Terms of service

Wetware World is a sourcing intermediary. We take a specification from a buyer, circulate it to laboratories and manufacturers we believe are capable of meeting it, normalise the responses onto a comparable basis, and quote you a delivered price.

We do not manufacture. Unless a catalogue listing or a quotation line carries the provenance label Made by Wetware World, the goods were made by a third party. As of 2026-09-01 nothing carries that label. Where that changes, the label appears on the specific listing. The listing governs, not this page.

We can state what a supplier committed to, hold them to it, and pursue them on a failure. We cannot provide information about the manufacturing process that the manufacturer has not provided to us.

Unless a quotation says otherwise in writing, you contract with Wetware World and Wetware World contracts separately with the supplier. You do not contract with the supplier and you do not pay the supplier. Wetware World is your counterparty.

Two exceptions apply, both disclosed on the quotation before order.

• Direct-supply orders. Some suppliers will only sell to the end user named on the order, commonly where a material transfer agreement, an institutional licence, or a controlled cell line is involved. In that case we introduce you, the supply contract is between you and them, and our fee is for the sourcing work. The quotation states this on its face.
• Pass-through instruments. Material transfer agreements, end-user certificates, and licence terms attached to specific cell lines are between you and the party that owns the material. We cannot sign those on your behalf.

Where we are your counterparty, a failed batch is resolved by us with the supplier. See clause 7.

The goods are what the governing specification states they are. The governing specification is, in order of precedence:

1. the specification annexed to or referenced by the written quotation you accepted;
2. where none is annexed, the supplier's published product specification or datasheet as at the date of the quotation;
3. where neither exists, the description on the quotation line itself.

Marketing copy on this site is not a specification. Catalogue pages summarise, and a summary does not bind a supplier to a number it did not quote. Where a catalogue page shows a price it is either a transactable price, or an estimated range carrying the word estimated with a source and a date. Neither is a quotation.

Typical values are not guaranteed values. Where a specification says a parameter is typical, lot-specific, or measured on a reference lot, your lot may differ and the parameter is not an acceptance criterion. Where a parameter is a rejection criterion for you, state it at quotation stage. We will either have it written into the specification as a guaranteed value with a test method attached, or report that no supplier will commit to it.

No price is binding on us until we issue it in a written quotation. That means a quotation document sent from a Wetware World address, carrying a reference number, a line-by-line scope, a validity date, and a stated currency. It does not mean a figure in a conversation, a range on a catalogue page, an estimate in an email exploring options, or a number a supplier mentioned to us that we passed on for context.

A written quotation states, at minimum:

• what is included and what is excluded, freight, cold-chain consumables, duties, import fees, permit costs, material transfer or licence fees, and taxes are itemised or explicitly named as excluded;
• the provenance label for each line;
• the governing specification for each line;
• the lead time and whether it runs from order or from receipt of your input material;
• a validity date, after which the quotation lapses and we requote.

Quotations lapse. Living material pricing moves with donor availability, media costs, courier surcharges and supplier capacity, so validity windows are short. A lapsed quotation does not bind us.

Where we can bracket a cost but not commit to it, we send an indicative range labelled as such, with the basis stated. An indicative range is a planning instrument. It is not an offer, it does not bind us, and it cannot be accepted into a contract.

We do not generate automated prices for unsourced items. An instant price shown on this site for a custom biological component is a defect; report it.

An order is formed when you accept a valid written quotation, by purchase order, by written acceptance, or by any other means we agree in writing, and we acknowledge it. Our acknowledgement is the point at which the contract exists.

Where your purchase order carries your institution's standard terms, those terms do not automatically displace these, and these do not automatically displace yours. We review yours, identify the clauses we cannot meet as a brokerage, and agree the difference in writing before work starts. Institutional purchasing terms are commonly drafted for a manufacturer and contain warranties an intermediary cannot give.

Orders involving human-derived material, controlled cell lines, live shipments, or export to a jurisdiction we have not previously shipped to may be subject to additional checks before acknowledgement. See export control, import permits and biosecurity.

Unless the quotation states a different Incoterm or delivery basis, the following applies.

• Risk passes to you on delivery to the address on the order, or to your nominated carrier where you arrange collection. Once material is at your dock, in your receiving room, or in your freezer, the risk of loss or deterioration is yours.
• Title passes on the later of delivery and payment in full. Where a supplier's material transfer agreement or licence imposes conditions on title, use, or onward transfer, those conditions travel with the material and are stated on the quotation.
• Delivery dates are estimates unless the quotation states a committed date. Living material moves on third-party couriers and production schedules. The courier window is stated at quotation, and slippage is notified promptly.

