Stone Purchasing: Platform and Supplier Responsibilities

Separate the sourcing channel from the seller

When buying natural stone, understanding what a platform handles is just as important as understanding a quotation. Publishing a request, comparing offers, and following an order’s confirmation status can happen in one place. That does not mean the platform sells the stone, manages the shipment, or guarantees that the material meets your requirements. Clear responsibilities make the purchasing process easier to manage.

Operated by Fusapp OÜ, MarbleMap is a commission-free, sealed-bid B2B request-to-offer marketplace for natural stone. It is not a stone retailer with inventory, a catalog, or a price list. Buyers publish their requirements, suppliers submit offers, and buyers evaluate the responses. The commercial agreement for the stone is formed with the selected supplier, not with MarbleMap.

For a project team, this means assigning technical review, commercial approval, and document checks internally. When exploring MarbleMap , consider both the sourcing workflow and the decisions your team must make with the supplier. A platform record helps organize the process; it does not replace the terms of your specific purchase.

Define the requirement and compare sealed offers

The platform helps turn a purchasing need into a request that suppliers can quote against. Describe the stone type, intended use, quantity, dimensions, finish, and delivery requirements. Include origin requirements and necessary documents where relevant. A commercial stone name alone may not communicate the appearance or specification your project needs, so explain what an acceptable offer must cover.

Offers on MarbleMap are sealed. Suppliers cannot see competing offers, prices, the identities of other bidders, or the number of offers received. The buyer can review the offers submitted to their request. This supports buyer-led comparison, but it does not guarantee a particular number of responses, response time, or savings.

Read beyond the total price. Compare included product lines, additional charges, delivery terms, payment conditions, and offer validity. Request a revision if something is unclear. A price-based flag is not an AI assessment of stone quality, delivery performance, or supplier reliability. Your decision still requires a technical and commercial review of what each supplier is actually proposing.

Confirm the material and its supporting documents

Supplier profiles, portfolios, and certificates can provide useful signals to examine. They are not independent proof of the origin, quality, production capacity, or delivery performance associated with a particular order. Admission to the platform is also distinct from the separate Verified Business / KYB badge. Do not treat company-level information as certification of the stone you intend to buy.

Ask the supplier to identify the material, batch, or selection covered by the offer. Depending on the project, clarify color variation, veining, thickness, finish, dimensional tolerances, and acceptance criteria in writing. Check which products or shipments the supplied documents cover. A certificate’s relevance to your order matters as much as its presence in a portfolio.

If physical samples are needed, you and the supplier may arrange them independently. Agree on selection, shipping, cost, and what the sample is intended to represent. This is not a built-in MarbleMap sample-ordering, tracking, or fulfillment service. A small sample may not show the full range of natural variation, so discuss how the agreed appearance will be described in the order documents.

Use communication and order records for clarity

Clarification does not always have to wait until an offer is accepted. Entitled sellers can start web-chat threads on a request before submitting an offer, and buyers can reply to existing threads. Phone and contact details opening after a deal is a separate rule, not a gate on request-level web chat. Use available conversations to clarify specifications before assumptions become part of a quotation.

Accepting an offer creates an order record on the platform. You can then follow its confirmation status. The supplier can confirm the order or propose a change, which you decide whether to accept. This workflow helps show where the agreement stands; it does not mean MarbleMap is transporting the stone or guaranteeing physical delivery.

The contract, invoicing, quality requirements, and shipping responsibilities remain between buyer and supplier. Agree on packaging, loading, transport arrangements, delivery location, and required documents. Specify the named place associated with the delivery term rather than relying on an abbreviation alone. If quantities, material selections, or shipping conditions change, review their technical and commercial consequences together before proceeding.

Keep subscriptions separate from stone payments

MarbleMap does not charge a sales commission, transaction percentage, or success fee. Its revenue model is subscription-based. Buyers start free, with paid Pro and Business plans also available; suppliers use subscriptions. Commission-free therefore does not mean every feature is free indefinitely. Your platform package and the supplier’s quotation for the stone are separate matters.

Stone-order payments do not pass through MarbleMap, and there is no escrow service. You and the supplier agree on the payment schedule, currency, recipient details, and conditions for payment. Paying for a platform subscription does not mean the stone purchase amount is held by MarbleMap or released to the supplier after delivery. Make sure your finance team understands that distinction before acceptance.

Before deciding, align the published request, the selected offer, and the final terms agreed with the supplier. Check the specific stone, documents, quantity, shipment, and payment conditions for gaps. Resolve open questions rather than relying on assumptions. When your requirements are ready, create your request on MarbleMap , compare the sealed offers you receive, and confirm the purchase responsibilities directly with your chosen supplier.