Request a quote

Some things don’t have one fixed price: a custom-made item, a bulk order, a service that depends on the job, or a listing marked “price on request”. With quotes, a buyer tells the seller what they need, the seller answers with a price, and the buyer accepts and pays it online, all inside their conversation.

Quotes use messaging, so switch messaging on first. They work with the Nova and default themes.

Switch quotes on

New sites have quotes on. On older sites they’re off until you switch them on:

Go to Add-ons and open Messaging.
Make sure messaging is on, and switch on Request a quote.
Click Save changes in the bar at the bottom.

Listings then show a Request a quote button (in Nova, under Make an offer). It shows on every listing members can contact, with or without a price, except the member’s own. Visitors who aren’t signed in are asked to sign in first.

How a buyer asks for a quote

The buyer clicks Request a quote on the listing.
They fill in What do you need? (at least 10 characters) and, if they like, Needed by, Quantity and their Budget, in the listing’s currency.
They click Send the request.

The request is posted into their conversation with the seller about that listing, and the seller is notified like for any new message. There can be one quote in progress per conversation; once it’s closed, the buyer can ask again.

How the seller answers

In the conversation, the seller sees the request and a form:

Your price, Delivery (days) (optional, up to 365) and Note (optional), then Send the quote. Until the buyer answers, they can change it with Update the quote or Withdraw it;
or Decline the request.

Accept and pay

The buyer sees Quoted price with the delivery time and note, and can Accept it, Decline it or Withdraw their request.

The listing can be paid online	The listing can’t be paid online
After accepting, the buyer gets Pay … now and has 48 hours to pay the quoted price through your site’s checkout.	The quote is accepted with no deadline, and they agree on payment in the conversation.

“Paid online” means your site has a way to pay sellers (Buy Now with Stripe Connect, PayPal or Escrow.com, and the seller has set it up), the listing is published and, with stock control, in stock. The listing’s own price doesn’t matter, so a quote can be paid on a listing with no price.

The quoted price is the whole amount: no shipping is added. A paid quote appears in Orders as a custom order (Quote: …), and in the buyer’s My Payments and the seller’s My Sales. It is protected like any other sale: payments held until delivery, disputes and returns all apply.

When quotes expire

Step	Expires after
A request nobody answered	14 days
A quote the buyer didn’t answer	7 days
An accepted quote not paid	48 hours

Both sides see what is waiting for them in the Needs your action list at the top of Messages: Send a quote, Answer the quote or Pay the quote.

Quotes or offers?

Make an offer is haggling over a listed price: the buyer proposes less. A quote starts from what the buyer needs, and works on listings without a price, where offers aren’t possible. You can have both on.

Good to know

Every step adds a short line to the conversation and uses the normal new-message notification, so there’s no separate email template.
Themes with their own conversation page don’t show quotes. Switch to Nova to use them.
Quotes are included when a member downloads their data or deletes their account.
On a business directory, listings have their own lead form instead: see Run a business directory.

Make an offer — let buyers propose a lower price.
Messaging between members — quotes need it.
Let members sell with Buy Now — lets buyers pay a quote online.
Disputes about an order — if a paid quote goes wrong.