Cold-chain material is covered in shipping, cold chain and handling, including failed or delayed delivery and the inspection required on arrival. Those obligations are time-limited. Failure to meet them forfeits a claim.

You must inspect on arrival and tell us about a problem within the window stated on the quotation. For cold-chain and live material the window is short, typically within twenty-four hours of delivery, and before the material is used, thawed beyond a viability check, or discarded. Photograph the packaging, the temperature indicator, and the material. A claim without evidence taken on arrival will normally fail against a supplier or a courier.

Where goods do not meet the governing specification, our remedy to you is, at our option and after discussion with you: replacement, re-performance of the service, or a refund of the amount paid for the affected line. Where the failure is the courier's, we pursue the courier. Where it is the supplier's, we pursue the supplier. In both cases your counterparty remains Wetware World.

A lot, passage number or supplier is not substituted without notice to you.

Cancellation rights depend on the production stage of the order. Living material cannot be unmade or returned to stock.

Changes to a specification after order are treated as a change request. We price them and you approve before they take effect. A change that alters the biology, such as a different donor, passage limit or differentiation endpoint, normally carries a new lead time, which is stated at the point of the change request.

We may cancel an order if a supplier fails, if a required permit is refused, or if we form the view that supplying would be unlawful or unsafe. In that case anything paid for the cancelled scope is refunded in full, with the reason stated.

Everything we broker is supplied for research use only. This is a condition of supply, set out in full at research use only and no medical, clinical or diagnostic use. Both documents are incorporated into these terms by reference.

By ordering you confirm that:

• you are ordering for laboratory research performed by qualified personnel in a facility appropriate to the material;
• the material will not be administered to humans or used in clinical diagnosis, treatment, or any therapeutic application;
• you hold, or will hold before the material arrives, whatever institutional approvals apply to your work, biosafety committee, animal care committee, ethics or institutional review board, and any national equivalent;
• you have determined the biosafety level at which the material will be handled, and your facility can meet it;
• you can lawfully receive the material in your jurisdiction, including any import permit.

Those determinations are the buyer's. We do not see your facility, your protocol, or your approvals, and a supplier cannot infer a containment level from a purchase order.

Your specification, protocol, drawings and data remain yours. Permitted use of them by us is set out in confidentiality and your specification.

Buying material does not buy the rights in it. Cell lines in particular commonly travel with a material transfer agreement, a licence, or a restriction on commercial use, onward distribution, or derivative manufacture. Where such terms attach, we disclose them on the quotation and pass them to you before you order. Where you require rights the supplier will not grant, most commonly the right to manufacture commercially from a derivative, raise it at quotation stage.

The WWD specification format is published as an open standard. Using it creates no obligation to purchase from us. We assert no rights over the content of a specification written in it.

Payment terms are stated on the quotation. Default terms for a first order are payment before shipment. Institutional purchase order terms are available on request. Net thirty is normally agreed for an established account.

Prices are exclusive of taxes, duties and import charges unless the quotation says otherwise. Where a shipment attracts customs duty, brokerage fees, or permit costs in your country, those are payable by you, and are flagged at quotation stage where known to apply.

We do not hold your card details. Where deposits are required for custom work, the quotation states the amount and what it covers.

Our aggregate liability for any order is limited to the amount you paid for the affected line of that order. We are not liable for indirect or consequential loss, and specifically not for lost experiments, lost instrument or facility time, lost animal cohorts, lost grant milestones, lost publication priority, lost profits, or the cost of repeating work.

Nothing in these terms limits liability that cannot lawfully be limited, including liability for death or personal injury caused by negligence, or for fraud.

We are not liable for consequences arising from your use of the material outside the research use restriction, from handling below the appropriate biosafety level, from absent institutional approvals, or from your failure to inspect on arrival within the stated window.

Requests for a higher liability cap or specific insurance must be raised before order. Availability depends on what the supplier behind the line will accept.

The governing law and the forum for disputes are stated on the quotation. They are stated per quotation because they depend on which entity supplies and on the buyer's location.

Contact us before commencing proceedings. Most disputes in this market arise from a specification ambiguity or a courier failure.

We may update these terms. The version that governs your order is the version in force on the date of the quotation you accepted, and we will provide that version on request. Changes are not applied retroactively to orders already placed.

The effective date at the foot of this page is the governing date. No archive of prior versions is published.

Enquiries on any clause: [email protected].