Home Glossary and concepts

Glossary and concepts

Short explanations of the terms used in MarbleMap and in the natural stone trade: Incoterms, HS code, origin, sealed bids, demand and offer statuses, split allocation, seats and payment terms.
By Atilla Ilhan KARTAL
10 articles

Basic vs Detailed demands: what's the difference

Two ways to collect a demand On the first step of the demand wizard you answer the question How do you want to collect the demand? with one of two options. Your answer decides how suppliers will price their offers to you. General request (Basic) There is no product list. You describe what you need in your own words in the Description field, and each supplier builds an offer using line items of their own choosing. The Products step never appears in the wizard, which makes this the simplest and fastest route. The wizard card puts it this way: "Suppliers prepare their own offer based on your need. The simplest path." Itemised product list (Detailed) You list every product on its own row: Product name, Product code, Quantity and Unit. For any row you can also use the Enter export info button to add the HS code (GTİP), origin and brand. Suppliers then quote a separate price for every line item. Which one to choose - If you need a single item, or your requirement is not fully defined yet: General request. - If you are buying several items and want to compare them line by line: Itemised product list. What it means for the offer side On an itemised demand, the supplier's offer draft arrives pre-filled with your line items. Suppliers cannot add rows, and they cannot change a line item's name or quantity. For each row they enter price, currency, discount and tax. On a general request, suppliers build the line items themselves and are free to add or drop rows as they see fit. What it means for splitting Distributing line items across several suppliers — building a split — only makes sense on itemised demands. When you compare offers on an itemised demand, the Split Award Board opens. On a general request, offers are compared as cards and you accept a single one. The split board is exclusive to the Pro and Business packages. Where you can see it Your choice appears on the Review step of the wizard, in the Collection type row. Once the demand is published, the information strip at the top of the demand page shows the Demand type as either Basic or Detailed.

Last updated on Jul 29, 2026

Payment terms glossary: advance, net term, letter of credit, milestones

This is what the payment options you see in demands and offers mean on MarbleMap. Payment always runs directly between buyer and supplier; what you set here is the recorded version of the terms the two sides agree on. Two core concepts The help bubble on the Payment terms step of the offer wizard defines both in a single sentence: "Advance" is the percentage the buyer pays before shipment, the rest is due on the net term. In short, the Advance (deposit) is a percentage; the Net term is how many days after the invoice date the balance is paid. The presets - Prepaid — the full amount is paid before shipment. - Net 30 — full payment 30 days after the invoice date. - Net 60 — full payment 60 days after the invoice date. - Net 90 — full payment 90 days after the invoice date. - Letter of credit — the buyer's bank guarantees payment once shipping documents are presented; a common secured payment instrument in international trade. - Milestones — payment is split across production/shipment stages (for example 30% on order, 70% on shipment). This preset exists on the offer side only. - Custom — you set the advance percentage and the net term yourself, and write whatever those cannot express into the Extra note field. On the buyer side On the Budget step of the New Demand wizard you fill in the Payment terms request field: a preset, optionally an Advance (deposit) percentage, a Net term in days and an Extra note. The explanation below the field is explicit: "This is a request — the supplier responds to it in their offer; it is not binding." The field is open on the Pro plan only; while it is locked you see the notice "Requesting payment terms is a Pro feature." On the supplier side On the Payment step of the offer wizard you choose the Preset, enter the Advance (deposit) percentage and the Net term in days, or build a Milestone schedule. Add milestone duplicates the row; each row carries a label, a percentage and an optional due note (for example "on shipment"). The percentages must add up to 100% — otherwise you cannot pass the step and see the warning "Milestone percentages must add up to 100%". The whole step is optional. When comparing When a buyer compares offers on a Basic demand, payment appears as its own row under the Payment heading on the cards where suppliers are lined up side by side. The split matrix of Detailed demands has no separate payment row. On a rejected offer, changing the payment term counts as a material change and opens the door for the supplier to submit a new offer.

