A sourcing request is a brief. Suppliers read dozens a day and reply properly to a handful. The ones they reply to are not the ones offering the biggest order — they are the ones that can be quoted without a follow-up email.
Every ambiguity in your request costs you either a round trip or a padded price. Suppliers who cannot pin down your specification will quote defensively, building in margin for the version of the job that turns out to be harder than described.
Why vague requests get bad quotes
Put yourself on the other side. A supplier receives:
"Looking for phone accessories. Please send your best price. Large quantities."
They cannot quote this. They do not know the product, the volume, the destination, or whether you are a serious buyer. If they respond at all, it will be a generic catalogue and a price list at list rates.
Now the same request, written properly:
"Seeking 5,000 units of USB-C to USB-C braided charging cables, 2m, 60W PD, in black. Retail packaging with our logo. Delivery to Lagos, Nigeria (Apapa) by 15 November. Please quote FCA Shenzhen, Incoterms 2020, with unit price at 5,000 and 10,000 units."
That gets a real quote, usually within a day, because every input the supplier's pricing sheet needs is already present.
The seven things every request must contain
1. The product, specified to the level that changes price. Not "cables" — gauge, length, connector type, wattage, material. If a spec would change the cost, state it. If you genuinely do not care, say so explicitly: "any standard grade acceptable" is useful information, not a gap.
2. Quantity, with tiers. Ask for pricing at two or three volumes. This tells you the shape of the supplier's cost curve and reveals where their real MOQ break sits, which is often lower than the number they advertise.
3. Destination. Port and country. Freight is a large share of landed cost and a supplier cannot quote a delivered price without it. "Lagos" and "Mombasa" produce very different numbers.
4. Your Incoterm. State it, with the named place and the year: "FCA Shenzhen, Incoterms 2020". If you leave this out, every quote you receive will be on a different basis and none of them will be comparable.
5. Timeline. Give a required-by date, and say whether it is firm. Suppliers price rush production differently, and some will decline rather than risk a penalty they cannot meet.
6. Packaging and labelling. Retail-ready or bulk? Your branding or theirs? Any regulatory marking for your market? This is one of the most common sources of post-order disputes, because both sides assume their own default.
7. What you need back. Ask explicitly: unit price at each tier, MOQ, lead time, payment terms, sample cost and lead time, and what certifications they hold. A supplier who answers all seven is worth talking to. One who answers three is telling you something.
Regulatory requirements are part of the specification
This is where African importers get caught, because the requirement sits in your country, not the supplier's — so the supplier has no reason to raise it.
- Nigeria requires SONCAP certification for a wide range of regulated products, issued against a Product Certificate from the supplier's side. Without it, goods can be refused entry. NAFDAC registration applies separately to food, drugs, cosmetics, and medical devices.
- Ghana applies conformity assessment through the Ghana Standards Authority for many product categories.
- Kenya requires a PVoC (Pre-Export Verification of Conformity) certificate for regulated goods, issued before shipment by an appointed inspection body. Goods arriving without one face significant penalties, and the certificate cannot be obtained retroactively.
- South Africa enforces compulsory specifications through the NRCS for goods in scope.
Put the requirement in the request. "Must be supplied with a valid PVoC certificate for import into Kenya" tells the supplier there is a step they must complete, and a supplier who cannot do it will say so at quotation stage rather than at the port.
Signals that mark you as a serious buyer
Suppliers triage. A few things move you up the queue at no cost:
- A named company and a real role. Not a free email address alone.
- Evidence you have imported before, if you have. "We currently import approximately two containers a quarter" changes the conversation.
- A realistic first order. Asking for 200 units while describing a 50,000-unit ambition reads as speculative. Ask for what you will actually buy now, and mention the trajectory separately.
- A specific question about their capability. "Do you tool your own cables or subcontract?" shows you know the industry and cannot be sold a trading company as a factory.
What to leave out
Do not lead with price pressure. "Best price only, we compare many suppliers" invites a low quote on a specification the supplier intends to cut. You will win the quote and lose on the goods.
Do not over-share your margins or your customer. It is commercially unnecessary and occasionally used against you.
Do not ask for a sample before you have a quote. Sample requests without a specification are the single most common signal of a non-buyer, and many suppliers filter them automatically.
A template you can adapt
Product: [full specification — material, dimensions, grade, colour, tolerances]
Quantity: [tier 1] / [tier 2] units
Destination: [port, country]
Incoterm: [term] [named place], Incoterms 2020
Required by: [date] — [firm / flexible]
Packaging: [retail / bulk], [branding requirements]
Compliance: [SONCAP / PVoC / GSA / NRCS as applicable]
>
Please quote: unit price at each tier, MOQ, lead time, payment terms, sample cost and lead time, certifications held.
>
About us: [company, market, current volumes if any]
The whole thing takes ten minutes longer than a vague enquiry. It routinely produces quotes that are ten to twenty percent better, because you have removed the supplier's need to price your uncertainty.