Most shops use "quote" and "estimate" to mean the same thing: a number sent to a customer before work starts. They are not the same thing, and the difference decides who absorbs it when the job turns out to cost more than the number.
| Quote | Estimate |
|---|---|
| A fixed price for a defined scope | A considered projection of likely cost |
| You carry the risk of it costing more | The customer carries agreed variation |
| Needs the scope pinned down first | Works when details are still open |
| Changes require a written variation | Changes are expected and re-costed |
| Suits repeatable, well-understood work | Suits restoration, site work, unknowns |
Which to send
Send a quote when you can describe the finished piece precisely enough that you would be comfortable building it from your own description — materials named, dimensions fixed, hardware chosen, finish specified, delivery and installation defined. If you can do that, a fixed price is usually what the customer wants and it wins work.
Send an estimate when something material is genuinely unknown: you have not seen the site, the substrate might be rotten, the customer has not chosen the handles, or the design is still moving. Quoting a fixed price over an unknown means pricing in a contingency large enough to cover the worst case, which usually loses the job — or omitting it, which is how a shop ends up working for nothing.
What either one must contain
Regardless of which you send, the document is doing two jobs: winning the work, and defining what "the work" is so that a later change is visibly a change.
- What is included — materials, hardware, finish, delivery, installation.
- What is explicitly excluded — the exclusions are what protect you.
- The price, and whether tax is included or added.
- How long the price holds. Timber prices move; 30 days is common.
- Payment terms, including any deposit.
- For an estimate: what would cause it to change, and how a change is agreed.
The line that saves arguments
This price holds for 30 days and covers the scope listed above. Anything outside it will be priced separately and agreed in writing before work continues.
Pricing the uncertainty rather than hiding it
When you must quote fixed over something unknown, the honest approach is to price the unknown as a named contingency rather than quietly padding every line. A customer who sees "£300 allowance for substrate repair, refunded if not needed" understands what they are paying for. The same £300 spread invisibly across the cabinet prices looks like you are expensive.
It also protects the number you learn from afterwards. Padding distributed across every line makes your own cost records useless, because you can no longer tell which parts of the job were priced accurately.
You can use both
A common and defensible pattern for site work is an estimate for the survey and preparation, then a fixed quote for the fabrication once the survey has removed the unknowns. The customer gets certainty where it is possible and honesty where it is not, and you are not carrying risk you were never paid to carry.