Build and send a proposal

Read time: 5 minutes. Last updated: June 20, 2026 Who it's for: Merchants responding to a quote request with a priced offer, and anyone who needs to read the version history of a negotiation.

A proposal is your priced answer to a quote request - the heart of how QuotWay turns a request into a deal. You build it in the proposal editor, set prices line by line, add notes and an expiry, then send it to the buyer. Every send is saved as a numbered version, so the whole negotiation reads as a clear sequence instead of a guessing game.

What is a proposal?

A proposal is the merchant's priced offer on a quote. When a buyer requests a quote, the quote arrives in your QuotWay inbox with the lines the buyer asked about. You reply by building a proposal: confirming quantities, setting unit prices, applying any discount, and adding shipping. When you send it, the buyer can do one of three things - Accept, Decline, or Counter. A counter starts another round, and that round is captured as a new version.

Proposals are available on every plan, including the free Lite plan.

How do I build a proposal?

You build a proposal in the proposal editor, opened from any open quote.

Open the quote from your QuotWay inbox.
Select Prepare proposal (the button reads Continue or Manage once you've started, depending on where the quote is).
Review the line items the buyer requested. Each line has a quantity and a unit price you can edit.
Set the unit price per line. Apply a discount if you want one - see Floor price and discounts.
Add a shipping amount, and mark lines as requiring shipping or taxable where it applies.
Add internal notes for your team (the buyer never sees these) and any buyer-facing terms that should appear on the proposal.
The editor autosaves as you work, so you won't lose edits before you send.

You can also add lines the buyer didn't request - for example, a setup fee or a free sample - as custom lines alongside catalog products.

How does proposal expiry work?

Set a proposal expiry so an offer doesn't sit open forever. The expiry is a date you choose in the editor; it tells the buyer how long the priced offer holds. Expiry is useful when your pricing depends on stock or a seasonal rate - it gives the buyer a clear deadline to accept or counter before the numbers may change.

An expired proposal doesn't delete anything. The version stays in the history; you simply send a fresh proposal (a new version) with updated pricing when you're ready.

What happens when I send?

When you select Send proposal, QuotWay does three things:

Saves the proposal as a numbered, immutable version - the first send is version 1.
Moves the quote's status to PROPOSAL_SENT.
Emails the buyer a link to review it. The email mentions the buyer by name and links to the proposal; it never puts prices in the email body. See Messaging with buyers for why.

From there the buyer reviews the proposal in their Shopify customer account or the hosted buyer portal, and accepts, declines, or counters.

What are versioned snapshots?

Each time a proposal or counter is sent, QuotWay captures it as a version - a complete, sealed snapshot of the offer at that moment. Versions are immutable: once sent, a version is never edited in place. A change always creates a new version.

This is what makes the negotiation auditable. Whether you sent the first proposal, the buyer countered, or you countered back, you always have an exact record of what was offered at every step - and what was finally agreed.

How do I read the version timeline?

The quote's version timeline lists every round in order: version 1 (your first proposal), then each counter and re-proposal that followed. Open any version to see the proposal exactly as it stood when it was sent.

Between versions, QuotWay shows a diff - which lines changed, by how much, and where the total landed. The diff means you don't have to compare two screens by eye: changed lines and totals are highlighted so both sides can see what moved between rounds.

When a quote is finally accepted, the agreed version is sealed against the exact numbers both sides agreed to, so "what did we settle on?" always has one answer.

Counter-offers and buyer prices - what happens when a buyer counters your proposal.
Floor price and discounts - set unit prices, discounts, and a minimum you won't go below.
Convert a quote to a draft order - turn an accepted proposal into a Shopify draft order.