User guide / BUYER
Buyer user guide
Describe requirements, invite suitable quotes, and complete delivery and acceptance against agreed terms.
Start a requestBefore you begin
Prepare the product or service name, plan, resource region, quantity, duration, and acceptance requirements. We connect parties and record fulfillment. Payment, receipt, and refunds are handled directly; the platform does not hold funds.
For your first purchase: sign in → publish request → match and invite → compare quotes → select → delivery and acceptance.
Register and enter buyer workspace
Complete human verification on registration or sign-in pages. When registering by email, follow email verification instructions. GitHub and other providers are available only when shown on the page.
Merchants can also buy using the same account. Click “Switch to buyer workspace” at the top. Switching affects only the current session and does not delete records.
Completion indicatorThe workspace shows “Buyer workspace,” with My requests and Fulfillment orders in the sidebar.
Register accountPublish a request with clear specifications
Create a request in My requests, or choose a published offering from Products and services and use its inquiry button to prefill specifications, then verify each field.
Enter category, track, plan, unit, quantity, region, duration, delivery method, and deadline. Add delivery days, warranty, invoices, budget, and acceptance criteria as needed. Region means the resource region, such as US, not your city.
Example only: ChatGPT Plus, US, one account, 30 days, top-up, delivery within one day. Enter real procurement needs; do not alter specifications merely to match merchants.
Completion indicatorRequest status is Quoting open. Saving a draft does not start bidding.
New requestView matching merchants and send invitations
Open Matching merchants from request details, check approval and service scope, click Invite to quote, then Send invitation. You may invite multiple eligible merchants.
Web-created request details are private by default. Publishing does not expose details to every merchant. An invitation opens quoting to a specific merchant. Budget visibility is separate from detail access.
Decide contact sharing separately when inviting. If there are no matches, expand unmatched reasons and check admission, capability validity, region, quantity, unit, delivery, and warranty requirements.
Completion indicatorMatching merchants shows Invited for this request. The invited merchant can view it in Procurement opportunities.
View my requestsCompare quotes and select a merchant
Return to request details to compare quote unit prices, quantities, validity, delivery commitments, after-sales terms, and specifications. Public and official prices are references, not substitutes for this merchant quote.
When confident the merchant can fulfill, select “Choose this quote and create order.” The system does not automatically pick the lowest price. Selection freezes request and quote terms.
Changing a request creates a new version. Old invitations expire and old quotes cannot be selected; rematch and invite quotes for the new specifications. Resolve expired or closed request status first.
Completion indicatorCreates an Awaiting delivery order visible to both parties in Fulfillment orders.
View request and quotesAgree payment directly with the merchant
Confirm the payee, amount, delivery time, and refund terms before using the agreed payment channel. There is no platform checkout or escrow.
After paying, click “I report off-platform payment sent” in the order. The merchant records receipt separately. These declarations are party records, not platform verification, and do not automatically accept delivery.
Completion indicatorThe order retains your payment declaration. Service delivery and acceptance continue independently.
View fulfillment ordersVerify actual delivery before acceptance
After the merchant submits delivery, open Fulfillment orders and compare the result against the plan, region, quantity, duration, and acceptance conditions frozen at selection.
After confirming compliance, enter acceptance notes and confirm acceptance. Transfer passwords and keys through an agreed secure channel, not in requests, quotes, or order notes.
Completion indicatorOrder status is Accepted, with delivery and acceptance actions retained in history.
Go to order acceptanceRaise a dispute or negotiate cancellation if needed
For issues with delivered or accepted orders, enter dispute/after-sales notes and raise a dispute. Specify unmet terms and verifiable facts. Review and accept again after the merchant redelivers.
For unaccepted orders, request mutual cancellation; the other party must agree. The requester may withdraw. Accepted orders require an after-sales dispute first. Cancellation does not automatically refund payment; parties negotiate funds separately.
Completion indicatorThe page shows the latest status and history. Requesting cancellation does not mean the order is canceled.
View order progressFrequently asked questions
Why am I still not matched after merchant approval?
Admission and capability approvals must both be valid. Even with both approved, mismatched region, track, unit, quantity, delivery time, warranty, or invoice support excludes a merchant. For example, CN-only capability cannot match a US request. See unmatched reasons.
Why has nobody quoted after I published a request?
Web request details are private by default. Complete Matching merchants → Invite to quote → Send invitation, then await a response. Invitations do not guarantee quotes. Check invitation status on Matching merchants and quotes on request details.
Can I buy directly from a public offering page?
Product pages explain offerings and prefill request specifications. A fulfillment order forms only after publishing a request, inviting quotes, and selecting one.
Why can I not select an old quote?
Check whether the request changed, expired, closed, or was awarded, and whether the quote expired or was withdrawn. Updated requests require new invitations and current-version quotes. The page shows the reason.