English
FAQ
About Ekobai.com
Do I have to pay to list my product or organisation on Ekobai.com?
No. Once you are a Registered User, you may create a Profile for your organisation (either a company or non-profit organization), and your organization becomes a Member. This is free of charge. You may enhance the position of your Profile or Products on Ekobai.com by upgrading to Premium Member Status.
Is Ekobai.com available in languages other than English?
We are planning to create Chinese and Japanese language interface screens for Ekobai.com. As of September 2008, it is only available in English.
How is Ekobai.com funded?
Ekobai.com's operations are funded by fees charged for banner advertising and enhanced listings by Members.
Is Ekobai.com affilated with any environmental groups?
No. Ekobai.com is owned and run by a privately held, independent, Hong Kong based, for-profit company with a vision to create an online business platform for the environmental, clean energy and environmentally friendly products/services sectors.
Becoming a User of Ekobai.com
What is a User or Registered User?
A Registered User (or just User) of Ekobai.com has provided us with a valued e-mail address and chosen a password to access the information on our site.
Do I need to pay to become a User?
No, all information is free of charge and available to all Registered Users.
How can I edit my User preferences?
Click on My Ekobai, then click on My Preferences and you will be able to choose from a range of option such as customizing your homepage according to your interests and opting to receive e-mail updates from Ekobai.com.
Becoming a Member of Ekobai.com
What is a Member?
Once you are a Registered User, you may create a Profile for your organisation (either a company or non-profit organization), and your organization becomes a Member. You can then assign additional Registered Users to have editing powers to your Member Profile.
Do I need to pay for my Organisation to become a Member?
No. Once you are a Registered User, you may create a Profile for your organisation (either a company or non-profit organization), and your organization becomes a Member. This is free of charge. You may enhance the position of your Profile or Products on Ekobai.com by upgrading to Premium Member Status.
What kinds of information can I post on the site?
You may post information on your Organisation, Products, Events, Job vacancies, Projects and any news about your company or organisation. Our site is focused on companies and organisations who excel at environmental, health and safety issues so you should include as much details on these topics (e.g. Company Environmental Policy, any green labels or certificates you have) as possible to enhance your online Ekobai.com profile.
About Environmental, Health and Safety (EHS) and Trade
What are Environmental, Health and Safety Issues?
EHS is an industry-recognised term which groups together a range of issues affecting business, relating to human and ecological health. Environmental issues consist of: industrial pollution, climate change, energy efficiency and the impact of a companys' products and operations on the natural environment. Health and safety issues consist of the well being and fair treatment of the company's workforce; and any risks posed to human health as a result of the company's products/operations (e.g. toxic chemicals in food products). There is some bluring between the three terms and hence Ekobai.com does not require Members to distinguish between Environment, Health or Safety when inputing information.
Which type of buyers are concerned with EHS issues?
The companies most concerned with EHS performance of their suppliers are large multinationals with valuable brand names which may be at risk of reputational damage. In the 1990s, shoe company Nike faced intense pressure to control sweatshop issues among its suppliers, and it introduced strict supplier selection criteria for EHS issues. Similar trends are now evident amongst most leading global companies, and increasingly, small-medium size companies from the US, Europe, Japan and Asia who also need to ensure their suppliers are complying with the law on EHS issues.
What is an Environment, Health and Safety (or EHS) Merit?
As EHS issues are key to being selected as a supplier, Ekobai.com Members have the chance to promote their performance (whether it be describing their products, their factory or their company as a whole) in these areas. This can be done via the EHS Merits tool within our site and can apply to Profiles, Products or Projects. EHS Merits has two sections, one for descriptive free text (e.g. general environmental policy of company) and the other is the EHS Credential section, where Members can list specific certifications or memberships.
What is a Certification?
A Certification Scheme relates to a standard or level of achievement by a company on a particular topic, such as achievement of an energy efficiency standard in a television. The Certification Scheme describes the standard and how the company must demonstrate it has achieved the standard (e.g. via documentation or third party auditing/testing). In general, only Certification Schemes with third-party auditing requirements are considered credible by buyers.
