RFQ automation · distributors, cabinet shops, IT providers
RFQ automation from your own price list
For firms that send 8 or more quotes a week from a price list: distributors, fabricators, cabinet and millwork shops, and IT providers. From Atlanta.
Staffbox reads each RFQ when it is forwarded to your quotes mailbox, typos and forwarded threads included, and writes a draft quote from your own price list. In the draft reply, every priced line cites the price-list row and that list's date (the test outputs below show the raw quote calculation). A person checks and sends; Staffbox has no sending code.
Worried about a wrong price reaching a customer? Code does the arithmetic from your price table, a person checks and sends every quote, and an item you don't stock is flagged, never swapped for a similar one. On 6 October: 0 wrong totals in 475 test answers.
Send 3 requests, freeOr call Hadi: 404 493 6248
No customer install yet. The examples below come from fictional test companies.
What an RFQ looks like when it arrives
Rarely a clean form. These two come from our messy test set for Fieldstone IT, a fictional IT provider: one gives the quantity in words, one is forwarded with an old order in the thread. Output copied from the 6 October results file: 16 GB Mac mini, qwen3:8b, quote action v2.4.
Need two dozen 27 inch monitors, set up please.
Quote action: 24 x MON-27 at $289.00 = $6,936.00, less 4% = $6,658.56, plus setup 24 x $15.00 = $360.00; line total $7,018.56. ANSWER: $7,018.56
---------- Forwarded message --------- From: Dana Ruiz Date: Tue, Sep 29, 2026 Subject: RE: refresh We bought 10 laptops in 2024. Can we get 15 of the 16in laptops set up for the new team?
Quote action: 15 x LT-16 at $1,399.00 = $20,985.00, less 4% = $20,145.60, plus setup 15 x $95.00 = $1,425.00; line total $21,570.60. ANSWER: $21,570.60
Results file: 2026-10-06-fieldstone-it-tests-heldout-ugly-mac-mini-m4-16gb-qwen3-8b-quote-v2.4.md. fact
How each line gets priced
The model reads the request
It picks the item and the quantity: "two dozen" becomes 24, "the 16in laptops" becomes the matching price-list row.
Code does the arithmetic
The quote action takes the unit price, volume discount and setup fee from your price table and does the sums in code, not in the model.
Each line cites its source
Every priced line names the price-list row and that list's date, so the person checking can see where each number came from.
A person sends
The draft lands in your drafts folder. Staffbox has no sending code; send and delete rights are limited at install.
What it refuses to guess
Since 6 October (quote action v2.4) an item that is not on your price list is flagged, with the stocked items named, and never swapped for the nearest one. On 5 October the previous version priced the nearest stocked item on 5 of 360 generated requests. When quantities don't add up, it asks the customer instead of guessing; our score counts that as a miss.
Hello, I saw you sell 32 inch monitors. Can you send a quote for 4 of those? We need them set up. Thanks, Client (555) 112-3344
The request asks for 32 inch monitors, which is not on the price list (we stock: monitor 24in; monitor 27in). A different item is never substituted. ANSWER: NOT IN VAULT: 32 inch monitors is not on the price list (we stock: monitor 24in; monitor 27in). Ask the customer whether a stocked item works, or the person who owns pricing if it is a special order.
Quote 40 of the 14 inch laptops, half with setup and half without.
The same item appears on several lines and the quantities do not add up to a number in the request. ANSWER: NOT IN VAULT: quantities unclear (possible double count). Ask the customer to confirm the split.
Scores, misses included
6 October, 16 GB Mac mini, qwen3:8b with the company brain and quote action v2.4, graded by machine. Fictional companies; no customer has run it yet.
| Test set | Right |
|---|---|
| Fieldstone IT | 40 of 40 |
| Peachtree Cabinet Works | 39 of 40 |
| Messy requests, set 1 (seen while fixing) | 19 of 20 |
| Messy requests, set 2 (never used while fixing) | 15 of 15 |
| Generated messy requests | 351 of 360 |
0 wrong totals in 475 answers. Of the 11 misses, 10 declined and asked the customer, and 1 was a routing miss (Peachtree triage-05 went to the office manager instead of the "other" queue). measured Every graded answer: the Staffbox scorecard on Hugging Face. The whole quote flow: AI quoting software that works from your own price list.
Who it fits
- You send at least 8 quotes a week, and most lines come from a price list.
- Requests arrive by email, often forwarded, often messy.
- Someone on your team already checks quotes before they go out, and can keep doing so.
Where the model runs and what it needs: local AI on a Mac mini for a small business.
Start free: 3 requests, then 30 past quotes
Step 1 · free
3 requests
Send three requests your team answers every week. Hadi sends back what Staffbox would have drafted, misses included. No card, no commitment.
Step 2 · free
30 past quotes
Send 30 past quote requests and your price list. We run them on our Mac mini in Atlanta, your team grades 10 answers blind, and we delete the files afterwards. Nothing is installed for this step.
If you go ahead: founding sites (first 100) get a free 30-day pilot, then $595 a month for as long as the box is live, no onboarding fee. draft offer
Questions
What is RFQ automation?
Software that reads a request for quote and drafts the reply. Staffbox drafts from your own price list, cites the row and the list's date on every priced line, and leaves the sending to a person.
What happens if a customer asks for something we don't stock?
Since 6 October the draft flags the item as not on the price list and names what is stocked. It never prices the nearest item instead.
Can it read forwarded emails and typos?
Within what we have tested, yes: our messy test sets include forwarded threads, quantities written in words and part numbers typed without the dash. On 6 October it got 15 of 15 on a set we never used while fixing it, and 19 of 20 on a set we did use while fixing, on the 16 GB Mac mini.
How do we try it?
Send three requests your team answers every week and Hadi sends back what Staffbox would have drafted, misses included, free. Then send 30 past quotes and your price list for the free score.