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Bid comparison template
A bid comparison puts every supplier’s answer to the same RFQ side by side so you can pick the best one. Compare on landed cost, not unit price: the cheapest quote often lands higher once freight, duty, brokerage, minimums and tooling are added. Enter or paste each supplier’s quote and the template ranks the bids, flags any lead time you cannot wait for, and downloads to Excel. Morsa, the AI that runs operations work for manufacturers and distributors, levels supplier replies like this as they arrive.
Updated October 21, 2026
Worked example: the cheapest price lands third
| Supplier | Unit price | Duty | Freight and fees | Landed per piece | Lead time |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ningbo (China) | $14.20 | 25%: $3,550 | $1,000 + $250 | $19.00 | 56 days |
| Vietnam | $15.10 | 20%: $3,020 | $1,100 + $250 | $19.47 | 49 days |
| US distributor | $17.50 | none | $180 | $17.68 | 5 days |
1,000 check valves needed within 30 days. The duty percents are example inputs; enter the rates that apply to your part and its origin.
On unit price, Ningbo wins by $3.30 a piece. Landed, it costs $1.32 more than the US distributor, and both imports quote longer than the 30 days the buyer can wait. The template shows both facts in one table.
How landed cost is worked out
Quantity bought = the quantity you need, or the supplier’s MOQ when it is higher.
Goods = unit price x quantity bought.
Duty and tariff = goods x the percent you enter.
Freight, fees and tooling for the order are added and, with several lines, spread over them by goods value.
Landed per piece = (goods + duty + freight + fees + tooling) / the quantity you need.
What else to weigh
Lead time against the date you need the parts. The template flags bids slower than you can wait.
Payment terms. A 30% deposit before production ties up cash that Net 30 does not.
Validity. A quote that expires before your PO is approved has to be re-quoted.
Quality and delivery history. A supplier who slipped three of the last five POs costs more than the price says.
Split or single award. With several lines, the table marks the lowest landed cost for each line so you can see whether splitting saves enough.
How to use the bid comparison
Enter each line you asked for and the quantity you need, and the longest lead time you can take.
For each supplier, enter the unit prices and MOQs, freight, duty percent, brokerage and fees, tooling and lead time, or open Paste this supplier’s quote and paste their email or PDF.
Read the ranking and the per-line table, then download the comparison to Excel for the approval file.
The modern way: Morsa runs the RFQ
The old way is a buyer with a spreadsheet: send the RFQ to five suppliers, wait, chase the three who did not answer, retype every reply into columns, then argue about freight. Most of the week goes to the chasing and the retyping, not to the decision.
Morsa does that work. It sends the RFQ from your buyer’s own mailbox, follows up with each supplier in their language and at their morning, reads the quotes that come back (email, PDF or a photo of a fax), puts them on the same quantity and the same Incoterm, adds freight, duty and fees, and shows the bids side by side by landed cost. When a check valve from Ningbo at $14.20 lands at $19.00 once freight, a 25% tariff and brokerage are in, Morsa says so before the PO goes out. The buyer picks; Morsa writes the PO and keeps chasing until the parts arrive.
On the seller side, Morsa reads the customer’s RFQ and drawing, pulls the past job and the routing, asks three platers for a price, works out the landed cost and drafts the quote in your own template. In our demo, two of three platers reply and the bracket comes to $1.18 a piece landed and $1.69 at the target margin; the estimator changes the tooling line and sends it.
Frequently asked questions
What is a bid comparison template?
A bid comparison (or bid tabulation) template puts every supplier’s answer to the same RFQ side by side: unit prices, minimums, lead times, payment terms and extra charges, so the buyer can see which bid is best and why. This one adds the landed cost of each bid.
What is landed cost?
Landed cost is everything it takes to get the part to your dock: the price, freight, duty and tariffs, customs brokerage, and one-time charges such as tooling spread over the order. Here it is (unit price x quantity bought) + duty on the goods value + freight + fees + tooling, divided by the quantity you need.
How does the MOQ change the comparison?
If a supplier’s minimum order quantity is above what you need, you pay for the extra pieces. The tool buys the MOQ, charges the whole amount to the pieces you need, and shows how many extra you would be buying.
How is duty calculated?
As the percent you enter, on the goods value. U.S. Customs bases most duty on the transaction value of the goods; check the HTS rate and any added tariffs for the part’s country of origin, and enter the total percent. The tariff calculator helps with the rate.
Should the cheapest landed cost always win?
Not always. Weigh lead time against when you need the parts (the tool flags any bid slower than you can wait), the supplier’s quality and delivery record, payment terms, and whether one supplier for everything is worth a small premium.
Can I compare more than one part?
Yes, up to 25 lines and 5 suppliers. Freight, fees and tooling are spread over the lines by goods value, and the table marks the lowest landed cost for each line, so you can see whether splitting the award saves money.
WHERE MORSA FITS
RFQs out, quotes chased, bids leveled, while your buyer does something else.
Morsa sends the RFQ to each supplier from your buyer’s own mailbox, chases the ones that go quiet in their language and time zone, reads every reply and levels them by landed cost in your spreadsheet or ERP. It works in email, Teams, WhatsApp, text or whatever your team already runs on.
