Furniture CPQ: frame, grade, finish, quoted.
What is furniture CPQ and which tool fits? Furniture CPQ is configure-price-quote software for custom upholstery and case goods priced by frame, fabric grade, finish and COM. Generic CPQ handles catalog SKUs and ERP workflows, and configurators render layouts but leave pricing to spreadsheets. Poly9 AI prices frames from your grade matrix and COM rules, applies finish upcharges and nailhead pricing by the running foot, and returns price on request when a fabric grade or finish has no rule.
Custom upholstery prices by frame, fabric grade, finish and COM. Frame price from the grade matrix, COM by yardage from the pattern, finish upcharges from your rules, nailheads per running foot. A fabric grade with no rule returns price on request for that line; the rest still prices.
Generic CPQ tools handle catalog ordering and ERP integration. Configurators render room layouts but stop at visualization; pricing happens in spreadsheets rebuilt for each quote. Both work until grade combinations multiply or a new finish enters mid-job.
Choose generic CPQ for catalog ordering with ERP workflows. Keep the configurator for room layouts. Choose Poly9 AI when furniture is quoted by frame, grade, finish and COM, and price on request beats a guessed fabric price for a grade not yet in the book.
The five verbs, plus four that decide it.
Rows the other category wins stay in. Swipe the table on a phone.
| What matters | furniture CPQ | Poly9 AI |
|---|---|---|
| Answer | A quote form or phone intake. The estimator produces the quote during business hours or after the layout is done. | Answers the dealer, designer or buyer from your catalog and rules, on the showroom floor or on your site. |
| Configure | Configurator draws the room layout. Pricing is manual or a separate spreadsheet step. | Plain language: "3585-11 in grade F, box pleat, nailheads." Your rules refuse incompatible frame and fabric combinations. |
| Price | Fixed catalog prices, or formulas in a spreadsheet rebuilt per quote. Missing grade breaks the estimate or forces a guess. | Frame by grade matrix, COM by yardage, finish upcharges from your rules, nailheads per running foot. Missing grade returns price on request. |
| Quote | A line-item PDF or order form, often rebuilt in Excel before it goes to the dealer or buyer. | No Excel rebuild. The dealer or buyer sees the quote on their phone and approves in one tap. |
| Present | Configurator wireframe or stock product photos. | Renders the piece in the chosen fabric and finish, labeled as a render, from the product photo or specification. |
| Layout and designThey win this row | Built for room layouts and furniture placement with exact dimensions. Pricing is out of scope or manual. | Built for the sales layer. Keep the configurator for room layouts; Poly9 AI prices the pieces from grade and COM rules. |
| Learns your business | Static rules until the manager updates the spreadsheet or configurator price table. | Learns from every question, quote and collection which grades and finishes sell together and which rules are missing. |
| Pricing model | Per seat per year for CPQ or furniture platforms, or free for spreadsheets. | Per sales action. One credit per action, $100 for a thousand, everyone on the team included. |
| Time to first quote | Depends on configurator setup time and estimator availability. Instant for spreadsheets if the grade and finish match a row. | Same day with a sample furniture catalog. Certified quotes once grade matrix and COM rules are written. |
Category behavior is described in general terms; specific products vary. Poly9 AI behavior is as shipped in September 2026.
The five steps. Price comes from approved rules, or returns price on request.
Why the differences matter.
Furniture CPQ is configure-price-quote for custom upholstery and case goods quoted by frame, fabric grade, finish and COM. A dealer quotes a sofa in grade F with a box pleat skirt and nailhead trim. The frame prices from the grade matrix: one price for grade F, another for a different grade. COM prices by the yardage the pattern needs. Finish upcharges apply as your rules set them. Nailheads price per running foot. Each is a rule applied in plain language: "3585-11 in grade F, box pleat, nailheads." Poly9 AI reads those rules, configures the piece, and builds the quote the same visit.
Generic CPQ platforms handle catalog items with fixed SKUs and ERP order entry well. Custom upholstery is the opposite: every piece configures from the buyer’s request for frame, fabric, finish and options. A sofa has pricing variables for the frame model, fabric grade or COM yardage, finish type, skirt style, nailhead application, and cushion fill. Poly9 AI holds each as a cost recipe: frame price by grade from the matrix, COM by yardage, finish upcharges from your rules, and nailheads per running foot.
Grade pricing is how furniture houses scale fabric choices. Grade F prices one frame at one price. Another grade prices the same frame at its own price. A showroom carries thousands of frames in tens of thousands of graded fabrics, and the matrix maps every frame to every grade. The spreadsheet models this as a lookup table. The table works until a new grade enters or the matrix was not updated for a new frame model. Poly9 AI applies the grade rule, reads the price from your matrix for that frame and grade. The quote shows every rule it applied.
