Overview
A screen-by-screen walkthrough of the RFQ inbox: the four tabs, every column, every status badge, and which action button appears for each invite state.
What you will achieve
- Recognize every tab, badge, and button on the RFQ inbox screen on sight.
- Understand why an RFQ only accepts a limited number of quotes.
- Know exactly which button to click for any invite you see.
Step-by-step
- At the top of the page, the card header shows the title "RFQ Inbox" on the left and, on the right, "Max submissions per RFQ" followed by the number (the cap, usually 5) — this is the maximum number of sellers who can quote on any one RFQ.
- If you have never received an RFQ, the body of the card shows a centered inbox icon with "No RFQs yet." and a note that new invites will appear here once you qualify.
- Otherwise, you see four tabs across the top of the card: "New RFQs" with a blue pill badge showing the count, "Responded" with a gray pill badge, "Old RFQs" with a yellow/warning pill badge, and "Closed / Missed" with a dark pill badge. Click any tab to switch its table below.
- The "New RFQs" tab table has these columns in order: # (the RFQ id), Requester (buyer name next to a user icon), Status (a colored badge), Submissions (how many sellers have quoted out of the cap), District, Site Type, RFQ Type, Invited At (date and time), and Action (a button on the far right).
- The Status badge on new/old/closed rows reads "Ordered" (green) if your quote was accepted into an order, "Missed" (yellow) if the invite went unresponded long enough to be flagged, "Closed" (gray) if the cap was reached or the buyer closed the RFQ, or otherwise "Invited" (blue) / "Submitted" (green) depending on your own quote status.
- The Submissions column shows a count like "2 / 5" in bold, followed by a small badge showing how many slots are "left" — green if the RFQ is still open, gray if it is closed or already ordered.
- The Action button changes based on state: "Go to Order" (green) if your quote became an order — it takes you straight to that order; "View" (outline gray) if the RFQ is closed; "View submission" (outline green) if you already submitted a quote; "Edit Draft" (outline blue) if you started a quote but have not submitted it; or "Open" (outline blue) if you have not responded yet.
- On the "Responded" tab, the Status column is replaced by "My Status", showing "Ordered" (green), "Submitted" (green), or "Draft" (blue) for your own quote — this tab is about tracking what you already did, not new invites.
- On the "Old RFQs" tab, every row is dimmed (faded) automatically, regardless of status, as a visual cue that these invites are aging and need attention or can be treated as lost.
- On the "Closed / Missed" tab, rows are dimmed whenever the RFQ is closed or already ordered — this tab is your record of invites you can no longer act on.
- Rows are visually dimmed (lower opacity) across all tabs whenever an RFQ is closed or already ordered, so your eye is naturally drawn to the invites that still need a response.
- Why the cap exists at all: it is not an arbitrary limit, it is what keeps an RFQ comparable for the buyer — if every seller on the platform could quote every RFQ, the buyer would have to sort through dozens of quotes instead of a manageable handful, and would likely give up and default to a listed offer instead of buying through RFQ at all.
- The real consequence chain of being slow is mechanical, not just unlucky: the cap fills up (or the buyer manually closes the RFQ) → the Status badge flips to "Closed" → the Action button for that row permanently changes to the read-only "View" → you can no longer submit a quote on that RFQ under any circumstance. There is no override once that happens, which is why the "X left" counter is worth checking the moment an invite arrives, not at the end of the day.
- "Ordered" (green) — your quote was accepted and turned into an order; the action button becomes "Go to Order".
- "Missed" (yellow) — the invite went unresponded long enough to be flagged as old/unresponded.
- "Closed" (gray) — the RFQ reached its invite cap or the buyer closed it; you can no longer quote, only "View".
- "Invited" (blue) / "Submitted" (green) — your current quote status on an RFQ that is still open.
You open the "New RFQs" tab and see RFQ #482, requester "Grace N.", a blue "Invited" badge, "1 / 5" submissions with a green "4 left" badge, District "Wakiso", and an "Open" button. This tells you: nobody has quoted yet but you, four slots remain, and clicking "Open" takes you to the RFQ detail so you can start a quote before those slots close.
Seller checklist
- The inbox is checked daily, not just when a notification arrives.
- The "left" counter on the Submissions column is checked before deciding to wait on a response.
- Old/unresponded invites are reviewed so nothing sits ignored.
- Closed-missed invites are treated as a signal to respond faster next time, not as an error.
Frequently Asked Questions
Why does an RFQ have a limited number of invite slots?
It keeps the number of competing quotes manageable for the buyer and improves response quality, but it also means slow sellers can be shut out before they quote — watch the "X left" counter in the Submissions column.
What happens if I am marked "Missed"?
It means the invite went unresponded long enough to be flagged as missed; you can usually still quote if the RFQ has not been closed or capped — check the Action button, which still says "Open" or "Edit Draft" if you can act.
Why do I still see closed or missed RFQs in my inbox?
They remain visible (dimmed, in the "Old RFQs" and "Closed / Missed" tabs) so you can track your response history and see where you lost opportunities to respond faster.
What is the difference between the "New RFQs" and "Responded" tabs?
"New RFQs" is for invites you have not acted on yet; "Responded" is where the same invite moves to once you have a draft or submitted quote, showing "My Status" instead of the RFQ-wide status.
