How shippers get five competing quotes from one post
Write the RFQ once, write it well, and let the corridor's forwarders do the calling.
The old way of pricing a shipment is serial: email a forwarder, wait, chase, repeat. The marketplace inverts it — describe the shipment once and every Premium forwarder on that corridor is invited to compete.
A strong request answers what a forwarder must know before quoting. Lane and mode: where the cargo starts, where it lands, and whether it moves ocean FCL or LCL, air, road or RoRo. Cargo basics: what it is, gross weight, volume or container count, and the HS code if you have it. Commercial terms: the Incoterm tells forwarders which legs and charges belong in their price — FOB and CIF quotes are not comparable numbers.
Dates matter more than shippers expect. A ready date lets forwarders quote actual sailings rather than generic transit times, and a quote deadline creates urgency.
If the cargo is hazardous, declare the IMDG class up front. Forwarders who cannot carry it will not waste your time, and those who can will price it correctly the first time.
Then compare like for like: total price, transit days, validity. Message a forwarder from the quote itself if anything is unclear, and accept when you are ready — the platform notifies the winner and closes the request to further quotes.