Quick answer
A workable cordless stick vacuum RFQ does three jobs at once: it fixes the performance numbers you are willing to pay for, it names the evidence that proves those numbers, and it assigns responsibility for battery and product-safety compliance before any sample is approved. Treat the RFQ as a testable specification rather than a shopping list. If a field cannot be verified with a document, a measurement or a witness test, it belongs in the evaluation report, not in the RFQ.
1. The buyer brief that should sit above the RFQ
Suppliers price and design to whatever brief they receive, so the brief has to describe use, not just product. State the following before any specification table:
- Intended market and channel. Country of sale determines which safety, labelling and battery obligations apply; the same hardware may need different documentation for the EU, the US and the UK.
- User and floor mix. Hard floor versus low-pile carpet share, presence of pet hair, and the typical home size drive airflow, brush design and runtime more than any other input.
- Duty cycle expectation. How long a single cleaning session runs, how many sessions per charge, and how many years the unit must remain usable.
- Commercial frame. First-order quantity, expected annual volume, target landed cost band and the trade term you intend to quote on.
- Brand and packaging role. Whether the supplier manufactures to your design, adapts an existing platform, or supplies a private-label unit — this changes tooling ownership and certification responsibilities.
2. Core performance requirements to specify numerically
Vague adjectives such as "strong suction" cannot be compared across quotes. Convert each requirement into a value, a test condition and an acceptance rule. Common fields, with the reason each matters:
| Field | What to state | Why the RFQ needs it |
|---|---|---|
| Runtime and mode | Minutes per charge in each power mode, with the filter and floor tool fitted | Runtime claims are mode-dependent; a single headline figure hides the lowest mode |
| Charge time | Minutes to full charge, charger input voltage and plug type | Determines user experience and which charger approvals are needed |
| Dust capacity | Litres to the fill line, plus usable volume after the cyclone or filter pack is installed | Nominal bin size overstates usable capacity on compact cyclones |
| Filtration | Filter media type, stages, washable or replaceable, stated particle retention with the test method | Allergy and indoor-air claims must be traceable to a method |
| Noise | Sound pressure level in dB(A) at a defined distance and mode | Comparison without distance and mode is meaningless |
| Mass and balance | Unit mass with battery and tool, plus centre-of-gravity position | Drives perceived effort and tip-over behaviour when parked |
| Brush and tool set | Tool list, brush bar material, anti-tangle design, accessory compatibility | Accessory scope is a frequent hidden cost in change orders |
| Durability cycles | Switch, trigger, wand-lock and bin-release cycle counts with pass criteria | Turns "built to last" into a bench test |
For each row, require that the supplier quote against your condition, and reject a quote that answers a different one. Where the supplier's platform cannot meet a value, ask for the achievable figure and the cost of closing the gap rather than accepting silence.
3. Battery and electrical requirements — the part RFQs usually under-specify
The battery is the highest-risk subsystem on a cordless stick vacuum: it is the main field-failure and safety item, and it is regulated separately from the appliance. An RFQ that lists only voltage and capacity will produce quotes that are impossible to compare on compliance.
3.1 Cell and pack data
- Cell chemistry, form factor, nominal voltage, nominal and usable capacity in Wh, and the cell manufacturer and model reference (or a requirement to disclose it before tooling).
- Pack configuration, protection circuit board functions (over-charge, over-discharge, over-current, short circuit, temperature cut-off), and whether the pack is removable by the user.
- Cycle-life expectation with the test conditions: capacity retention after a stated number of cycles at a stated depth of discharge and temperature.
- Charging profile and charger architecture — mains charger versus USB-C in-unit charging — because this changes both approvals and user expectations.
3.2 Transport and safety evidence
Lithium cells and packs are regulated as dangerous goods for transport. Ask for the UN 38.3 test summary report covering the specific cell and pack, and expect to see the eight-test series (altitude simulation, thermal, vibration, shock, external short circuit, impact/crush, overcharge and forced discharge) referenced by test number.
On the product-safety side, IEC 60335-2-2 is the household vacuum-cleaner safety standard; its current edition explicitly covers battery-operated and other DC-supplied appliances, and dual-supply products are assessed as battery-operated when running from the battery. European buyers typically work from the harmonised EN version, so require the supplier to state the exact edition and amendment it tested to, and to provide the test report — not a certificate cover page. For the lithium cells and packs themselves, IEC 62133-2 is the widely used safety standard for portable secondary lithium systems; confirm with your compliance advisor whether it is part of your acceptance route rather than assuming a supplier claim is sufficient.
3.3 What to ask about the EU battery rules
Regulation (EU) 2023/1542 reshaped battery obligations, but its carbon-footprint declaration duty currently applies to electric-vehicle, LMT and larger industrial batteries — not to ordinary portable batteries, for which the Commission must first assess extension. So do not put a portable-battery carbon-footprint declaration on your 2026 EU RFQ as a contractual must; instead ask the supplier to state which obligations it believes apply to your configuration (labelling, due-diligence policy, waste-battery take-back) and to evidence them. That question separates suppliers who track the regulation from those who paste a compliance paragraph into every quote.
3.4 General product safety and importer duties
For EU sales, the General Product Safety Regulation (EU) 2023/988 has applied since 13 December 2024 and requires a responsible economic operator established in the EU, plus traceability information on the product and packaging. Put these in the RFQ as deliverables: who is the EU responsible person, what identification appears on the rating label and carton, and who holds the technical documentation. For US sales, ask which testing route and which labelling the supplier proposes, and require the report that supports it.
