Why is a stone quote only valid for 7 to 15 days?
A stone price is not a number, it is a sum of several costs, and at least three of them move every week. To know whether you can fix a price, first see which lines move and what actually locks them.
What is a quoted price actually made of?
Block price, processing fee, inland freight, ocean freight, and exchange rate. Block and processing are relatively stable; inland freight follows fuel and truck availability; ocean freight moves weekly; currency moves daily. The short validity comes mostly from the last three, not from a supplier trying to pressure you.
Why is validity shorter for stone than for other goods?
Because stone is sold as this particular batch. Pits stop and restart, a colour code sells out and is gone, and the next batch needs re-matching and a new sample approval. The price quoted matches the material the supplier holds right now. Once it is gone, the price has to be reissued. That is inventory structure, not a sales tactic.
When validity expires, what does the supplier change?
Usually not the whole quote — only the lines that moved. So ask which items changed instead of only looking at how much the total rose. If ocean freight has fallen, a straight supplier should pass that line down. Whether they do it unprompted is a free test of how they will behave later.
What do you need in order to lock a price?
Three different things: a deposit locks material, keeping that block batch for you; a booking locks space and freight rate; a forward contract or local-currency settlement locks the exchange rate. One quotation cannot lock all of it — what it can lock is material plus processing. Do not negotiate these three as if they were one.
What about a long project?
Quote and deliver in batches. Split the total into several lots, confirm price and shipping schedule for each, and write into the contract how consistency and colour deviation will be judged across lots. If you lock a full year at one price, the supplier simply prices the risk in advance — you are buying certainty, not a bargain.
Which lines must a quotation state?
Incoterm plus named port, validity end date, thickness and tolerance, surface finish and edge profile, packing method and weight per pallet, payment terms, and the date delivery starts counting from. If these seven are missing, every later dispute returns to the same dead end: it was never specified.
Is a quote marked long-term valid trustworthy?
Be careful. Stone costs move, so a long validity is usually re-priced at execution, or honoured by quietly reducing the specification. Take a seven-day quote that is kept over an open-ended one that gets renegotiated at order stage. The second only postpones uncertainty until after you have invested time.