Last updated on Jul 29, 2026

Seats, Owner, Manager and Member: team concepts explained

Every team concept lives in one place, on the Settings › Team Management page: how many people your account has room for, who holds which role, and which invitations are still pending. Seats A seat is one person your company can host on the platform. The count appears at the top of the Team Management page as the line "{used} / {total} seats used". Pending invitations occupy seats too: when you send someone an invitation, the seat is reserved before that person accepts. In other words, the counter shows the total of "members on the team + pending invitations". When all seats are taken Once the used figure reaches the total, the Invite button is disabled and you see this warning: "All seats are taken. Upgrade your plan or free a seat to invite a new member." There are two ways to free up room: remove a member from the team with the Remove member button marked by the trash icon, or withdraw a pending invitation with Cancel invite. The warning also points to a plan upgrade; note, however, that your seat count does not currently change on its own based on your plan selection. Owner The Owner is the holder of the company account. Team management actions — sending invitations, changing roles, removing members — are concentrated with the Owner. The Owner role cannot be granted by invitation; the invitation list offers only Manager and Member. If an invitation you send is refused on permission grounds, the warning "You are not authorized to perform this action." appears beneath the invitation box. Manager The Manager sits one level below the Owner on the team, and the role can be assigned by invitation. Member The Member is the standard team member, and it is the default role pre-selected when you send an invitation. Changing a role On the Team Management page you update a person's role from the Change role list next to that member. This list and the Remove member button are visible only to the Owner; if you do not have the permission, these controls do not appear on screen at all. The Owner's own row cannot have its role changed, and the Owner cannot be removed from the team. Do not confuse this with the role in conversations An Owner badge may also appear next to a person's name in the Participants list of a demand conversation. That badge marks the principal counterpart on the buyer side and the supplier side of the conversation; it is a separate matter from your team role within your company. Teammates added to a conversation later do not carry this badge. Adding a teammate to a conversation does not consume a seat — seats are only for the people you bring into your company team.

Last updated on Jul 29, 2026

What are a slice and a split (split order)?

These are the concepts you meet when you share the lines of one demand across several suppliers instead of a single one. They apply only to demands opened with an Itemised product list (Detailed). Split Sharing the lines of a demand out to different suppliers, one line at a time, is called a split. The comparison screen opens once you have added offers to a shortlist and clicked Compare shortlist →. In the Offer comparison table you pick a supplier for each line; your picks are gathered in the Award basket as supplier, line count and amount. When you are ready, you send them with Finalize split. The Split Award Board, where the split is built and tracked, is available on the Pro and Business buyer plans; on the Free plan it is locked. Slice The set of lines that falls to one supplier is called a slice. On the supplier side it appears under the heading Your awarded slice, showing the Lines assigned to you table together with the Slice subtotal. A supplier sees only its own slice and cannot see which lines the other suppliers received or at what prices. Slice approval When you finalize the split, orders are not created straight away; the split first goes out for supplier approval. Each supplier settles its own slice with Approve or Decline, and when declining may write an optional Reason for declining. In the Supplier approvals list on the board, each supplier's state shows as Pending, Approved or Declined. During this stage the board reads "Waiting on all suppliers to approve before starting orders."; once every supplier has approved, the Start orders button unlocks. Re-source If a supplier declines its slice, those lines drop into the Re-source section at the top of the board. With Re-assign you hand the line to another supplier that quoted the same line; the supplier that declined does not appear in this list. Non-splittable line Some suppliers ship a line only bundled with their other lines. Such lines are flagged as Non-splittable: "The supplier ships this item only bundled with their other items." If you try to award that line on its own, a Split warning appears. Shared expense When an expense such as freight or packaging is not per-line but covers the whole offer, it is flagged as shared: "This expense is not per-line; it covers the whole offer." Awarding only some of that offer's lines orphans the shared expense and likewise produces a split warning. Optimal split The Optimal split button on the comparison screen assigns every line to the supplier offering the best price on that line. The summary row at the bottom of the screen compares the split you have built against the best single supplier that quoted all the lines: whether you saved money or are paying more is shown right there.

Last updated on Jul 29, 2026

What is the EUR shadow price and currency conversion?

