A foot scanner wholesale price enquiry is usually one line long, and the reply it deserves is usually three pages long. That mismatch is not evasiveness. Wholesale pricing for equipment is built from scope — what ships, what the software covers, what happens after delivery — and two enquiries for the same product can legitimately deserve two different numbers.
Buyers find this frustrating, and understandably so. The internet has trained everyone to expect a figure, and a factory that answers with questions looks like it is hiding something. But the opposite is true: the factories that quote from a single line are the ones whose quotations unravel at the order stage, when the missing scope becomes an argument.
This article explains what sits behind a wholesale quotation from the factory side: the inputs that decide the number, the differences between dealer, distributor and project pricing, and how to structure an enquiry so that the first reply is comparable and the last reply is signable. We run the factory, so this is the process as it actually happens.
Why two enquiries for one product get two answers
The machine is the smallest part of a wholesale quotation. Around it sit decisions that change the number materially: the configuration of the system, the language of the software and reports, the branding on the unit and the packaging, the quantity, the Incoterms, and the service commitments that travel with the shipment. Each of these is a line a factory has to price, and none of them is visible in a one-line enquiry.
Take branding alone. A unit in standard factory configuration and a unit prepared for a distributor’s brand differ in tooling, packaging, documentation and lead time. Neither is more expensive in principle; they are different products, and quoting them as one number serves nobody.
Take service. A quotation that includes training, a spare-parts kit and defined support responses is a different commercial object from a quotation that includes a box and a tracking number. Buyers who compare those two quotations on the machine line only will discover the difference in month seven.
So when a factory answers an enquiry with questions, it is not stalling. It is assembling the scope that the number has to describe. The buyer’s leverage is in supplying that scope quickly and precisely.
The six inputs that decide the number
First, configuration: which model, which capture scope, which software modules, and any custom report layout the buyer’s market expects. Second, quantity: wholesale tiers exist for a reason, and a genuine volume intention produces a different structure from a single-unit trial — though a single unit is a valid order for us, and we say so.
Third, branding and localisation: software language, report language, packaging, manuals, and whether the unit carries the buyer’s brand. Fourth, Incoterms: ex-works, FOB, CIF — each moves cost between the factory’s side of the journey and the buyer’s, and comparing quotations on different terms compares different things.
Fifth, the service package: training, installation support, warranty extension, spare-parts provisions, and what the support channel commits to. Sixth, the payment and delivery schedule: deposit terms, the seven-day test routine before dispatch, and the transit mode — express, air or sea — that the project’s timeline implies.
A well-formed enquiry touches all six. It does not need exact answers; it needs stated intentions, because intentions let the factory quote a structure rather than guess a guess.
A seventh input, less obvious and worth stating: the destination market’s requirements. Documentation languages, plug and voltage standards, labelling expectations and any import paperwork the buyer’s side will need — each is a line the factory has to produce or prepare for, and each has a cost and a lead time. Buyers who mention the destination market in the first email get quotations that include these lines; buyers who mention it at the container stage get invoices that include them, which is a less pleasant genre of document.
Dealer, distributor and project pricing: three different conversations
A dealer buys a few units a year and sells under their own name to local clinics; the conversation is about margin, demo support and lead times. A distributor commits to a territory and a volume and needs packaging, documentation and software in the local language; the conversation is about exclusivity, marketing support and the second shipment. A project buyer equips rooms on a deadline; the conversation is about configuration, installation sequence and delivery dates.
The price structures differ because the factories’ costs differ. Supporting a distributor means tooling, localised software and a standing commitment; supporting a dealer means demo availability and fast answers; supporting a project means schedule discipline. A single price list would either overcharge the simple cases or under-resource the complex ones.
Buyers should say which of the three they are, early. It is the single fastest way to make a quotation thread efficient, because it tells the factory which template the reply must come from. Silence on this point forces the factory to guess, and factories guess conservatively.
And buyers should expect the structure to be visible. A wholesale quotation worth signing shows the scope line by line — machine, software, branding, service, freight, terms — so that each part can be accepted, adjusted or removed. A single number with no structure is a quotation nobody should sign.
How to structure an enquiry that gets a comparable reply
Write one paragraph before writing the question: who you are, which market you serve, and what you intend to do with the equipment — resell, equip your own rooms, or both. Then the configuration: which model or capture type you are considering, the software and report language you need, and whether branding is in scope.
Then the commercial frame: quantity now and quantity per year if the relationship works, the Incoterms you usually buy on, and the timeline. Finally, the service expectations: training, warranty, spare parts, and whether you need support in a language other than English. Half a page, sent once, saves weeks.
Send the same text to every supplier on the list. Comparability is created by the buyer, not by the market, and identical enquiries are the only way two quotations can be placed side by side without an accountant’s week of reconciliation.
Then judge the replies on structure before numbers. The supplier who answered every line, flagged the assumptions and stated what was excluded is the supplier whose number means something. The supplier who sent a figure with no scope has sent a placeholder, however attractive it looks.
A note on timing your enquiry: factories plan production in schedules, and the position of your order in next month’s schedule is partially determined by when your enquiry arrives. Enquiries that arrive with a timeline — evaluation this month, decision next, delivery the month after — get scheduled answers, because the factory can see the shape of the work. Enquiries that arrive with urgency and no dates get urgent-sounding replies and slow actual ones. Telling a factory the truth about your timeline is a strange-sounding negotiating tactic that works.
