Key takeaways
- Selling quotes are seven days because we are quoting specific physical bands that can genuinely be sold to somebody else.
- Buying quotes are fourteen days because that is how long the index and our stock position stay stable enough.
- Re-quoting is free and takes ten minutes; longer reservations are an agreement rather than an assumption.
- If a supplier says a price rises on Friday without naming the variable that moves, the variable is you.
Customers occasionally read an expiry date on a quote as a sales technique. It is a fair suspicion — in plenty of industries that is exactly what it is. Here it is arithmetic, and it is worth explaining.
Selling quotes: seven days
When we quote you boxes, we are quoting specific physical bands standing on a specific rack. There are four hundred and twelve of them. They are photographed. They are not a catalogue line that can be reordered.
If somebody else buys them on Thursday, we cannot honour the same quote on the following Tuesday — not because we do not want to, but because the objects are gone. Seven days is roughly how long we can realistically reserve stock against an unconfirmed quote without it costing other customers availability.
Longer reservations are available and we do them constantly. They are just an agreement rather than an assumption, and they usually come with a deposit or a standing arrangement.
Buying quotes: fourteen days
When we quote to buy your material, two things can move underneath the number: the OCC index, which sets the floor for anything we cannot place as reusable stock, and our own inventory position in that footprint.
Fourteen days is long enough for a site to get internal approval — which realistically takes a week and a half at most operations — and short enough that neither of those variables has moved meaningfully.
| Variable | Typical movement in 14 days | Effect on a quote |
|---|---|---|
| OCC index | 0 – 6% | Moves the floor on unsellable material |
| Our stock in that footprint | Substantial | Determines whether we need the material at all |
| Freight rates on the lane | 0 – 8% | Directly in the price |
| Condition of your material | Depends on storage | Outdoors in winter, measurably |
| Diesel | 0 – 5% | Flows into freight |
What we will do instead of a pressure tactic
- Re-quote for free, as often as you like. It takes ten minutes.
- Hold stock against a confirmed schedule, for as long as the schedule is real.
- Tell you when a quote is likely to move in your favour. That happens, and saying so costs us a sale occasionally and earns the account.
- Honour an expired quote where the delay was ours. Which it sometimes is.
If a supplier tells you a price will go up on Friday without being able to say which variable moves, the variable is you.
The practical advice
If your approval process reliably takes three weeks, tell us at the start. We will structure the quote around your process rather than ours — a reserved allocation with a longer horizon, or a standing order that removes the question entirely. That is a conversation, and it is a shorter one than the alternative.
Questions