Question 1

What is the 10% engagement fee?

Accepted Answer

When a buyer accepts a quote, they pay Fabmaster a flat 10% engagement fee — calculated on the accepted quote amount — through Stripe. The fee unlocks identity reveal and opens the NDA-protected Data Room. After Stripe processing, Fabmaster nets approximately 7.3%.

Question 2

Is the engagement fee refundable?

Accepted Answer

No. The 10% fee is non-refundable. It pays for the verification stack, the matching engine, the Data Room, and the operator time that produced a quote the buyer chose to accept. Buyers see the fee disclosed at every step before payment.

Question 3

How are job payments handled?

Accepted Answer

Job payments move directly between buyer and vendor — wire, ACH, or credit card — on a milestone schedule both sides agree to up front. Fabmaster never holds production funds and never takes a cut of the job itself, only the 10% engagement fee at acceptance.

Question 4

What payment models can vendors choose?

Accepted Answer

Three: Standard (40% deposit / 40% mid / 20% on delivery), Buyer-Protection (30 / 30 / 40 — favors the buyer, useful for first-time engagements), and Vendor-Favored (50 / 25 / 25 — for capital-intensive jobs). Vendors select per RFQ when submitting the preliminary quote.

Question 5

When are identities revealed?

Accepted Answer

Identities stay hidden until the moment the buyer accepts a quote and pays the 10% engagement fee. Up to that point, buyers see verified handles like FabShop-447 along with capability, capacity, ratings, and tier badges. Handles rotate per RFQ to prevent cross-job correlation.

Question 6

How does AI matching work?

Accepted Answer

Fabmaster's AI builds a structured capability graph for each verified shop from its equipment list, and structures each buyer RFQ into the same schema (material, thickness, profile, tolerance, finish, quantity, lead time, location). It returns ranked matches by capability fit, capacity availability, geography, rating, and tier. An operator can override the ranking before any RFQ is broadcast.

Question 7

Does the AI read my drawings?

Accepted Answer

No. The AI never parses customer drawings, DXF, or STEP files. It only assists shops with profile-building and buyers with RFQ structuring. Drawings live only inside the NDA-protected Data Room, opened only after acceptance — and they're reviewed by humans, not models.

Question 8

Can I see who quoted after I close the RFQ?

Accepted Answer

Only the shop you accepted reveals its identity. The other shops stay anonymous permanently, with one exception: if you re-open the RFQ or post a similar one, our matching engine may surface them again with new rotating handles.

Question 9

What are the 8 verification steps?

Accepted Answer

1) Business Registration Confirmation. 2) Equipment List → AI capability profile. 3) AI Fraud Score (internal). 4) Google Street View confirmation. 5) Signage & facility photo. 6) Phone & video verification. 7) Virtual shop inspection. 8) Paid consultant review (Premium Certified only). Every listing is manually approved by an admin before it goes live.

Question 10

What do the tier badges mean?

Accepted Answer

Basic completes steps 1–4 and gets listed with limited lead allocation, no badge. Verified completes steps 1–7, wears the green Verified badge, and gets higher lead allocation, ratings, and the free templated website. Premium Certified adds step 8 — a credentialed human audit — and gets top placement plus a consultant-certified badge.

Question 11

How long does verification take?

Accepted Answer

Initial application review within 24 hours. Steps 1–4 within 48 hours of submission. Phone & video call scheduled within 3 business days. Steps 5–7 completed within 48 hours after the call. The Premium Certified consultant review takes 5–7 business days. The SLA pauses if a shop is missing a required artifact.

Question 12

Can a verified shop lose its badge?

Accepted Answer

Yes. The Verified and Premium Certified badges are conditional on rating, on-time performance, and ongoing accuracy of the declared equipment and capacity. Operators review flagged shops manually and can downgrade, suspend, or de-list with cause.

Question 13

When and where are drawings shared?

Accepted Answer

Drawings, DXF, STEP, BOMs, and any other production artifacts are shared only inside the Data Room — and the Data Room only opens after the buyer has accepted a quote and paid the 10% engagement fee. Never at RFQ stage. Never over email.

Question 14

What is the standing NDA?

Accepted Answer

Every Verified and Premium Certified shop is on a Fabmaster-managed standing NDA at the time of listing. When the Data Room opens, the awarded vendor is bound by that NDA automatically — no per-job paperwork required. Buyers can layer their own NDA on top inside the Data Room if their procurement policy requires it.

Question 15

Are downloads controlled?

Accepted Answer

Yes. The default is view-only with watermarked previews. Buyers grant download permission file-by-file. Every view, download, and revision is logged and visible to the buyer. Access can be revoked at any time, and Fabmaster purges Data Room contents on buyer request after job close.

Question 16

Who has access on the Fabmaster side?

Accepted Answer

No one, by default. Fabmaster operators do not browse Data Room contents. Access is granted only when a buyer or vendor opens a support ticket that requires it, and every access event is logged and surfaced to both parties.

Question 17

What is the capacity limit — the 130% rule?

Accepted Answer

Your annual acceptance is capped at 130% of your highest declared revenue year. No single job may exceed 40% of that ceiling. It's a guardrail — not a ceiling on how big your shop can become. Submit updated tax returns or audited financials at any time to raise the cap.

Question 18

What is the free website builder?

Accepted Answer

Verified tier and above get a professionally templated shop website at no charge — a ~$5,000 build value. Capability page, equipment list, lead form, and your Fabmaster profile, on your own domain or a fabmaster.ai subdomain. Synced to your verification record so the data never drifts.

Question 19

How do leads work per tier?

Accepted Answer

Basic shops are listed but receive a limited slice of matched RFQs. Verified shops receive the standard allocation: every RFQ that matches their capability and capacity. Premium Certified shops are featured at the top of matched results and receive priority allocation when buyers shortlist by tier.

Question 20

What does it cost to apply?

Accepted Answer

Free. Apply at any time, complete the verification steps on your schedule, and you only pay membership when you choose to upgrade to Verified or Premium Certified.

The questions we keep getting.

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