What happens between the first reply and the signed order
The first reply should narrow the field, not close the sale. Expect questions back — good factories ask about the room, the operators and the market, because those answers change the configuration advice. Two rounds of questions are normal; a thread that never asks anything is a thread that will surprise you later.
Then the demonstration or sample stage, where the claims meet a machine. For equipment this is a demo, in person or remote; for insoles it is the three-day sample. The purpose is identical: to convert description into evidence before the money moves, while changes are still free.
Then the quotation settles into its final shape: scope confirmed, terms written, schedule stated — including the seven-day factory test before dispatch and the transit time for the mode chosen. Everything agreed verbally so far should now exist in the document, because the document is what both teams will work from.
The last stage is the one buyers skip and regret: reading the exclusions. What the quotation does not include — installation on site, custom integrations, consumables, insurance on certain terms — matters as much as what it includes, and the exclusions page is where the professional suppliers are visibly more detailed than the casual ones.
And one request from the factory side, offered here in the spirit of the whole article: tell us when you are talking to other suppliers. Not who, not what — just that the conversation is competitive. Quotations written under competition are written more carefully, because the supplier knows the document will be compared line by line. The buyer who pretends otherwise gets the lazy document; the buyer who says it plainly gets the good one. Everyone in the transaction is better served by the sentence, which is the test of a good term.
Price structure and the words we avoid
We discuss structure and never publish figures, and the reason is practical rather than mysterious. Figures move with configuration, quantity, terms and freight; a published number is wrong the day one of those changes, and wrong numbers generate disputes that a structured quotation would have prevented. Structure in public, numbers in the quotation — that is the whole policy.
The same discipline applies to what we will not do. We do not quote a single undifferentiated number, because a number without scope cannot be serviced: when a buyer says the machine arrived and X was expected, the scope document is the referee. Buyers who dislike scope documents at quotation stage come to love them at delivery stage.
We also avoid the language of bargains. Words like cheapest invite a comparison the product cannot and should not win, because the purchase is a five-year service relationship, not a commodity. A factory committed to process control — seven-day tests before dispatch, twelve-month warranty, engineers answering in a dedicated group — prices accordingly, and the buyer should be suspicious of any supplier whose number implies otherwise.
What we publish instead is the shape: the six inputs, the three conversation types, the sequence from enquiry to order. Buyers who understand the shape can generate a fair number from any serious supplier, including us, in two emails.
After the number: the parts that keep it honest
A wholesale price is a promise about the future, and the future is where it is tested. The warranty terms — ours is twelve months with free parts for non-artificial damage — define what the number includes when something fails. The support terms define what the number includes when something is merely confusing on a Tuesday.
Spare parts deserve their own line. Every instrument has a wear layer, and the honest question is not whether anything will ever need replacing but how fast the replacement arrives and what it costs. A quotation that includes a spare-parts provision answers the question; one that does not has deferred the answer to the least convenient week.
Software continuity is the third pillar. Updates that arrive over the air for connected units keep the purchased system current without service visits, and the supplier’s ownership of its own software is what makes that possible. A quotation for hardware with rented software is a subscription in disguise, and it should be labelled as one.
Add it up and the pattern is clear: the wholesale price is the entry ticket, and the scope document is the contract that makes the ticket mean something. Buyers who negotiate scope as seriously as numbers end up with fewer surprises and better machines — not because the machines changed, but because the expectations did.
Frequently asked questions
Can we get a wholesale price list?
We quote by structure rather than by a set list, because configuration, quantity, branding, Incoterms and service scope all move the number. Send the six inputs — model, quantity, branding, terms, service expectations, timeline — and the reply is a structured quotation you can compare line by line.
What is the minimum order for wholesale?
Machine orders start at one unit; there is no volume gate to place a first order. Distributors planning a territory usually start higher, and the pricing structure reflects that commitment, but a single-unit order is a legitimate way to begin.
Do you supply under our brand?
Machines are available as ODM, so the configuration can follow your specification; OEM for machines is subject to separate discussion. Insoles are available as both ODM and OEM. Branding scope — unit marking, packaging, documentation — is agreed in writing before production.
How is the quotation affected by Incoterms?
Each term moves cost between the factory side and the buyer side of the journey. We quote on the terms you specify — ex-works, FOB, CIF — and the scope document states which legs are included, so two quotations on different terms are never compared directly.
What is included in the service package?
The standard package covers a dedicated support group with engineers directly available, remote assistance where needed, and over-the-air software updates for connected units. Training, spare-parts provisions and warranty extensions are quoted as explicit lines so the scope stays visible.
How long from order to dispatch?
Every unit runs a seven-day test routine at the factory before dispatch, and production capacity runs three to five machines a day. Transit is typically six to seven working days by express, ten to twelve by air, and thirty to thirty-five by sea.
Why not just publish a price?
A published figure is wrong as soon as configuration, quantity or terms change, and wrong numbers create disputes that a structured quotation prevents. We publish the structure — the inputs and the sequence — and put the numbers in the document both sides sign.
What we would do next
Structure your next wholesale enquiry around the six inputs and send it unchanged to every supplier on your list. The replies will sort themselves faster than any spreadsheet. Our product pages state the platform capabilities each quotation would describe: X3 Foot Pressure Scanner.
For the commercial terms in one place — minimums, warranty, support, transit — the frequently asked questions page collects what a quotation will reference: Frequently Asked Questions.
This article is intended for professional and educational reference. It is not medical advice. Foot assessment equipment produces measurements and images; clinical interpretation and any decision about care remain the responsibility of a qualified professional. Certification scope is limited to the documentation we hold: European Union certification and ISO quality system certification.