Shopify quote negotiation: draft orders and quote apps

Shopify's B2B draft order page says draft orders are for orders customers send by phone or email, and that a draft order with a B2B customer and a company location picks up that company's prices, payment terms and checkout options. This is what a draft order does for a quote, read on October 22, 2026 (Shopify Help Center).

• A negotiated price. If you need to quote a price that differs from the company's catalog pricing, you set a custom price on the line item.
• A price lock. A lock keeps the prices on the order from changing, even if the product price changes later. Pricing is locked by default when you send an invoice or a checkout link. Locks are not supported for product bundles.
• An invoice and a PO number. You can add the buyer's purchase order number, set payment terms, and send an invoice from the draft order.
• Review on your side. Set a company location to submit all orders as drafts for review, and its buyers see a 'Submit for approval' button at checkout. The orders land in your Drafts for you to accept.
• Plans: draft orders run on every B2B plan, which is Basic, Grow, Advanced and Plus. Deposit requirements on draft orders are a Plus feature. (plan features)

A draft order is where a negotiation ends. Shopify's draft order pages describe a price, a lock and an invoice. Shopify has no RFQ object or versioned quote record, and the pages describe no margin check either. What is missing in practice:

• No request object. The buyer's ask arrives as an email, a call or a form, and someone retypes it into the draft.
• No history of rounds. A draft holds the price you set now. Earlier offers and counters are not versions of the same document.
• No margin check. Nothing in a draft stops a rep from sending a price below the margin your branch requires.
• No reason. Why the price moved, such as a competitor match, a project price or a volume buy, is not part of the record.
• When draft orders are enough: a handful of quotes a week and a careful rep. The gap shows up when several reps quote, prices are countered often, or cost moves between a quote and a reorder. See Shopify draft orders for B2B quotes.

A request-a-quote app puts a button and a form on the store, can hide prices from people you choose, and turns the request into a draft order or order once you price it. That solves the ask.

A negotiation record solves what comes after the ask: each counter saved as a version, who changed what, the margin at each step, and the accepted version becoming the order. Whether an app does this is on its listing, so read for round-by-round or versions, not for a form. An illustration with made-up figures:

• Round 1: a buyer asks for 200 units of 6205-2RS at $2.80 against a $3.10 contract price.
• Round 2: the store checks its cost, passes the margin check, and counters at $2.90.
• Round 3: the buyer accepts $2.90 and adds a PO number.
• With a record, all three rounds sit on one quote and the order carries $2.90. With a draft order alone, the rounds live in email and the draft shows $2.90.

These six quote apps are described in their own Shopify App Store listings, read on October 22, 2026. Ratings, review counts and prices move, so check the listing. For a feature-by-feature view, see the quote app comparison.

Copiara is our app, so weigh this entry accordingly. It is in early access: it is not on the Shopify App Store yet, nobody can install it today, and it has no customers.

Copiara's quoting desk takes a buyer's request (an RFQ) through negotiation to an accepted quote on one record that keeps every round. A margin floor is checked on the server, so a counter, a discount or an accept that would take the quote below it is refused. When the quote is accepted, it is placed in Shopify as an order with the agreed prices locked.

Rules you write can accept, counter or decline routine quote requests. An accept rule applies when the buyer asked at or below contract prices and the margin stays above your floor, among other checks, and anything else waits for you in Quotes. Sidekick can stage a counter offer that your team reviews and sends.

Another app is the better choice in some cases. If a Request a Quote button and hidden prices are enough, a form app costs less: SP Request a Quote has a free plan and Quotify starts at 17. If you want AI price suggestions drawn from order history, Quote Desk describes that. If you want approvals on both sides of a quote, QuotWay's listing lists them on its paid plans.

Copiara suits distributors and brands on Shopify that negotiate prices, need sign-off inside the buying company, and sell on credit. The published plans are Free, then $59 and $129 a month with a 14-day trial on the paid ones, billed through Shopify App Pricing, with the same toolkit on every plan. Nobody can subscribe yet.