What a transparent quotation actually looks like
A quotation you can compare is one you can take apart. Here is what should be itemised, and which line items tend to be missing on purpose.
Two quotations for the same stand can differ by a large margin and both be honest. They can also differ because one of them has quietly left things out. You cannot tell which from the total, only from the breakdown.
What should be on its own line
- Design. Concept, layout, 3D visualisation, and the revision rounds included before changes start costing money.
- Structure. Broken down by element — walls, counters, storeroom, hanging sign — not as one figure for “the build”.
- Graphics. Separate from structure, because this is the line you will reprint next time while keeping everything else.
- Pre-assembly. Building the stand once in the factory before it crates. If this is not a line item, ask whether it happens at all.
- Crating and freight. With the mode named (sea or air) and the arrival window stated, not just a lump sum.
- Customs. Who prepares the documentation, and whether duties are included or estimated.
- Install and dismantle. Crew size and days on site.
What is usually not in it — and is not the builder’s fault
The show organiser and the venue bill separately for things your builder does not control: electrical supply and connection, rigging for anything suspended, drayage (moving your crates from the dock to your space), hall cleaning, internet, and the stand space itself.
These are not small. On a mid-size island they can rival the cost of the structure. A quotation that never mentions them is not cheaper — it is less complete. Ask for them to be listed as excluded items with rough figures so they are in your budget from the start rather than in an invoice afterwards.
Three questions worth asking
“What happens if I change this after approval?” The answer should be a process and a rate, not a shrug.
“Who owns the drawings?” Get the answer in writing before you sign, not after a dispute.
“What is the buffer between the stand leaving your floor and move-in opening?” If the answer is zero, the schedule has no room for the one thing that always goes wrong.
Cheap in the wrong place
The line most often cut to win a bid is pre-assembly. It is invisible on a spreadsheet and it is the single most useful thing anyone does for your stand. A build that has never been assembled before it ships is a set of parts that have never met, arriving somewhere with no workshop and a few hours to spare.