What is an instant quote?

The model is usually a STEP file; the buyer also picks material, quantity and sometimes a tolerance class or finish, and gets a lead time as well as a price. Behind it sits the portal's pricing model, which turns the geometry and the choices into a price; how it calculates is usually not visible to the buyer. Some portals belong to a shop itself, others are platforms that pass the order on to a network of shops.

How does an instant quote work in practice?

A 3D model usually carries no tolerances, roughness or thread specification; those are on the drawing, and a portal often prices them from a default assumption or asks for the drawing as well. A pricing model works from general assumptions that need not hold for a specific route: the workholding on hand, the inspection time for a fit such as ⌀8 H7, what an anodiser charges for a small batch. On a simple prismatic part the result can land close to an estimate; on a thin-walled frame, tight location tolerances or a subcontracted finish the gap can be large. On a platform, the platform itself often also sets the price the shop receives for the work.

What is an instant quote often confused with?

An instant quote is not an estimate: an estimate builds a cost from material, times and rates you can check, an instant quote gives a selling price from a model the buyer cannot see. CPQ is different too: CPQ prices a product from fixed configuration options, an instant quote works from an uploaded model. And a budgetary price is a deliberately rough indication from the shop itself.