What a quote is
A quote is a copy of a signed-in customer's cart items, held at prices your staff set, with an optional expiry date and a comments field. It belongs to the customer who asked for it. It is how a business customer and your sales team agree a price before anything is paid.
The life of a quote
- Requested. The customer, signed in, asks for a quote from their cart. The items are copied onto the quote at their cart price before discounts.
- Priced. Staff open the quote in the admin's Quotes section and set each item's unit price, the expiry date and any comments. The items, the currency and the customer stay as requested.
- Ordered. Until the expiry date, the customer can order the quote: that starts a new checkout at the quote's prices, and they pay through the normal checkout.
- Removed. When a checkout made from the quote is paid and becomes an order, the quote is removed.
A customer who is not signed in cannot ask for a quote. Ordering after the expiry date is refused with "Quote has expired": set a later date, or ask the customer for a new request.