CotizaShopify is built around a cart and a checkout. But plenty of sales start with “can you send me a price?”: a café ordering mugs by the case, a client who wants a custom piece priced first, a business asking for a bulk rate. Here are the main ways to answer that from a Shopify store, and when each one fits.
1. Draft orders
Shopify’s built-in draft orders let you create an order in your admin: pick products, apply discounts, add a customer. You can then email the customer an invoice with a link to pay at checkout.
Good for: a client who has already agreed and is ready to pay. Less good for: the step before that. A draft order invoice reads as a bill, not an offer. There’s no expiry date, and no way for the client to accept, decline or ask a question. You also can’t easily see which drafts were opened or need a follow-up.
2. A quote template outside Shopify
Many stores copy products and prices into a Word or Google Docs template, export a PDF and email it. It costs nothing and you control the look. A free online quote maker does the same job faster.
The catch: you retype every product and price, so mistakes creep in when prices change. Quotes live in your email instead of your store, and once the client says yes, you build the order in Shopify all over again.
3. Shopify’s B2B features
Shopify has built-in B2B tools for selling to companies, such as company accounts, catalogs with special prices, and payment terms. Which ones you get depends on your Shopify plan, so check Shopify’s current plan comparison.
Good for: repeat wholesale buyers who order through your store at their agreed prices. Less good for: one-off negotiated deals and custom work, where every order is priced differently and needs an approval before anything is ordered.
4. A quote app in your Shopify admin
Quote apps from the Shopify App Store add the missing step: an offer the client can review and accept, built from your real catalog. Apps differ a lot, so look for what matters to how you sell:
- Building quotes from your products and variants, plus custom lines for services and fees.
- Per-line and overall discounts, tax and an expiry date.
- A link where the client can accept or decline without creating an account.
- A PDF for clients who want one, ideally with a way to accept from it.
- Knowing when a quote is opened, and reminders for ones that go quiet.
- Turning an accepted quote into a draft order without retyping it.
Some apps also add a “request a quote” button to your storefront so customers can ask for a price from a product page. That’s useful if most of your quotes start online rather than by email or phone.
Cotiza is the app we make, and it works this way: you build the quote from your catalog in the Shopify admin, your client accepts online, and you turn the yes into a draft order. It has a free plan.
Which should you use?
| If you… | Start with |
|---|---|
| Send a quote now and then | A quote template or the free quote maker |
| Have clients who already agreed and just need to pay | Draft orders |
| Sell to the same companies at set prices, again and again | Shopify’s B2B features |
| Negotiate prices, sell custom work or quote every week | A quote app |
Whichever you pick, the basics of a good quote stay the same. See how to write a quote your client will accept.
Make one now. The free quote maker turns all of this into a PDF in a few minutes, no sign-up.
Selling on Shopify? Cotiza builds quotes from your catalog, lets clients accept online and turns a yes into a draft order.