4. Materials, finish and mechanical requirements
- Housing resin and recycled content: name the resin family, flame behaviour where relevant, and any recycled-content percentage you need; state how it will be verified (material certificate, batch declaration).
- Surface finish: colour reference system, gloss level, and the abrasion or chemical-resistance test the finish must survive — a finish spec without a test is an opinion.
- Wear parts: filter, brush bar, seals and battery as separately priced service parts, with the supplier's commitment to keep them available for a stated period after end of production.
- Repairability: fastener type, modular assemblies, and whether the battery and brush can be replaced with a common screwdriver; this increasingly affects both consumer expectations and market access rules.
5. Packaging, labelling and logistics fields
Specify carton drop-test standard and drop height, inner protection for the wand and battery, retail-pack print requirements, and the barcode and serial-number scheme. Add the data you will need for freight: unit net and gross weight, carton dimensions and count, pallet pattern, and the HS classification the supplier proposes with its reasoning. Ask separately whether the battery ships installed in the appliance, packed with it, or as a standalone pack — the dangerous-goods handling differs in each case, and the answer changes cost and paperwork.
6. Commercial and quality-clause fields
| Clause | What the RFQ should fix |
|---|---|
| Quotation basis | Currency, trade term, validity period, price-break quantities, tooling and NRE cost shown separately |
| MOQ and lead time | MOQ per colour and per configuration; sample, production and repeat-order lead times |
| Sampling | Number of golden samples, approval criteria, who signs, and how long the approved sample is retained |
| Inspection | AQL level and inspection stage, plus the functional tests run on every lot (runtime spot check, charge test, noise spot check) |
| Change control | Written notice period for BOM, cell, motor or charger changes, and re-approval before shipment |
| Warranty | Period, what is excluded, failure-rate threshold that triggers corrective action, spare-part and battery supply commitment |
7. Evidence to require with the quote
Pair each requirement with a document so that the response is auditable. A practical minimum pack:
- Completed specification response sheet, field by field, with deviations flagged rather than silently adjusted.
- Safety test reports for the appliance and the battery, showing standard edition, laboratory and date.
- UN 38.3 test summary for the exact cell and pack, plus the dangerous-goods classification the supplier will use.
- Battery cell datasheet and cycle-life data with test conditions.
- Factory profile: production lines used for this product, in-house versus outsourced processes (motor, injection moulding, pack assembly), and capacity for your monthly volume.
- Quality system evidence and the last internal or third-party audit summary relevant to this line.
- Two comparable references in the same product class, described at the level of market and configuration — not customer names the supplier cannot substantiate.
- Material and finish declarations, plus packaging specification and artwork dieline.
State in the RFQ that missing evidence makes a response non-comparable, and how you will treat partial answers. This single sentence removes most of the follow-up churn.
8. How to score responses consistently
Weight the criteria before responses arrive, not after. A defensible split for a consumer appliance is roughly: performance compliance 30%, battery and product-safety evidence 25%, quality system and capacity 20%, commercial terms 15%, packaging and logistics readiness 10%. Score evidence, not promises — a supplier without a test report scores zero on that criterion regardless of how confident the answer sounds. Record the scoring, the evidence reviewed and the open questions, because that record is what protects the decision if performance disappoints later.
9. Red flags in the returned RFQ
- Specification answered with marketing copy, or a table where several fields are "standard" with no value.
- A certificate image with no test report, an expired edition of a safety standard, or a report whose model number does not match the quoted product.
- UN 38.3 documentation offered only "on request after order" — transport evidence is a pre-condition, not a post-shipment task.
- Battery capacity quoted without stating whether it is nominal or usable, or runtime quoted without a mode.
- No named owner for the EU responsible-person role, or a rating label that omits the importer identity.
- Refusal to disclose cell maker or pack assembler, which usually signals an inability to control the highest-risk component.
- A price that is materially below the field on the same specification and no explanation of which requirement was relaxed.
10. A short pre-send checklist
- Every performance field has a value, a unit, a test condition and an acceptance rule.
- Battery section covers cell data, pack protection, cycle life, transport evidence and product-safety evidence.
- Market-specific obligations (EU responsible person, labelling, take-back) appear as deliverables with named owners.
- Quote basis, MOQ, lead time, sampling and change control are fixed, so prices are comparable.
- Evidence list is stated, and missing evidence has a declared consequence.
- Scoring weights and the evaluation record format are prepared before the RFQ goes out.
Related reading on this site: supplier evaluation criteria and contracts and after-sales terms for the clauses that follow the RFQ stage.
Sources
- IEC 60335-2-2, Household and similar electrical appliances — Safety — Part 2-2: Particular requirements for vacuum cleaners and water-suction cleaning appliances (2019 edition covers battery-operated and other DC-supplied appliances); harmonised European edition EN IEC 60335-2-2 with amendments.
- IEC 62133-2, Secondary cells and batteries containing alkaline or other non-acid electrolytes — Safety requirements for portable sealed secondary lithium cells, and for batteries made from them, for use in portable applications.
- UN Manual of Tests and Criteria, Part III, subsection 38.3, and associated dangerous-goods rules for lithium batteries; UN 38.3 test summary reporting.
- Regulation (EU) 2023/1542 on batteries and waste batteries — carbon-footprint declaration scope, and obligations for portable batteries.
- Regulation (EU) 2023/988 on general product safety, applicable since 13 December 2024, including responsible-person and traceability requirements.