Why Your Quotes Should Have an Expiry Date

The quote that came back to haunt you

A client holds your quote for five months, then emails "great, when can you start?" At prices you gave before lumber moved, before your rates went up, before you remembered the job had a basement you forgot to price in. Without an expiry date, your quote is an option contract the client can exercise whenever suits them. You wrote it. They own it.

Validity periods are normal

Writing "valid for 30 days" on a quote doesn't scare clients off. Contractors, agencies, and suppliers do it everywhere. It signals that your prices are real and current, not padding for negotiation. It also creates a gentle urgency. A quote expiring Friday gets a decision. A quote that's valid forever gets forgotten.

One line near the total

"This quote is valid for 30 days from the date above. After that, we're happy to re-quote at current prices." That's the whole sentence. If materials are volatile in your trade, shorten the window for those line items and say so. Clients respect honesty about why.

What you get back

• Stale quotes stop becoming surprise jobs at last year's prices.
• Follow-ups write themselves. "Just a heads-up, your quote expires the 15th."
• Your pipeline gets cleaner. An expired quote that never responded was never a real lead.

SimplyQuote adds validity dates to quotes automatically and can send the expiry reminder for you. The point isn't to pressure anyone. It's to make sure the price you quoted and the job you actually do are the same job.