The EUR shadow price is the approximate EUR equivalent of an offer's total. If an offer is quoted in a currency other than EUR, you see this value as ≈EUR next to the offer's own amount on the comparison screens. If the offer is already in EUR, no separate shadow value is shown — the total is in EUR already. Why it exists A single demand can attract offers in different currencies: one in USD, one in TRY, one in EUR. To be able to put them side by side and ask "which one is better value", an approximate EUR equivalent is calculated for every offer. While screening offers you can sort by Lowest price (≈EUR), and set a range with the Min ≈EUR and Max ≈EUR fields. On the comparison cards the row is likewise labelled Total ≈EUR. Pricing currency The buyer picks the Pricing currency in the Pricing currency & deadline step of the New Demand flow. The on-screen explanation reads: "Offers are compared in this currency. Offers quoted in a different currency are shown converted at the current rate; the rate is locked when you accept an offer." That choice determines the default offer currency the supplier is presented with in the offer wizard. Sorting and price filters on the screening and comparison screens, however, work off the approximate EUR equivalent; each offer's own amount is always shown in its own currency as well. Rates are indicative The conversions shown are not live market rates. On the total panel of the offer-building screen, the EUR/USD estimated (non-live rate) note makes this explicit. If the offer contains lines or expenses in another currency, the FX conversion breakdown directly beneath it lists every rate used, one by one, and carries this note: "Rates are indicative (non-live); they are locked in on acceptance." When the rate is locked The rate is locked when the buyer accepts the offer. Until that moment, every conversion you see is an approximation. What this means for suppliers In the first step of the offer wizard you pick an Offer currency (comparison currency); the default is the demand's pricing currency. You can enter every line and every expense in its own currency — the expenses step is even headed "Expenses (multi-currency)". The amounts you enter and the currencies you pick stay exactly as they are; during calculation, foreign-currency lines and expenses are converted into the offer currency and totalled. The note in the first step says the same: changing the currency later only re-converts the total, it does not touch the values you entered. In the Review & submit step you see both the Entered and the Converted amount side by side for every line and every expense. What to watch out for Where the gap between two offers is small, part of that gap may come from exchange-rate movement. Do not base your decision on the ≈EUR difference alone; weigh the lead time, the Incoterm and the payment terms as well. When dealing with suppliers who work in different currencies, confirming which currency is the offer's own currency will also make your job easier.

Last updated on Jul 29, 2026

What do order and confirmation statuses mean?

When an order is created An order is the record that marks the point where a deal leaves the offer stage and becomes binding. It comes into being in one of two ways: when a buyer accepts a single offer, or when — on a line-by-line (Detailed) demand — the split is finalized, every supplier approves its own share, and the buyer then clicks Start orders. The second route is exclusive to the Pro package; in a split, a separate order is created for each winning supplier. Statuses Issued The order has been sent to the supplier and is awaiting confirmation. This status arises on the split route; in the Orders & confirmation section of the Split Award Board, the buyer sees the notice "Order placed — awaiting confirmation". Confirmed The supplier accepted the order as it stands; the agreement is considered established. Where a single offer is accepted directly, the order is created in this status from the outset. When every order on a demand is confirmed, the demand is completed. Change proposed The supplier submitted a counter-proposal via Propose a change. The decision passes back to the buyer: Accept change or Reject. In the meantime, the supplier sees the note "Your proposed change is awaiting the buyer's decision." Cancelled The order did not go through — for example, the order moves to this status when the buyer rejects a change proposed by the supplier. The screen shows the note "Order cancelled — the line returns to re-sourcing." Fulfilled The final status in which an order is closed. At present no step in the flow moves an order into this status; it is a label reserved for the delivery stage. Order confirmation record For every order, a record is kept on the platform: the Order confirmation record. It contains the Document no, the Buyer and Supplier company names, the Issued and Confirmed timestamps, the Confirm by date if it has not yet been confirmed, the Incoterm, Payment and Delivery details, along with a snapshot of the order lines and the total amount as they stood at that moment. This snapshot is taken the instant the record is issued; the amount is updated to the newly accepted value only if the buyer accepts a proposed change. Where you see them As a supplier, you see the status label next to each order in your My Orders list; clicking a row opens the order detail. The Confirm order and Propose a change buttons appear only while the order is in the Issued status. As a buyer, you track all orders in the Orders & confirmation section of the Split Award Board, together with a "{confirmed}/{total} confirmed" summary. Slice approval versus order confirmation Slice approval is an earlier step: before the split is finalized, the supplier opens its own share from the Awards awaiting your decision section on the My Orders page by clicking Review, and there chooses Approve or Decline. Order confirmation, by contrast, is the acceptance of an issued order after the orders have been started.

Last updated on Jul 29, 2026

What do offer statuses mean?