Is Ekobai.com affilated with any environmental groups?
No. Ekobai.com is owned and run by a privately held, independent, Hong Kong based, for-profit company with a vision to create an online business platform for the environmental, clean energy and environmentally friendly products/services sectors.
Searching Ekobai.com
How can I search the site?
A User may browse our site in three ways. Using Search, the User types in chosen key words into the Search bar. Results will appear according to our internal Search algorithm which matches the User-chosen key words with words within items on our site (e.g. Profiles, Products, News etc). The results are ranked and displayed. If a User is in the Product page of the site, results will focus on Products with other types of information (e.g. Events) in peripheral view. Or, the User can use Advanced Search.
What is advanced search?
If the standard Search brings up too many results, the User will be encouraged to employ Advanced Search which will allow the user to apply filters to the results relating to Ekobai.com Classification, date of entry, geographic region etc.
What is a tag cloud?
Tag Cloud Search are pre-programmed search terms which have been popular by users in the recent past and thus bring up topical, commonly used results. The more popular the Tag Cloud Search, the larger the font used to display it.
What determines the search ranking of a product or company?
The key determinant is the match with the user's search term to the name and type of product and text in the product descriptor. Products/services from Premium Members will be placed at the top of the search results but only if their name, type and descriptor matches the User's chosen search terms.
What is the Ekobai.com Classification system?
To assist Members in describing their Buying/Selling preferences and their Product/Service postings, we have created a detailed classification system with over 30,000 products/services organized into a 4 level hierarchy. Our system is based on UN and global business standards as used by companies such as Walmart in procurement. Within this, we have greatly enhanced the classification for the environmental technology and new energy related products/services sectors. While Members do not have to use our Classification system it will greatly enhance their chances of being found by Users or Ekobai.com who search our site using Ekobai.com Classification.
Communicating with Other Users and Members
Why can't I see Members' e-mail addresses on their Profiles?
To protect Members' privacy and to prevent spamming, it is Ekobai.com policy not to list e-mail addresses on the site.
What is a Business Lead?
For Seller-Members, receipt of an e-mail via Ekobai.com can be regarded as a Business Lead. You can often judge the value of the lead just from the sender's e-mail (e.g. xxxx@walmart.com). Direct enquiries to your Company from Ekobai.com Buyer-Members can be extremely valuable in terms of conversion to actual sales.
How can I send other Users or Members a message?
You may use our internal messaging system by clicking on the Contact Now buttons which appear frequently throughout the site where Products, Events, Member Profiles are displayed.
What if I do not get a response?
The lack of a response may mean the recipient is either very busy or does not wish to communicate with you with regards to the message you sent.
Do I need to pay to use the Ekobai.com messaging system?
As a Registered User, you may send as many messages as you like for free. Upon joining Ekobai.com, you will be allocated credits to receive a limited number of messages for free. Above this limit you may purchase additional Credits online to receive additional messages. Once you are in contact with another Member, you may exhange e-mails/telephone numbers and continue the communication outside of Ekobai.com.
Privacy and Data Protection Issues
Where can I see Ekobai.com's Privacy Policy
Click on "Online Security and Privacy" button on the horizontal menu at the bottom of the site.
Does my e-mail address appear on Ekobai.com?
To protect Members' privacy and to prevent spamming, it is Ekobai.com policy not to list e-mail addresses on the site.
Who can access the information I post on Ekobai.com?
All information on the site is accessible to all Registered Users. It is therefore not advisable to include commercially sensitive information on the site which your competitors may be able to access.
Popular Searches
This Frequently Asked Questions section will help you learn more about how Ekobai.com works, and how to become a registered user and a featured member of the website. You will also find information on Environment, Health and Safety (EHS) issues and certified companies as well as the site`s privacy policy.
