Estimate, Quote or Fixed Offer: What Is Binding?
By CodexierPublished 7 min read
A supplier says the job will be around a certain amount. Is that a promise? In Sweden the answer depends on whether it was an estimate or an offer, whether you are a consumer or a company, and what was written down. Buyers of websites, apps and software services get caught here constantly, because the three words are used loosely. This guide explains what each commits the supplier to and how to make sure you get the one you think you are getting.
The short answer
We sell almost everything at published fixed prices, including our website launch packages, precisely because the estimate model produces the arguments this guide describes.
Estimate vs binding quote
An estimate answers the question what will this roughly cost. It is useful for budgeting and useless as a commitment: the supplier will invoice for time and materials and the estimate merely signals expectation. A quote answers a different question: on these terms, for this scope, will you buy? Under the Swedish Contracts Act an offer binds the offeror for the period it states, or a reasonable period if none is stated, and a written quote accepted in writing forms a contract. If the acceptance changes anything, it is a counter-offer, and the supplier must accept it in turn.
| Document | What the supplier commits to | How the price can change |
|---|---|---|
| Estimate | A good-faith forecast; billing is by time or as agreed | Freely between businesses; capped for consumers |
| Quote with hourly rate and estimated hours | The rate, not the total | Hours grow; the total follows |
| Quote with fixed price | The stated price for the stated scope | Only via agreed change requests |
| Fixed price with published scope | Price and scope, both public and identical for all buyers | Only via agreed change requests |
The middle row is the most common in web and software work and the most misunderstood: a quote is binding, but what it binds is the hourly rate, and the estimated hours are an estimate.
Consumer rules on price overruns
When a private person buys a service, the Consumer Services Act (konsumenttjänstlagen) applies. If the supplier gave an approximate price, the final price may not exceed it by more than fifteen percent, unless a different limit was agreed or the consumer ordered additional work. If a fixed price was given, that is the price. The supplier must also tell the consumer if the work is likely to cost significantly more than expected and wait for instructions. These rules exist because consumers cannot negotiate terms; they do not apply when a company buys.
Most website and app projects are bought by companies, including sole traders buying for the business, so the consumer protections usually do not apply to our customers. Sole traders sometimes assume they do. They do not, and the contract terms carry the whole weight.
Business-to-business agreements
Between companies, freedom of contract governs. An estimate binds nobody; a quote binds on its own terms; and the terms decide everything. The clauses to read in any web or software quote: the scope, described concretely enough to test; the assumptions, such as content delivered by a certain date or a specific platform; the validity period; the payment schedule; what counts as a change and how changes are priced; and the acceptance procedure. A quote that describes scope in one sentence and price in one number has left every disagreement to be settled later, usually in the supplier's favour, because they define what was included.
- Scope: pages, functions, integrations, devices, content responsibilities, listed.
- Assumptions and dependencies: what you must deliver, by when, and what happens if you do not.
- Validity: how long the quote stands, and whether the price holds if you start later.
- Changes: the mechanism and rate for work outside the scope.
- Acceptance and warranty: how done is decided and what is fixed for free afterwards.
Getting it in writing
Oral agreements are valid in Sweden and impossible to prove. The verbal around figure from a meeting becomes, months later, a disagreement about whether it was a fixed price. Ask for every price in writing with the word that describes it, estimate, quote or fixed price, and with the scope attached. Accept in writing, referring to the document and date. Record every later change the same way, even a short email confirming a call. This is not distrust; it is the only way two honest parties can remember the same thing a year later.
If you receive an estimate
Ask what would make it higher, and ask for a fixed price for the part they can define. Agree that they must warn you before exceeding it.
If you receive a quote
Check validity, scope and assumptions, then accept by email referring to the document. Any question you ask first is not an acceptance.
If you receive a fixed price
Make sure the scope is written in enough detail that a change request can be recognised as one. A fixed price on a vague scope is a fixed price on the supplier's interpretation.
When the price may change
Even a fixed price can legitimately change, and a good agreement says when. You ask for something outside the scope: a change request, priced before it is done. You fail to deliver something the price assumed, such as content or access, and the supplier incurs cost waiting. A third party changes terms, such as a platform raising licence fees. What should not change the price: the supplier underestimating the work within the agreed scope; that risk is what a fixed price transfers to them, and it is why fixed prices are slightly higher than optimistic estimates.
When you do not need a formal quote, or us: a small job with a defined hourly rate and a cap you set yourself is fine on an email. When it matters: anything where the number is large enough to hurt, the scope is complex, or the delivery date is tied to a launch. Then insist on a fixed price with a written scope and an acceptance procedure; our guides to what a webshop quote should include and acceptance testing and sign-off give you both halves. Our own prices are published as fixed prices with scope on the pricing page; if you have a quote from anyone that you are unsure about, book a call and we will read it with you.
Frequently asked questions
Is a quote binding if I accept it verbally?
Yes, a verbal acceptance forms a contract, but proving it is another matter. Accept in writing, referring to the quote's date and version, and you remove the argument before it starts.
The supplier gave an estimate and now invoices much more. What can I do?
As a company, your position rests on the agreement: if the estimate was expressly not a price and billing was by the hour, the invoice is likely valid, though you can dispute unreasonable hours. As a consumer, the Consumer Services Act limits the overrun. Either way, ask for a time report and negotiate; suppliers usually prefer a settlement to a dispute over a number they never committed to.
Can a supplier withdraw a quote?
Not once you have accepted it within the validity period. Before acceptance, a written quote binds the supplier for its stated period under Swedish contract law, and a quote with no stated period binds for a reasonable time. A verbal quote must be accepted on the spot to bind.
Why are fixed prices sometimes higher than estimates?
Because the supplier takes on the risk that the work takes longer than planned. An estimate leaves that risk with you. Over many projects the fixed price is usually the cheaper way to buy, because the estimate that comes in under is rare and the one that runs over is common.
Not sure whether the number you were given is binding?
Send us the document. In fifteen minutes we tell you whether it is an estimate, a quote or a fixed price, what it commits the supplier to, and which questions to ask before you accept.
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