An offer status is a label that tells you, in a single word, which stage an offer is currently at. A status means the same thing for the buyer and for the supplier; only the wording of the label can differ from screen to screen. The eight statuses Draft An offer that has not been submitted yet. Only you can see it, it does not reach the buyer, and it does not use up your offer allowance — only submitted offers count. Submitted An offer that has reached the buyer. It enters the buyer's comparison. Viewed The buyer has opened and reviewed the offer. In the My Marketplace Offers list this label is written as Viewed. Revision requested The buyer wants you to update particular line items or terms. The offer stays alive, but it sits outside compare and award until you update it. When the buyer opens the offer, the review panel shows an Awaiting revision note. On your offer page you see the heading The buyer requested a revision, the buyer's reason if one was given, and the names of the line items concerned; you send your update with the Revise and resubmit button. Revised The interim status the offer passes through when you submit your revision; it only puts that revision round on record. Immediately afterwards the offer returns to Submitted and re-enters the comparison. Accepted The buyer has accepted the offer; the demand locks and moves on to the order step. Rejected The buyer has eliminated the offer. You can only come back with a genuinely different offer. The Difference check in the Submit New Offer window tests three criteria: at least a 1% price improvement over your rejected offer, a change of Incoterm, a change of payment terms. A new offer cannot be submitted unless at least one of these is met. Withdrawn A status label showing that the offer is no longer valid. An offer carrying this label does not go into evaluation. Where you see it As a supplier you see the status label next to each offer in the My Marketplace Offers list, at the top of your own offer page, and on the card of the demand you offered on in the Marketplace ("Your offer: …"). As a buyer, the cards on the demand's Offers tab carry no separate status badge. When you open an offer, the review panel shows a note describing that offer's status: Awaiting revision while a revision is pending, and on a rejected offer a warning telling you on what condition the supplier may come back. The difference between a revision and a rejection A revision request is an invitation: you update the same offer and resubmit it, and your offer keeps its place. A rejection is elimination: for you to come back, the offer has to differ in a clear way.

Last updated on Jul 29, 2026

What do the demand statuses mean?

Every demand sits in one of five statuses across its lifecycle. The status determines whether suppliers can see the demand and which actions are available to you. The five statuses are not a sequential ladder: a demand you publish moves to Completed if a winner is selected, and to Closed or Cancelled if one is not. The five statuses Draft A demand that only you can see and that has not been published yet. You can edit it freely, put it on the marketplace with Publish, pick up where you left off with Continue, or end it with Cancel from the ⋮ menu on the right of the card. Published A demand that is open on the Marketplace, where eligible suppliers can submit offers. On the demand screen you have the Edit demand and Close demand buttons until the first offer arrives. After the first offer comes in, editing is locked; the screen shows the notice "The demand can no longer be edited once the first offer has arrived. You can cancel it or review the offers." and the only button that changes the course of the demand becomes Cancel demand — you can still review offers, exchange messages and duplicate the demand. Close, in the ⋮ menu of the My Demands list, stays available whether or not offers have arrived. Closed A demand that has been closed to new offers. You continue to review the offers you received with View offers, but no new offers arrive. When you close it from the My Demands list, the confirmation "Close this demand? All suppliers will be notified." appears. Cancelled A demand that has been terminated completely. The confirmation box shown when you cancel from the demand screen says so plainly: "This demand will be cancelled and suppliers can no longer submit offers. This cannot be undone." Completed A demand with a winner selected and orders created. Unless you remove it from the marketplace, it continues to appear on the supplier side on the Marketplace card with the Completed / Ordered badge; that card's primary button becomes View demand instead of "Review & make offer", and no offer can be submitted. If you want it off the list, use the Remove from marketplace button on the demand screen. Where you see the status On the badge on each card on the My Demands page. You can also narrow the list by clicking the Draft, Published, Closed and Cancelled options under the Status heading in the Filters panel on the left; next to each option you see how many of your demands are in that status. What you can do in each status | Status | Edit | Publish | Close | Cancel | Duplicate | |---|---|---|---|---|---| | Draft | Yes | Yes | — | Yes | Yes | | Published | Until the first offer | — | Yes | After the first offer | Yes | | Closed | — | — | — | — | Yes | | Cancelled | — | — | — | — | Yes | | Completed | — | — | — | — | Yes | The pair most often confused Close stops the flow of offers while you keep reviewing the offers you already have. Cancel voids the demand entirely. There is no action that reopens a closed or cancelled demand; in either case you can create a new demand carrying the same content with Duplicate (new demand) in the ⋮ menu on the right of the card.

