Documentation

Quotes overview

Overview of the Quotes API and the use of related endpoints in the intended workflow.

Definitions

Buyer

A Buyer is a representative of the organization that wants to purchase goods or services from your shop. Buyers are represented as Customers.

Seller

The Seller offers goods or services in your shop to Buyers for a negotiable price. For this, the Seller accepts requests for offers.

Quote Request

A Quote Request is the starting point of the negotiation process between a Buyer and the Seller with which the Buyer expresses a request for an offer from the Seller.

The Quote Request cannot be changed by the Buyer after submission.

Staged Quote

A Staged Quote is an offer that the Seller makes to a Buyer in case the Seller accepts a Quote Request from that Buyer.

Quote

A Quote is the legally binding output of a negotiation process between a Buyer and the Seller.

A Quote cannot be changed after it is sent to the Buyer.

Intended workflow

  1. A Buyer starts the process by creating a Cart and adding the Line Items for which the Quote is requested.

  2. The Buyer creates a Quote Request with this Cart and submits it to the Seller.

  3. The Seller has the option to either accept or reject the Quote Request. If the Seller accepts, the Seller can prepare a Staged Quote. The Seller can add or remove Line Items, or change Line Item quantities on the quotationCart of the Staged Quote. To add Discounts, the Seller can do one of the following:

    • Add a DirectDiscount to the quotationCart of the Staged Quote as a whole or add it to specific Line Items.
    • Use Cart Discounts on the quotationCart of the Staged Quote.

    Additionally, the Seller can set an expiry date, add a comment, and additional information that may be stored on the Custom Fields of the Staged Quote.

  4. Once the offer is ready to be sent, the Staged Quote is turned into a Quote that is legally binding.

  5. The Quote is sent to the Buyer, who can either accept, reject, or request to renegotiate the Quote.

    • If the Buyer accepts the Quote, it is then turned into an Order.
    • If the Buyer rejects the Quote, the process ends without an Order.
    • If the Buyer requests to renegotiate the Quote, then the Seller can adjust the Staged Quote and create a new Quote from it again.

Constraints

  • Only Buyers are allowed to cancel Quote Requests and only while they are in a Submitted state.
  • Quote Requests that are in a Rejected, Cancelled, or Closed state cannot be used to create Staged Quotes.
  • Only Staged Quotes that are in an InProgress state can be turned into a Quote.
  • Only Pending Quotes can be ordered.
  • Only Pending Quotes can be renegotiated.