Direct answer
A trade account is a free buyer account for importers, distributors and private-label brands. It unlocks the 4 items we deliberately keep off public pages, namely reference price ranges with their basis, capacity detail per specification, verified factory identity with business contacts, and sample coordination against a real factory quotation. Applications are reviewed within 1 business day and we reply whether we approve or decline. The account is not a price list. It applies once you are placing orders, not while you are still comparing categories.
Key facts
A trade account is for buyers who are actually placing orders. It unlocks the commercial detail we deliberately keep off the public pages — and it exists mainly so factories are not quoted against by people who never buy.
| Item | Public site | With a trade account |
|---|---|---|
| Reference price | Range shown as "on request" where the factory considers it sensitive | Full range per verified supplier, with the unit, the quantity it applies to and the basis (FOB port or EXW factory) |
| Capacity | Summary only | Monthly capacity for the specification you are buying, plus tooling and mould constraints |
| Factory identity | Cluster and county | Named factory with business contact details, so you can see who you would actually be ordering from |
| Evidence | Summary links on the profile | Full evidence list per field: registration, export records, certifications, interview date |
| Samples | Self-service request | We request, chase and consolidate samples, and tell you what changed between sample and production |
| Quotation | Not available | A written quotation against a real factory and a stated basis, with MOQ, lead time, tooling and validity |
| Updates | Public pages | Quarterly cluster and price-band updates for the families you buy |
| Response | Standard enquiry queue | A named contact for your category, answering within one business day |
Check these before applying — it saves you a round trip:
We would rather decline and explain than approve and regret. Declines state the criterion that was not met.
| Capability | Without an account | With an approved account |
|---|---|---|
| Sampled product listings | 62 visible | 62 visible |
| Reference price bands and MOQ | Visible | Visible |
| Factory identity and contacts | Withheld | Released |
| Quotation against your specification | Not available | Within 1 business day |
| Applications reviewed in | —/td> | 1 business day |
| Record re-checks included | 90-day cycle | 90-day cycle |
The bands below are visible either way; an approved account adds the factory behind them and a quotation against your specification.
| Sub-category | Sample size | Reference price band (US$ / unit) | Median low | MOQ band (pcs) | Category |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fishhook | 9 | 0.07 – 2.40 / piece | 0.65 | 100 – 2,000 | Fishing Accessories |
| Spoon & Spinner | 6 | 0.31 – 6.00 / piece | 1.25 | 50 – 500 | Fishing Lures |
| Other Hard Lure | 6 | 0.56 – 12.04 / piece | 2.95 | 20 – 500 | Fishing Lures |
| Soft Lure | 6 | 0.20 – 3.85 / piece | 1.55 | 50 – 1,000 | Fishing Lures |
| Hard Lure | 6 | 1.85 – 3.20 / piece | 2.60 | 100 – 100 | Fishing Lures |
| VIB | 6 | 0.24 – 2.50 / piece | 1.39 | 100 – 500 | Fishing Lures |
| Minnow | 6 | 0.37 – 3.17 / piece | 1.40 | 50 – 500 | Fishing Lures |
| Metal Jig | 5 | 0.97 – 2.01 / piece | 1.39 | 100 – 200 | Fishing Lures |
| Fishing Rod | 3 | 9.15 – 132.55 / piece | 28.05 | 20 – 100 | Fishing Rods |
| Crankbait | 3 | 0.30 – 0.85 / piece | 0.66 | 200 – 500 | Fishing Lures |
| Octopus Skirt | 3 | 0.08 – 2.80 / piece | 0.98 | 100 – 2,000 | Fishing Lures |
| Fishing Accessory | 3 | 0.62 – 60.00 / pack | 9.62 | 5 – 200 | Fishing Accessories |
| Measure | 2024 | 2023 | Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| All fishing tackle (HS 9507) | US$1.93 bn | US$1.77 bn | +9.0% |
| Fishing rods (HS 950710) | US$0.66 bn | US$0.62 bn | +6.5% |
| Fish hooks (HS 950720) | US$0.11 bn | US$0.11 bn | flat |
| Destination countries served | 196 | 197 | -1 |
| Largest single destination | US$546 M | US$445 M | +23% |
Rods account for about 34% of the total and hooks about 6%. The largest single destination takes roughly 28% of the 2024 total — which is why the export markets already on a supplier record are worth reading before you ask for a price.
| Source | 2024 import value | Share of total |
|---|---|---|
| China | US$538 M | 59% |
| Japan | US$74 M | 8% |
| Malaysia | US$53 M | 6% |
| Viet Nam | US$42 M | 5% |
| All other sources (65 countries) | US$199 M | 22% |
| Total US imports | US$906 M | 100% |
The United States bought US$906 M of fishing tackle under HS 9507 in 2024 from 69 source countries. China supplied US$538 M of it — 59% of the total, and roughly 7 times the next largest source. That concentration is why specification discipline matters more than factory discovery: the factories are not hard to find, the comparable quotation is.
Figures retrieved from UN Comtrade (reporter China and United States, HS 9507, 2024) and aggregated across partner countries. They are historical customs values, not offers.
Yes, and there is no listing fee for factories either during the pilot. We earn when an enquiry becomes an order we place and manage, so an account that never produces a serious enquiry is worth nothing to us.
We tell you which criterion was not met. The usual reasons are an unverifiable company, a request to resell our database as a competing directory, or a request for factory contact lists with no stated buying requirement. You can reapply once the missing piece exists.
Yes, within your own company. What we ask is that price data and factory contact details are not passed to third parties or used to quote against the same factory through another channel — that is the behaviour that gets accounts closed.
No. Your enquiry goes to the factories we are matching for that specific requirement. We do not publish enquiries, we do not share them between buyers, and we do not use them as demand signals to factories you did not ask us to approach.
One business day in most cases. We need a verifiable company, a business email on a company domain, and a stated requirement. If something is missing we tell you what it is rather than leaving the application open.
Yes. Many buyers arrive with a factory name from a trade show or a previous order. We run the same 4 verification gates against it and tell you what we find, including when the answer is that we cannot verify it.
Send the format, quantity, material and destination market. We answer against verified records — and tell you when the data is not good enough to answer with.