Last updated on Jul 29, 2026

What are the HS code (GTİP) and origin?

The HS code, origin and brand fields you see on the product line items of your demand are there so that suppliers can quote you a more realistic price. All three are optional. HS code (GTİP) A customs tariff statistics position is the classification number assigned to a product at customs. When you enter it, the supplier calculates customs and shipping costs against the correct tariff line instead of guessing. The field is labelled GTIP / HS Code, and the description beneath it reads "Customs tariff statistics position — helps suppliers price duties & shipping." Inside the box you will see "e.g. 6802.91" as an example of the expected format. Origin Origin is the place where the goods were produced or extracted; it can affect both the price and the customs duty. In natural stone, origin is usually written together with the quarry region — the example shown in the field is "e.g. Italy, Carrara". Brand If you prefer a specific brand, you can enter it in this field. It is not mandatory; if you leave it empty, the supplier will quote without any brand restriction. Where you fill these in These fields only appear if you create your demand as an Itemised product list. If you choose General request, the Products step never appears in the wizard, so the export fields are not requested either. If you chose the product list, go to the Products step and click the Enter export info button beneath each product line item. In the Export information box that opens, fill in all three fields and click Save. If you click Cancel or click outside the box, the changes you made there are not applied to the product. Once saved, a summary of the values you entered appears next to the button. If you filled in none of them, the same place reads "No export info entered". Why it is worth filling in When you provide this information, the supplier does not have to guess; customs and freight line items are calculated far more realistically. As a result, the offers you receive are both more reliable and easier to compare with one another. Where they appear The values you enter appear in the product table of the demand detail that suppliers open in the Marketplace, under the HS code, Origin and Brand columns. These columns are shown only if at least one of the products has one of these fields filled in; individual cells that were left empty display a "—" mark.

Last updated on Jul 29, 2026

What is an Incoterm? Where it appears in MarbleMap

In brief An Incoterm is the delivery term used in international trade: it sets where responsibility for shipping, insurance and customs passes between buyer and seller. As MarbleMap describes it, an Incoterm "sets where shipping, insurance and customs responsibility passes from seller to buyer". The four most commonly used - FOB — The seller delivers and loads the goods onto the ship; freight and insurance from there on are the buyer's. - CIF — The seller also pays freight and insurance; delivery still happens at the ship, and risk stays with the seller up to that point. - EXW — The buyer collects the goods from the seller's premises; all shipping and customs are the buyer's responsibility. - DDP — The seller delivers to the buyer's door, duty paid; the lowest-risk option for the buyer. The dropdown lists the full Incoterms® 2020 rule set; the four above are simply the most commonly used. Where you use it as a buyer The Advanced options step of the New Demand wizard (shown simply as Options in the step bar) contains the Accepted Incoterms field. You can select as many terms as you like there. As the interface explains: "Select which delivery terms (Incoterms 2020) you accept. It hints suppliers; it does not bind the offer." In other words, your selection guides suppliers rather than restricting them. This field is Pro-only; on the free package it appears locked. Where you use it as a supplier When you build an offer, you select a single term from the Incoterm field in the Terms & files step. This step is optional, but making a selection helps the buyer evaluate your offer correctly. Why it matters The same figure can mean an entirely different cost under a different Incoterm. When you compare the offers received for a General request (Basic), Incoterm appears as a separate row in the comparison table, alongside the total amount and the lead time. The comparison matrix of an Itemised product list (Detailed) demand has no separate Incoterm row; there you see an offer's Incoterm on its card in the offers list. When you assess offers, look not only at the amount but also at which delivery term that amount covers. On a rejected offer While the demand is still open, changing the Incoterm on a rejected offer counts as the "material term change" that opens the door to a new offer. Changes to lead time, payment, validity and offer scope are treated as material in the same way. The Difference check section of the Submit New Offer screen has a dedicated Incoterm changed row for exactly this: "At least a 1% price improvement over the rejected offer OR a material term (incoterm/payment/validity) must change."

Last updated on Jul 29, 2026