Terms and Conditions
The rules for using Tradlee's website and portal. Version 1, last updated 4 November 2026.
Key points
A short summary. The full terms below are what apply.
Tradlee connects textile buyers, manufacturers and logistics providers. The manufacturer sells and the buyer buys. Tradlee is never the seller.
Payment for goods happens directly between buyer and manufacturer. Tradlee doesn't hold money for anyone.
Tradlee's fees are invoiced in USD and due in 14 days.
Companies you meet through Tradlee must stay on Tradlee for those deals. Going around the platform to avoid fees breaks these terms.
Names stay hidden until a deal, and contact details can't be shared before then.
Be honest about your company, products and certificates. Illegal goods and forced or child labour are banned.
1. About these terms
These terms are an agreement between you and Tradlee ("Tradlee", "we"). They apply when you use our website or portal, together called the platform. By creating an account or using the platform, you accept them.
Tradlee is for businesses. If you sign up, you confirm that you are at least 18 and have authority to bind the company you register. "You" means that company and anyone using its account.
2. What Tradlee does
Tradlee helps buyers post sourcing requests (RFQs), receive and compare offers, agree and sign contracts, and follow production and shipping.
On a direct deal, Tradlee provides the platform and earns a success fee.
On a "Let Tradlee handle it" request, Tradlee acts as your agent to arrange the deal or service, under a proposal you accept.
In every deal, the manufacturer is the seller and the buyer is the buyer, and the sale contract is between those two. Tradlee is not the seller or the buyer, doesn't own the goods, and doesn't guarantee that either side will perform or pay.
3. Your account
Give accurate, current details about yourself and your company, and correct them if they change.
Keep your password private. You are responsible for what happens under your account.
Tell us straight away if you think someone else has used your account.
Don't create accounts to get around a suspension, or pretend to be another company or person.
4. Factory and logistics approval
Tradlee reviews manufacturers and logistics providers. Status can be Pending, Approved or Suspended, and only approved companies can send offers.
Approval means we reviewed the information we had at that time. It isn't a guarantee of quality, capacity, finances or legal compliance, so buyers should make their own checks. We can ask for more information, or suspend approval, with a reason. You are responsible for the accuracy of everything on your profile, including any certificates you claim.
5. RFQs and offers
Post RFQs only for real needs, and describe them accurately. Tradlee may review, approve or reject an RFQ, and will give a reason if it rejects one.
An RFQ stops taking offers after its deadline, and is shared only with the suppliers it's meant for.
Send offers only if you intend and are able to fulfil them.
Trade suggestions and matching on the platform are automated guidance, not advice or a promise of results.
6. Names and contact details before a deal
To keep competition fair, buyers and suppliers see limited details about each other until a bid is accepted. Tradlee can always see real names. A buyer's target price is shown only if the buyer chooses to show it.
Until the deal, don't share phone numbers, emails, links, messaging accounts or anything else that would let the other side contact you directly, whether in messages, offers, RFQ text or attached files. We block what we can detect, but it remains your responsibility.
7. Staying on the platform
When Tradlee introduces you to another company, you agree not to make or arrange a deal with that company outside the platform, in a way that avoids Tradlee's fees, for 24 months after the introduction.
If you do, you must pay Tradlee the fee it would have earned on that deal, and we may suspend your account. If you already traded with a company before Tradlee, tell us, and this section won't apply to that relationship. Please also report any request to move a deal off the platform.
8. Contracts and signing
Once a deal is agreed, the platform prepares a draft contract, both sides review it and sign, and Tradlee then marks it as executed. A deal is final only when this is complete.
The signed contract governs the goods, price, quality, delivery and Incoterms, and takes priority over these terms on those points. You are responsible for reading it and for getting your own legal advice. Contract templates are provided for convenience and aren't legal advice.
Tradlee staff may sign on a party's behalf only where that party has authorised it. A reason is recorded on the contract each time.
9. Let Tradlee handle it
You can ask Tradlee to find a supplier or buyer, arrange logistics, or arrange verification. We'll send you a proposal with the final terms and Tradlee's fee. The other company's identity is shared when you accept.
If you accept a sourcing or find-a-buyer proposal, you appoint Tradlee as your agent for that deal, and a draft contract is created for both sides to sign. The fee is invoiced when the contract is executed. Fees for logistics and verification proposals are invoiced when you accept.
10. Fees and invoices
Tradlee's success fee on a direct deal is paid by the manufacturer, unless Tradlee tells you otherwise before the contract is signed. It's invoiced when the contract is executed, at the rate shown for that deal.
Fees for required factory visits and the inspection are set out in the contract, and charged to the side the contract names.
Other fees, such as service fees, plans, advisory sessions and extra visits, are shown before you commit, and charged to the company that requested them.
Invoices are in USD and due within 14 days. Fees don't include taxes, bank charges or currency costs, which you are responsible for.
While an invoice is overdue, your company can't post new RFQs or send new offers. Current orders can continue.
A paid plan starts when its invoice is paid, and doesn't renew automatically.
Fees are not refunded once the service is delivered or the contract executed, unless we agree otherwise or the law requires it. A later problem between buyer and manufacturer doesn't cancel a fee already earned.
11. Paying for goods
Goods are paid for outside the platform, directly between buyer and manufacturer, under their contract. Tradlee doesn't receive, hold or release those payments, and isn't responsible if a payment is late, missing or sent to the wrong place. Confirm bank details directly with the other party before paying, once the deal is signed.
12. Production, inspections and shipping
Every contract requires factory visits by Tradlee during production and a final pre-shipment inspection, as its visit plan sets out. The manufacturer must give Tradlee access on the dates confirmed, and goods can't ship until the inspection has passed.
The manufacturer is responsible for producing goods as agreed. Factory updates, milestone visits and inspection reports describe what was seen at that moment and on the items checked. They don't guarantee the whole order or replace your own checks.
The party responsible for freight under the Incoterm arranges shipping, which can be self-arranged, from quotes, or through Tradlee. Logistics providers are independent companies, responsible for their own services. Unless your contract says otherwise, Tradlee isn't a carrier and doesn't insure goods.
13. Delivery and disputes
After delivery is reported, the buyer has 7 days to confirm receipt or raise a dispute. If the buyer does neither, the order is treated as confirmed.
In a dispute, both sides can add messages and evidence. Tradlee staff review it, and an admin decides the outcome on the platform, such as resuming or completing the order. This decision settles the order's status on Tradlee. I