--- slug: lead-exchange title: The Lead Exchange version: 1.2 effective: 2026-11-01 summary: How warehouses post, buy and refund leads, the six refund reasons, the smaller-than-posted mark, and what CommerceBook takes. --- # The Lead Exchange The Lead Exchange is where warehouses post prospects they cannot serve and buy prospects they can. A prospect is a company that is looking for a warehouse and that no warehouse signed. The software enforces these rules. ## Posting a lead When you post a lead, it is reserved for you for 90 days: no other warehouse can post the same company for the same service and city. You do not own the prospect, and the prospect stays free to work with anyone. A lead's description is the posting warehouse's own words and is expected to be true. Post what the prospect said: the volumes, the scope, the location and the contact. CommerceBook does not rewrite or summarize a member's description. No member can post a company that another member registered as an active client. Do-not-solicit marks on CRM records are honored across the network. ## Buying a lead A priced lead is paid from the buyer's CommerceBook balance or by card. The buyer sees the price and the card fee before paying. The seller of a lead chooses how many buyers can buy it. A lead with a success fee and nothing due now is introduced by its seller. A verified warehouse requests an introduction and may say why it is a fit. The seller accepts or declines each request. When the seller accepts, the warehouse sees the contact at no charge, and the seller helps develop the opportunity with it. The success fee is due when the warehouse registers the prospect as its client. A lead with a price is bought, whether or not it also carries a success fee. When two members who met here work together again, CommerceBook takes no fee. CommerceBook earns only on a first match. ## Refunds CommerceBook refunds a bought lead for six reasons: - The email bounced. - The phone number is invalid. - The company is already your client. - You already bought this lead. - The prospect never asked for warehousing. - The contact was fabricated. You can ask for a refund for 7 days after you buy the lead. CommerceBook checks the first four reasons on its own. The last two need evidence, and our team reviews them. A refund goes back to the way the lead was paid. A lead is not refunded because nobody answered the phone. ## Volumes smaller than posted When the volumes were smaller than posted, the buyer can mark the lead that way. Nothing is refunded, and the seller receives no strike. The mark is noted on the seller's record, which shows how many of its bought leads were marked smaller than posted. ## Strikes A strike comes from a confirmed fabricated contact or from an operator finding that a declared fact was false. Each strike counts against the member, and our team records its source and a note. Three strikes in 90 days suspend posting for 30 days. Five strikes in a year, or two fabricated contacts, remove a member from the Lead Exchange. Our team then reviews the account and decides whether to close it. A member whose posting is suspended keeps its posted leads up and can still buy leads. The suspension date appears on the member's Home page. ## What CommerceBook takes The seller of a lead receives the price less CommerceBook's 10 percent, with a minimum fee of $1.00 on a paid lead. CommerceBook also takes 5 percent of each success fee the seller collects. A free lead carries no fee. The buyer pays no fee to CommerceBook. A buyer who pays by card also pays a card fee of 2.90 percent plus 30 cents. Founding members pay 5 percent for 24 months from verification. When the network passes 250 verified warehouses, the 10 percent rises to 15 percent. The Fee schedule page shows the live figures. ## When the seller is paid The seller is paid 7 days after the sale, unless the buyer is refunded first. A refund in those 7 days comes out of the seller's share. ## Questions Write to hello@commercebook.ai.