Quick answer
Before you message refrigeration manufacturers on Alibaba.com, Made-in-China.com or Global Sources, fix throughput, temperature bands, site utilities, energy, compliance, maintenance and landed/lifecycle cost. A practical spec sheet, bid-levelling criteria and workflow. Product and temperature bands from your documentation, capacity and peak throughput, site utilities, energy tariff, compliance needs, maintenance expectations and the commercial terms you want quoted.
Key takeaways
- What should a cold-storage RFQ include before contacting China manufacturers? Product and temperature bands from your documentation, capacity and peak throughput, site utilities, energy tariff, compliance needs, maintenance expectations and the commercial terms you want quoted.
- How do I compare refrigeration quotes from different suppliers? Ask for capacity at your stated conditions and an itemised scope, then rebuild landed and lifecycle cost and score everything in one comparison matrix.
- What is total landed and lifecycle cost? Equipment price plus freight, insurance, duties, installation and commissioning, plus energy, maintenance and replacement over the asset's life.
- Do I have to use ColdMatch to buy from China suppliers? No.
Reviewed: Oct 2026 · ColdMatch Group
Short answer: the cheapest moment to shape a cold-storage or refrigeration project is before the first supplier message. Write a one-page specification — product, throughput, temperature bands, site utilities, energy, compliance, maintenance and total landed and lifecycle cost — and send the same document to every manufacturer. Marketplaces then become a discovery channel for a project you already control.
Why the spec has to come before the marketplace
Major routes such as Alibaba.com and 1688.com (both launched 1999), Made-in-China.com (founded 1998), DHgate (founded 2004) and Hong Kong-based Global Sources (a trade publication from 1971, online platform from 1995) are useful examples — not an exhaustive list — and each works differently. Alibaba has broadened into trade services and AI tools, Made-in-China promotes SourcingAI and visual search, Global Sources combines online sourcing with trade fairs (O2O) and DHgate serves cross-border wholesale. Our platform landscape guide covers them in detail. What none of them can know is your peak intake, your ambient design conditions or your electricity tariff — so a listing price is an answer to a question you have not asked yet.
The cold-chain specification sheet (before you contact suppliers)
- Product and outcome: what is stored, how it arrives and leaves, and the storage temperature bands taken from your product documentation — not from a supplier listing.
- Capacity and throughput: pallet positions, peak daily intake and dispatch, entry temperature, pull-down time. Get a first estimate with the free cold room size calculator.
- Site and utilities: available power and voltage, ambient design temperature, floor, access, water, permits.
- Energy: your tariff, operating hours and efficiency expectations.
- Compliance: standards, refrigerant rules and approvals required in your market, confirmed with qualified local professionals.
- Maintenance and service: local service partner, spares, response time, warranty terms, training.
- Monitoring: temperature recording and alarms you need for audits.
- Commercial: Incoterm, payment milestones, delivery date, installation and commissioning responsibility.
Build the total landed and lifecycle cost
Ex-works price is one line. Add freight, insurance, duties and local taxes, installation, site works and commissioning in the landed cost calculator, then energy, maintenance and replacement over the asset life in the refrigeration TCO calculator. The lowest unit price is often not the lowest total sourcing cost; your numbers decide.
Comparable bid criteria
| Criterion | Ask every supplier for |
|---|---|
| Capacity | Cooling capacity at *your* stated conditions |
| Scope | Itemised inclusions and exclusions |
| Energy | Expected consumption at your operating profile |
| Compliance | Documents relevant to your market |
| Service | Local partner, spares list, response time |
| Delivery | Lead time, Incoterm, installation responsibility |
| Cost | Price split so landed cost can be rebuilt |
A simple sourcing workflow
- Complete the spec sheet and RFQ template.
- Find candidates on platforms, at trade fairs or through referrals.
- Send one identical RFQ.
- Level responses in the free proposal comparison matrix.
- Verify suppliers: documents, references, factory and after-sales capability.
- Clarify gaps, shortlist, negotiate.
- Manage delivery, installation, commissioning and acceptance.
Mistakes and risks
- Accepting nominal capacity without stated conditions.
- Comparing quotes with different scopes or Incoterms.
- Forgetting site electrical upgrades and commissioning.
- Assuming certificates cover your market.
- No spares or local service plan until something fails.
Why start with ColdMatch
ColdMatch is a supplier-neutral procurement operating system for cold-chain projects: you scope the project, plan capacity and cost with our calculators, create a structured RFQ, compare suitable manufacturer proposals and track the project. Starting here means every supplier — from a marketplace or elsewhere — answers the same brief, so quotes become comparable. Buyer tools and the RFQ builder are free for buyers with no obligation; suppliers, freight, engineering and financing are not part of that. For projects of USD 250,000 or more, our team can review your RFQ, contact suitable manufacturers on your behalf, including ones found on external platforms, and present organised responses. You are not required to use us, and the choice of supplier stays yours.
Next step: start your structured RFQ — free, supplier-neutral, no obligation. We cannot guarantee supplier responses, prices or outcomes; engineering and compliance decisions need qualified local professionals.
Sources (platform facts reviewed 14 Oct 2026)
Run the numbers
Calculators for this project type
Indicative planning figures only — final sizing belongs to the supplier's or consultant's detailed design.
Cold storage capacity calculator
Pallet positions, chamber volume and indicative build cost for a refrigerated warehouse.
Energy & backup powerEnergy & backup power cost calculator
Annual energy spend from load and running hours, plus the cost of generator hours during outages.
Frequently asked questions
Plan the numbers before you send an RFQ
The reference pages buyers use most before requesting quotes.