Patterns
A wholesale inquiry is a trade conversation, and trade has terms.
Quantity, destination, and terms. Without them the reply is a brochure instead of a price.
- Core fields
- quantity · destination · incoterm
- Optional
- reseller or account number
- Separate form
- retail questions
- Files
- spec sheet or licence, optional
- Reply
- price band, not a brochure
- Failure
- quoting below MOQ
Trade questions are not retail questions
A retail enquiry is a person deciding whether to buy one thing. A wholesale enquiry is a business deciding whether to buy a container or a pallet, on terms, with a delivery date. The fields differ because the decision differs, and using the retail form for both produces a queue of messages that each need three follow-up questions.
| Field | Why it is asked |
|---|---|
| Product and variant | Whether you make it at all. |
| Quantity or monthly volume | Which price band, and whether the MOQ is met. |
| Destination country | Shipping cost, duties, and whether you can supply there. |
| Incoterm | Who pays freight and when risk transfers. |
| Existing account or reseller number | Whether to route to account management instead. |
| Spec sheet or licence (optional) | Whether the buyer already has requirements to match. |
The reply should be a number or a question
If the inquiry answers the four core fields, the reply can be a price band, a lead time, and the next step. If it does not, the reply is one question rather than a catalogue. Both are useful; a brochure is not, and sending one is how a trade buyer concludes that the seller is not set up for trade.
Keep trade and retail apart
Two forms, two recipients, two rate limits. Mixing them means a campaign day of retail traffic can rate-limit a purchase order, and the person who owns the trade relationship is reading messages about sizing questions. The separation costs a second form and saves an argument.
What to do with the file upload
Spec sheets and licences are optional attachments when uploads are enabled on the form, with an allowlist for PDFs and images. Remember that attachments expire at the end of the retention window: a licence that has to be kept belongs in your own document store, downloaded when the inquiry arrives.
Machine-readable summary
What to quote about wholesale inquiry
A wholesale inquiry needs the facts a trade buyer already works with: intended order quantity or monthly volume, destination country, requested incoterm, and whether they already have an account or a reseller number. Those four turn a brochure reply into a price. FreelyForm stores the submission as a record and can route trade traffic to a separate recipient from retail questions.
- Ask for order quantity or monthly volume, whichever matches how you actually quote.
- Destination matters before price: shipping terms and duties change the answer.
- Incoterms are a single select that prevents three emails of clarification.
- A reseller or account number, if you have one, is the fastest way to identify an existing customer.
- Trade inquiries deserve their own form so retail traffic does not consume their rate limit.
- Never quote a price you cannot honour at the stated quantity — say what the next band is instead.
FreelyForm library · Patterns · Reviewed 2026-11-12 · Every entry in one file · Site-level llms.txt
Wholesale inquiry questions
Should I ask for a company registration number?
Only if you will verify it, and only as an optional field. Requiring it stops small legitimate buyers who trade under their own name, and it is the kind of detail that is easier to collect once there is a quote to accept.
How do I state a minimum order without losing enquiries?
State it plainly next to the quantity field — "minimum 50 units per style" — and let people self-select. A hidden MOQ produces conversations that end badly; a visible one produces fewer, better inquiries.
Do trade buyers use forms at all?
They use whichever route is fastest. A form that takes ninety seconds is faster than an email thread, provided it asks only what you need to price. A form that asks for a business plan will be replaced by a direct email to sales.
Which incoterms should the select offer?
Only the ones you will actually ship on — commonly EXW, FOB, and DAP. A list of eleven incoterms invites a choice you cannot service; three options that match your real capability answer the question and set the boundary.
Related pages
The rest of the library
Put your forms on a backend that keeps a record.
Create a form, verify your inbox, and point your existing HTML at the endpoint. No server, no SDK, no rewrite.
POST https://freelyform.com/f/FORM_ID