Packaging RFQ template for luxury brands: what to include when briefing a China factory

By Sonia Sun, Founder, Huamei 華美 — since 1992. Published 5 June 2026. Updated 5 June 2026.

Sonia Sun has received and responded to packaging RFQs at Huamei's factories in Henan, Zhejiang, Sichuan, and Guizhou since founding the company in 1992 — more than three decades of reading what information brands include, what they omit, and how the gaps translate into quote delays and extended sample rounds.

An RFQ that arrives at a Chinese packaging factory with incomplete information does not produce a faster quote — it produces a slower one, because the factory must ask clarifying questions before pricing, and each clarification round adds two to five business days to the cycle. For luxury brands running against a product launch calendar, those delays compound. The RFQ template below reflects what Huamei's quoting team uses as the minimum information set to return an accurate price within two business days. Detailed context on the working relationship between a brand and a China factory is in working with a Chinese luxury packaging manufacturer.

What should a luxury packaging RFQ include?

A luxury packaging RFQ should include exterior dimensions (L × W × H in mm), greyboard weight, closure type, wrap paper and lamination specification, surface decoration method with Pantone references, quantity tiers, required certifications (FSC, BSCI), and the target in-hands date with Incoterms delivery point.

These eight fields are the minimum. An RFQ missing any of them will generate a clarifying question before a quote can be issued. The most commonly omitted fields are greyboard weight (brands specify "rigid box" without noting whether 1.5 mm, 2.0 mm, or 3.0 mm is required), Pantone colour references for artwork (brands send a JPEG without a colour call-out), and the Incoterms delivery point (brands write "delivery to our warehouse" without specifying who is responsible for freight and customs).

How to specify structure in a packaging RFQ

Structural specification has three components: format, dimensions, and board weight. Format should be named explicitly — lift-off lid two-piece, magnetic-flap rigid box, book-style, drawer-and-sleeve, clamshell. "Custom box" without a format name cannot be priced. Dimensions should be in millimetres, specified as exterior L × W × H of the assembled box. Interior dimensions can be derived if exterior dimensions and board weight are given, but supplying both eliminates ambiguity. Board weight in millimetres of greyboard — 1.5 mm, 2.0 mm, 2.5 mm, or 3.0 mm — drives material cost and structural rigidity.

"Huamei holds ninety-nine structures on file across six closure formats and four board-weight grades — an accurate structure name in the RFQ typically matches an existing tooling set, which reduces sampling cost and lead time."

See rigid box manufacturing for a reference list of format names and their dimensional conventions.

How to specify surface decoration in a packaging RFQ

Surface decoration specification requires three pieces of information: the decoration method, the colour reference, and the coverage area. Decoration methods include: offset litho print (four-colour process or Pantone spot), hot-foil stamping, emboss, deboss, spot-UV, soft-touch lamination, matte lamination, and gloss lamination. Most luxury boxes combine two or three of these.

For hot-foil, specify the foil colour by name or standard reference — Huamei's seventeen curated foil colours correspond to named palette entries, not custom-mixed foils. For offset print, supply Pantone Coated references; avoid specifying by RGB or HEX alone, as screen values do not translate reliably to offset ink. For emboss and deboss, supply the artwork file in vector format and specify the depth — standard is a single-level emboss unless a sculptured multi-level emboss is explicitly required.

"A packaging RFQ that includes a vector artwork file, a Pantone Coated colour call-out for each ink, and named foil colours from the factory's standard palette typically produces an accurate quote in two business days."

What quantity, timeline, and compliance fields belong in a packaging RFQ?

Quantity specification should include at least two tiers: the sample quantity and the production run quantity. If the brand has multiple quantity scenarios — 500 pieces for a market test, 3,000 for a full launch — include both, as per-unit cost changes significantly between those levels and a factory can price all scenarios in a single quote.

Timeline information should include: the required in-hands date at the brand's warehouse or distribution centre, the Incoterms delivery point (FOB China factory, CIF destination port, or DDP destination warehouse — see ICC Incoterms 2020 for definitions), and any hard go/no-go dates such as retail listing deadlines or campaign launch dates. A factory receiving an RFQ with a target in-hands date of December 1 and no Incoterms specification cannot confirm whether that date is achievable — because freight time depends on who is responsible for arranging it.

Compliance fields that belong in a luxury packaging RFQ: required certifications (FSC chain-of-custody if EU retail placement requires it; BSCI social audit if the retail chain runs amfori BSCI supplier reviews; SGS third-party quality inspection if the brand runs incoming inspection programs). Listing these upfront prevents a supplier from being approved commercially and then failing on compliance at the qualification stage.

"Huamei holds FSC, BSCI, CE, EQS, and SGS certifications — supplying the certificate numbers at the RFQ stage removes the compliance verification step from the factory approval process."

How does a well-structured RFQ affect MOQ, sampling, and lead time?

A complete RFQ — structure named, dimensions in mm, decoration fully specified, Pantone references attached, quantity tiers stated, in-hands date and Incoterms set — reduces the time between RFQ receipt and quote issue from five to ten days (the typical cycle with clarification rounds) to one to two business days. That gain is meaningful when a brand is running parallel RFQs across three or four factories before selecting a supplier.

For new factory relationships, the initial RFQ is also a signal of how professionally the brand manages its supply chain. A well-structured RFQ arrives with a vector artwork file, a completed specification sheet, and clear compliance requirements. Factories receiving that brief prioritise it. The Collgene case study illustrates a structured skincare packaging brief that moved from RFQ to first sample in nine days — within the 7–10 day Huamei standard — because the specification was complete on arrival.

"Huamei's standard turnaround from a complete RFQ to a priced quote with lead time confirmation is two business days, based on ninety-nine structures on file and eighty papers in stock."

Submit an RFQ directly at /begin. The brief form prompts each of the fields above, which means the information set is complete when the form is submitted.