COM pricing is where furniture quoting gets complex. COM (Customer’s Own Material) is one sentence: the frame at your COM price plus the yardage the pattern needs. Width and repeat from the fabric record determine the cut yardage. Ask it: "3585-11 in COM, 12 yards of Train To Paris." Poly9 AI reads the pattern yardage, applies your COM frame price, and builds the quote. When a fabric grade has no rule for that frame, that line returns price on request and the rest of the quote still prices.
Price on request is the line between an honest quote and a guessed one. A buyer asks for a fabric grade not yet in the matrix for that frame. Generic CPQ tools break the quote when a matrix entry is missing. Spreadsheets leave the estimator to fill the gap by hand, and the fill is often a guess that costs the order when the plant confirms the real grade price. Poly9 AI returns price on request for that line, drafts the internal request for the team with the conversation attached, and never guesses. The buyer gets a partial quote the same visit, and sees the updated total on the same link once the grade price is confirmed.
Finish and option pricing is how furniture pricing stays modular. A finish adds its premium from your rules, such as a percentage on the frame. Nailheads price per running foot: body nailheads on a sofa apply to the running foot measurement. Skirt options like box pleat or kick pleat price per piece. Cushion fill upgrades price per cushion or per piece depending on the maker’s rules. Poly9 AI reads those rules, applies them to the configuration, and builds the quote line by line.
Configurators are built for room layouts: exact furniture placement, dimensions for fit, and rendered room views. That is their strength, and Poly9 AI does not try to replace them. The configurator draws the room layout for the client presentation. Poly9 AI is the sales layer: it takes the frame, fabric, finish and options from the layout or from the dealer’s description, prices them from the maker’s rules, and sends the quote the buyer approves. A furniture maker or dealer can run both: the configurator for layout, Poly9 AI for the conversation and the certified quote.
Learning matters in furniture because every maker’s grade matrices, finish offerings, and option pricing differ. Poly9 AI learns from every question, quote and collection which grades and finishes sell together, which buyers choose nailheads, and which fabric grades are missing rules for new frames. The cost recipes stay yours; the memory layer shows what to price next.
Pricing models follow seat count or sales actions. Per-seat CPQ or furniture platform licenses cost the same whether the seat quotes twice a week or forty times. Spreadsheets are free but live in the estimator’s files and break when the grade matrix updates or that person is out. Poly9 AI is per sales action: one credit per action, $100 for 1,000 credits, everyone on the team included.
Catalog load time matters for furniture makers rolling out to showrooms and dealers. You can start the same day from the sample furniture catalog, add one grade matrix line and one COM rule, and send the first certified quote in that session. Big furniture lines get a white-glove import from us. A new fabric grade or finish option is one recipe addition, and the team quotes from it on their next ask.
- Catalog furniture ordering with fixed SKUs and prices, no custom configuration.
- Shops where the configurator must own the entire workflow from layout to order entry and nobody quotes until the render is done.
- Large furniture manufacturers with ERP-driven workflows where every order must enter through validated approval chains.
- Custom upholstery is quoted by frame, fabric grade, finish and COM. Frame from the grade matrix, COM by yardage, finish and nailheads from your rules.
- Your dealers and showrooms quote from the same book. The grade matrix you set applies to every quote that day.
- A missing fabric grade should return price on request for that line, not break the whole quote or force a guess.
- The configurator designs the room layout and Poly9 AI prices the pieces from rules. The buyer gets a certified quote the same visit.
- Grade matrix updates happen mid-season and one matrix change beats rewriting ten dealer spreadsheets.
A furniture maker can keep the configurator for room layouts and use Poly9 AI as the sales layer. The configurator draws the room with exact furniture placement and dimensions for the client. Poly9 AI takes the frame, fabric, finish and options from the layout, prices them from the maker’s grade matrix and COM rules, and sends the quote the buyer can approve.
Ask for an option you have not priced.
Whatever you compare it with, run this on your own catalog. Poly9 AI prices from your recipes and matrices through one engine, and when the rule is missing it says “price on request” and drafts the request. The tool that produces a plausible number instead is the one that costs you an order.
A fabric grade with no rule gets price on request. Demo storefront.
Questions about furniture CPQ.
Does furniture CPQ work with grade matrices and COM pricing?
What happens when a fabric grade is not in the matrix yet?
Can dealers see the manufacturer’s net pricing or do they see list?
How does this compare with furniture configurators?
How long does it take to load a furniture catalog?
Can buyers configure and quote custom furniture on the dealer’s site?
- Poly9 AI plan catalog, September 2026
Get started. Judge it on your own catalog.
Create your account, add your catalog or start with your industry’s sample catalog, and ask the question you would ask the other tool. Plans are paid monthly and cancel any time.