B2B quote requests that end in an order.

Why B2B buyers ask for a quote instead of adding to cart

Business buyers rarely pay the list price without asking. They need a price for 500 units, a delivery date for the purchase file, or a document their manager can approve. In a standard CS-Cart store, that conversation moves to e-mail: no status, no owner, and a manual order at the end, typed in by someone who hopes the price was remembered correctly.

B2B Request a Quote keeps that conversation in the store. Quotes, messages and files stay with you, and there is no external service. Accepted offers go straight to the normal checkout, so shipping, taxes and payment work as they always do.

The RFQ process, from request to order

1. The buyer clicks Request a quote on a product and collects several products with options and quantities in a quote list, adding a note per line such as "matte finish".
2. They fill in contact details, company, a message and files such as drawings, and send. Guests get a confirmation with a personal link, and signed-in customers find it under My quotes.
3. Your team opens the quote in Orders, Quote requests, sets the offered quantity and unit price or a discount percentage, adds quantity breaks if useful, and sets a validity date and a shipping note.
4. Send offer e-mails the buyer. The buyer can accept and check out, ask for changes, decline, or message you with files.
5. On acceptance, the products go to the cart at the quoted prices. The quote then shows Ordered with the order number.

Without quantity breaks, the quoted quantity is fixed. With them, the buyer may order more, and the unit price follows the break. A quote is ordered as a whole, so remove a line before sending if the buyer only wants part of it. After the validity date the quoted lines leave the cart and the quote shows Expired; you can change prices and send it again at any time before it is ordered.

Button placement and hidden prices

The default button sits next to Add to cart. Product and category settings can override it: next to Add to cart, instead of it (quote only), or not shown. A product setting beats its categories, and the add-on walks up from the main category to the store default.

Hidden prices only apply to products that have the quote button. A product set to Do not show keeps its price for everybody.

Files and offers

Attachments are on by default: five files per message, 5 MB each, in jpg, png, webp, pdf, txt, csv, xlsx, docx and zip. Scripts, HTML and SVG are always refused, file contents are checked, and files are stored outside the web root. Offers are valid for 14 days by default, and Print / PDF opens a clean page for the browser’s Save as PDF.

Catalog promotions do not lower quoted prices unless you switch that on. Cart promotions and coupons work as usual.

Quotes on a Multi-Vendor marketplace

If the list holds products from several vendors, one quote per vendor is created, and the quote page links the related quotes. Each vendor answers in their panel, which keeps the marketplace team out of pricing it does not own. Turn that off and your administrators answer everything. Vendors can set the button option on their own products; category settings are for administrators.

Quote add-on, Make an Offer or contact form?

For B2C haggling on single items, Make an Offer is lighter. A full B2B setup usually adds Wholesale Price Lists for standing contract prices, B2B Registration & Approval for trade accounts, and B2B Net Terms & Credit Limits for payment on invoice. The B2B add-ons page covers how they fit together. Get B2B Request a Quote on the store.

Versions and requirements

CS-Cart and Multi-Vendor 4.17.2 to 4.21.x, PHP 7.4 to 8.3 as your version supports. The add-on works with the 4.21 full page cache, supports CAPTCHA add-ons on the guest form, has REST API access, and can be set per storefront on Ultimate. It also works alongside the Catalog mode and Call requests add-ons.