterm, only one point belongs on this sheet: two prices quoted on different terms are not comparable, because each term bundles a different amount of work into the figure. Fix one rule and one named place, ask both suppliers for exactly that, and you have a like-for-like line. Which rule to ask for, and which charges fall on which side at a Vietnamese port, is set out in local charges by Incoterm in Vietnam.
The worksheet that puts both quotations on one sheet
Rebuild each quotation as the same scope delivered to the same named place, in one currency on one written basis, with the one-off costs spread over the quantity you are actually committing to — then subtract.
The number you compare, for each quotation:
comparable total = (unit price × quantity at the same break) + (tooling, jigs, first-article and sample charges ÷ the quantity you are committing to) + (whatever the quoted Incoterm leaves you to buy, up to the same named place) + (documents and services priced separately)
— every term converted to one currency at one stated rate on one stated date, with tax stated as included or excluded on both sides. Fill the grid below from the two documents in front of you, and leave a cell blank rather than guessing. A blank cell is a question to send; a guessed cell is a decision taken for the supplier.
| Line | Quotation A | Quotation B |
|---|---|---|
| Currency, plus the rate and date used to convert | ||
| VAT — included, excluded, or 0% as an export sale | ||
| Incoterm and named place, exactly as quoted | ||
| Quantity break priced, and the unit price at that break | ||
| Tooling, jigs, first-article and samples (one-off) | ||
| Quantity you will commit to, and the one-off cost per piece | ||
| Inland haulage, origin handling and export formalities, where not quoted | ||
| Comparable total at the same named place | ||
| Written exclusions |
Three places this goes wrong. Do not interpolate a quantity break — ask for the same one. Amortise one-off costs over the order you are placing, not the volume you hope to reach. And keep the exclusions on the sheet rather than netting them out.
Send the filled sheet to both suppliers, in the same wording, at the same time, and ask them to confirm it describes what they quoted. Ask for corrections on a revised quotation rather than in a chat thread, because a document can be attached to a purchase order and a message cannot. Never quote one supplier’s number to the other.
💬 We can run this normalisation for you, including the Vietnamese-language follow-up with each factory. See what sourcing and negotiation support covers, or send us the two quotations.
When the price gap survives normalisation
Four mechanisms account for gaps still there after the twelve lines match, and each has a question attached that gets an answer rather than a defence.
| Mechanism | What it looks like on paper | What to ask |
|---|---|---|
| A different process route | The same part reached a different way — machined from solid against near-net shape then finished | ”Could you outline the main process steps you have priced, so we can keep both quotations on the same basis?” |
| A different subcontracting split | One plant runs heat treatment, plating or painting in house; the other buys it out, adding a margin and a transport leg | ”Which operations run in your own plant, and which go to a partner?” |
| A different material source | The same grade from a different mill, with a different certificate behind it | ”Which mill is the material from, and could you send an example of the certificate you would supply with the first shipment?” |
| A line quietly outside the scope | Packing, inspection, a document or the tooling assumed free, or assumed to come from you | ”Please confirm your exclusions list in writing, including packing, inspection and documents.” |
None of these makes the lower quotation suspect. A shorter process route can be exactly why a factory is competitive on your part and uncompetitive on the part beside it, and buying out a specialist operation can be the higher-quality answer rather than the cheaper one. Know which of the four you are looking at before the order.
If all four questions go out in writing and neither supplier can point to a mechanism, the gap itself is the finding, and the question moves to the company behind the quotation — set out in how to verify a Vietnamese supplier remotely.
What to add to your next request
Put the twelve lines above into the request itself, then add the items below — each is cheaper to write once than to reconstruct afterwards from two quotations that do not line up.
The part
- Drawing or specification, with a revision number and date
- A limit sample, or photographs of acceptable and unacceptable parts
- Anything you supply yourself, and who carries the loss on it. Material or samples you ship into Vietnam for the factory to work on arrive as imported goods, with Vietnamese labelling rules and exemptions of their own — see the supplementary label checklist
The commercial frame
- The quantity breaks you want priced, and the quantity you will actually commit to
- Payment terms, and that payment will be made by bank transfer — which the 0% export rate depends on
- Who owns the tooling, who holds it, and what happens if you stop ordering — a contract term, not a statutory default, so if it is not written down it is not settled
- Whether a certificate of origin is required, and under which arrangement — which form actually leaves Vietnam is decided by the destination market and by Vietnamese law, set out in proof of origin from Vietnam by destination market. A document shown to an authority outside Vietnam also needs an authentication route, as set out in apostille or consular legalisation for a Vietnamese dossier
The answer format
- A deadline for the quotation, and the decision date after it
- A price broken down by line, not given as one figure
- Any first-article or pre-production sample step, and who releases it
- A schedule quoted against the current year’s official public holiday calendar — Vietnam’s national holidays are announced year by year, and a schedule agreed without them gets agreed twice
💬 Sending all this to factories in a language you do not read? That is our normal work — we write the request, put it to shortlisted factories in Vietnamese, chase the missing lines and return one sheet. Start a sourcing enquiry, or read what our sourcing service covers.
Frequently asked questions
1. One quotation shows VAT and the other does not — is the cheaper one really cheaper?
Not until you know why. A properly documented export sale from Vietnam is zero-rated, so a quotation written for an export sale should not carry a domestic tax line while one written for Vietnamese customers will. Ask each supplier whether the figure is before or after VAT.
2. What if a supplier will not break the tooling cost out of the unit price?
Ask for tooling as a separate line and for the unit price twice — once with tooling included at a stated quantity, once without. Bundled, you cannot tell what the piece price does when the volume changes, nor value the tool if you move production.
3. Which Incoterm should I ask both suppliers to quote?
Whichever rule you choose, ask both for the same rule and the same named place, so the two figures cover the same work — for choosing the rule itself, and for what each term leaves you to buy at a Vietnamese port, see local charges by Incoterm in Vietnam.
4. Does a much lower quotation mean something is wrong?
Not by itself. The more useful question is which document is more complete. Read both exclusions lists side by side before you read either total. A gap that survives normalisation is a mechanism to identify rather than a warning sign — and a quotation with no exclusions list is the one to ask about first.
5. Do I have to specify a tolerance on every dimension?
No, and trying to is counterproductive. Mark the few dimensions that genuinely control fit or function as critical, state a general tolerance for the rest, and make clear on the drawing which is which.