Guest quotes and account claim

Read time: 5 minutes. Who it's for: Merchants who want to understand how buyers without an account can still request, review, and accept a quote - and how a quote moves into a customer account later.

Not every buyer has a store account, and you don't want to lose a quote request just because someone isn't signed in. QuotWay lets buyers request quotes as guests, reach a secure Buyer portal through a magic link, and - if and when they want one - claim the quote into a Shopify customer account. This works on every QuotWay plan.

Can a buyer request a quote without an account?

Yes. A buyer can fill in the quote form and submit a request without signing in or creating an account, as long as your targeting rules allow guests on that product. The form collects the contact details you need (such as an email), so you can reply even though there's no account behind the request.

If a targeting rule requires a signed-in buyer (for example, a logged-in-only or company-based rule), the Request a quote button won't appear for a guest on that product - that's by design. See Targeting rules.

How does a guest review the proposal?

Guests review their quote in the Buyer portal - QuotWay's hosted page at portal.quotway.com. Because a guest has no account to sign in to, access is granted by a secure magic link instead:

You send the proposal. QuotWay emails the buyer a name-only message - it names the quote and links to the portal, but never shows prices in the email body.
The buyer opens the link and lands on the portal for that specific quote.
To confirm it's really them, the portal sends a short access code to the same email address. The buyer enters the code to open the quote.

The access code expires after 1 hour. If a buyer uses an old or expired code, the portal offers to send a fresh one - they request a new code and re-enter it. This keeps quote access tied to the buyer's own inbox without requiring a password.

Guests always use the Buyer portal, because the in-account experience needs a signed-in Shopify customer account. Which surface a signed-in buyer sees depends on whether your store uses new or legacy customer accounts - not on your plan. See Buyer portal vs customer account.

What is claiming a quote into an account?

Claiming connects a quote that started as a guest request to a Shopify customer account, so the buyer can see it inside their account alongside their orders. It's optional - a guest can complete the entire request → review → accept loop in the portal without ever creating an account.

A buyer might claim a quote when they:

Create (or already have) a store account under the same email.
Want their quotes to appear inside their Shopify customer account on a new-customer-accounts store.
Prefer signing in to their account over requesting a magic link each time.

How does claiming verify the buyer?

Claiming uses a one-time passcode (OTP) to prove the person claiming the quote controls the email the quote was sent to:

The buyer starts the claim and confirms the email on the quote.
QuotWay sends a one-time passcode to that email.
The buyer enters the code. Once it matches, the quote is linked to the customer account for that email.

This OTP step is what makes claiming secure: only someone who can read the quote's email inbox can attach it to an account. After claiming, the quote behaves like any other quote tied to that customer.

Things to keep in mind

Guests don't need to claim. The portal magic-link flow is fully self-sufficient for requesting, reviewing, accepting, countering, or declining.
Email is the anchor. Both magic-link access and OTP claiming verify ownership of the email on the quote. If the address is wrong, the buyer won't get the link or code - re-send the quote to a corrected address from the quote in your admin.
Emails are name-only. No QuotWay email shows prices in its body. The link (or sign-in) is what takes the buyer to the proposal.
Watch for spam. Magic-link and OTP emails can land in spam. Setting up SPF and DKIM on your sending domain reduces this. See Email deliverability and bounces.

What buyers see - the full buyer-facing walkthrough from request to accept.
Buyer portal vs customer account - which surface each buyer lands on, and why.
Email deliverability and bounces - keep magic-link and OTP emails out of spam.