Handle counter-offers and buyer prices

Read time: 5 minutes. Last updated: June 20, 2026 Who it's for: Merchants whose buyers have countered a proposal, or who want buyers to name their own target price during a negotiation.

Negotiation in QuotWay goes both ways. After you send a proposal, a buyer can counter it with their own prices - and you can counter back, all inside one tracked thread. This article covers what a counter is, the per-line buyer offer prices, the warning badge when a buyer asks for more than your catalog price, and how to respond to a counter.

What is a counter-offer?

A counter-offer is the buyer's priced response to your proposal. Instead of accepting or declining outright, the buyer proposes different prices and sends them back. When they do, the quote's status changes to COUNTERED and QuotWay captures the counter as a new version in the version timeline.

Merchant counter-offers are available on every plan. Buyer counter-offers - the buyer proposing their own price - are available on the Starter plan and above. Buyers counter from their Shopify customer account or the hosted buyer portal; there's no email thread to manage.

What are per-line buyer offer prices?

When you enable the offer-price field, buyers can name a requested price on each line rather than just accepting or rejecting your number. This captures the buyer's target price per line item, so the negotiation starts from a real figure instead of a blank reply.

You control whether the offer-price field is shown. With it on:

Each line a buyer counters carries their requested unit price alongside your proposed price.
The counter arrives as a new version, with a diff showing exactly which lines the buyer moved and by how much.
You see both numbers side by side when you open the countered version, so you can decide line by line.

A buyer can also name a target price right at intake - when they first request the quote - so you open the conversation already knowing what they're aiming for.

Why is there a warning badge on a buyer's offer?

If a buyer's requested price on a line is above your catalog price, QuotWay shows a warning badge on that line. This is a flag, not a block: a buyer might request more than the listed price by mistake (for example, entering a total instead of a unit price), and the badge makes that easy to spot before you respond.

When you see the badge, check the line before accepting. You can accept the line as-is, counter it down to a price that fits, or message the buyer to confirm what they meant. The badge simply makes sure an unusual number never slips through unnoticed.

How do I respond to a counter?

When a quote is COUNTERED, open it from your inbox to see the buyer's prices against yours.

Open the countered version and review the diff - the changed lines and the new total are highlighted.
Decide your response:
- Accept the counter - agree to the buyer's prices. The quote moves toward acceptance and, where an approval is required, to AWAITING_BUYER_APPROVAL before it's sealed. Once accepted, it becomes FULLY_ACCEPTED.
- Counter back - open the proposal editor, adjust prices, and send. That's another version, and the status returns to PROPOSAL_SENT for the buyer's next move.
- Decline - end the negotiation if the gap can't be closed.
Keep your counters inside your floor price so a round of negotiation never drops below your margin. See Floor price and discounts.

Each exchange - your proposal, the buyer's counter, your counter back - is its own sealed version, so the full back-and-forth stays recorded and auditable from start to finish.

What if the negotiation needs an approval?

On Professional and above, a counter or acceptance can route through an approval workflow before it's final - useful when a discount needs a manager's sign-off, or when a buyer's company requires internal approval. While it's pending, the quote sits at AWAITING_BUYER_APPROVAL. See Approval workflows.

Build and send a proposal - how to create the proposal a buyer counters, and how versions work.
Floor price and discounts - keep every counter inside the minimum you'll accept.
Approval workflows - route a counter or acceptance for sign-off before it's sealed.