How to compare two towel quotations like for like — weight, price basis and landed cost
In short. Two towel quotes rarely describe the same towel. How to put them on one basis: piece weight, price per kg versus per piece, and FOB versus landed cost.
Two towel quotations for "a 500 GSM bath towel" can differ by twenty per cent and still describe different towels, on different terms, with different costs left out. The lower price is not the cheaper towel until both quotes are on the same basis. This guide sets out four conversions that put them there: what the towel weighs, what the price is per, which trade term it is quoted on, and what each quote leaves out.
All the figures in the worked examples are hypothetical, chosen to show the arithmetic. They are not our prices.
Step 1: Work out what each towel weighs
GSM is grams per square metre of cloth, so the weight of a finished towel is its area multiplied by its GSM. For a 70 × 140 cm towel at 500 GSM:
- Area: 0.70 × 1.40 = 0.98 square metres
- Weight: 0.98 × 500 = 490 g
Do this for every quote. A quote that says "500 GSM" with a smaller towel, or a lighter one measured differently, is giving you less cotton for the same headline. Our guide to reading a spec sheet explains why a GSM figure and the weight of the whole piece, borders and hems included, are not the same number, so ask each supplier which one they mean and what tolerance applies to it.
Step 2: Put the price on one unit
Towel prices arrive per piece, per dozen or per kilogram. Convert all of them to price per piece, using the piece weight from Step 1.
- A quote of 3.40 dollars per piece is 3.40 dollars per piece.
- A quote of 7.20 dollars per kilogram, for the 490 g towel above, is 7.20 × 0.490 = 3.53 dollars per piece.
- The same 7.20 dollars per kilogram, for a 450 GSM towel of the same size, is 7.20 × 0.441 = 3.18 dollars per piece.
The last two lines are the trap. A price per kilogram looks fixed, but what you pay per towel moves with the weight, and so does the amount of cotton you receive. A supplier who quotes per kilogram should state the piece weight and the tolerance on it. A per-kilogram quote on a towel that comes out lighter than promised is cheaper per piece and also a lighter towel.
Step 3: Bring both to the same trade term
An FOB quotation and a CIF quotation are not priced for the same journey. FOB covers the goods loaded on the vessel at the Indian port. CIF adds ocean freight to the destination port and insurance, which the seller arranges, at a minimum level of cover. Our guide on what FOB means explains where each party's responsibility starts and ends.
Take 12,000 pieces. Supplier A quotes 3.40 dollars per piece FOB, and supplier B quotes 3.70 dollars per piece CIF to your port.
- A, FOB: 12,000 × 3.40 = 40,800 dollars.
- Suppose freight to your port is 3,200 dollars and insurance is 160 dollars (both hypothetical; your forwarder gives you the real figures).
- A, on a CIF basis: 40,800 + 3,200 + 160 = 44,160 dollars, which is 3.68 dollars per piece.
- B, CIF: 12,000 × 3.70 = 44,400 dollars.
On the quotations as written, A looks 30 cents cheaper. Once both are on a CIF basis the difference is 2 cents a piece, a few hundred dollars on the order. The gap that looked large was mostly freight.
Duty, taxes, customs clearance and delivery to your warehouse come on top of either quote. They depend on your country and on the value declared to customs, so add them to both quotes, and to any other source you compare against, including a local one.
Step 4: List what each quote leaves out
Fill in one row per line for each supplier. A blank cell is a question to ask, not a zero.
| Line | What to confirm |
|---|---|
| Construction and yarn | Same construction, and yarn named, not "cotton" alone |
| Finished size | Length and width, and the tolerance |
| Weight | GSM or piece weight, how it was measured, tolerance |
| Price unit | Per piece, per dozen or per kg, and the currency |
| Trade term | FOB, CIF or another, and the named port |
| Packing | Cartons, polybags, labels, and pieces per carton |
| Colour | A lab dip included or charged, and when it is approved |
| Payment terms | Deposit, balance, and when each is due |
| Sample | Charged or free, and credited against the order or not |
| Validity | How long the price holds |
Packing is worth a line of its own, because the carton size and the pieces per carton decide how many towels a container holds, and so the freight cost per piece. Our towel container and weight calculator shows how those two figures change what a container holds, and what a full load weighs.
What this guide does not cover
It does not give freight rates or duty rates, which depend on the route, the date and the importing country. It does not judge quality or reliability: a lower price on the same specification can still come from a supplier you have not verified, and our guide on verifying a towel exporter covers that. And it does not replace a sample, which is the only way to confirm that the towel matches the paper.
What to ask a supplier
- What is the finished size and the weight of one piece, and how is each measured?
- What tolerance applies to size and weight?
- Is the price per piece, per dozen or per kilogram, and on which trade term and port?
- What is included in the price: packing, labels, lab dip, sample?
- How long is the price valid?
Send us the specification of the quotation you are comparing against, and our export team will answer on the same basis: piece weight, price per piece, FOB and the named port, so the two can be set side by side.