Terms of Service

• “Platform” — the website, registration system, and operator dashboard published by Shang You.
• “Mission” — a scheduled business visit & tour cohort, as described in the relevant mission brief.
• “Delegate” — a person whose cohort application has been accepted by the registration desk and whose deposit has been paid.
• “Deliverables” — the artefacts and post-mission services described in the mission brief and on the services page.

You must be eighteen (18) or older and able to enter into binding contracts to use the platform. By registering you confirm that the identification and contact information you provide is accurate and that the funds used to settle any invoice are lawful in origin.

Submitting the registration form does not guarantee a seat. Applications are reviewed in the order they arrive. We may decline an application without giving a reason — typically because the sector mix is already full, or the application does not match the cohort's commercial focus.

A seat is confirmed once (a) the registration desk issues a written acceptance and (b) the deposit clears in our account. Until both events have occurred, no seat is held.

The mission fee is quoted at registration. It includes the items listed in the “Included” column of the mission brief and excludes the items in the “Not included” column.

Deposit: 30% of the mission fee, due inside seven (7) days of acceptance, secures the seat.

Balance: due no later than the cohort's confirmation date published in the mission brief. Late balance settlement may release your seat to a waiting applicant.

Payment is by bank transfer (Option A) for the current cohort. Paystack, Flutterwave, and Stripe routes (Option B) become available in Phase 2 and will be governed by the relevant processor terms.

We understand that schedules slip. The refund schedule below balances honesty with the irrecoverable costs we commit to on your behalf (visa appointments, hotel blocks, factory bookings, interpreter retainers).

• More than 60 days before departure — full refund less a 5% administrative fee.
• 30 – 60 days — 50% of the mission fee is refundable.
• 14 – 29 days — 25% of the mission fee is refundable.
• Under 14 days — no cash refund, but the seat may be transferred to a substitute delegate from your organisation, subject to visa feasibility.

If we cancel a cohort for reasons within our control, your fee is refunded in full and we contribute up to USD 250 toward verifiable change costs on your inbound travel.

We issue the letter of invitation and support your visa application; we do not guarantee the issuing authority's decision. You remain responsible for holding a valid passport, obtaining the visa, taking out travel insurance, and complying with the entry rules of every country on your itinerary.

If a visa is refused on grounds within your control, the refund schedule above applies. If a visa is refused on grounds unrelated to your application — for example, a country-level entry suspension — we will refund the mission fee in full and absorb the administrative cost.

Cohorts operate in factory and partner environments where safety, confidentiality, and professionalism matter. Delegates are expected to follow on-site instructions from Shang You leads and from host factories, to respect non-disclosure obligations where the host requests them, and to refrain from independent factory visits during the cohort window without prior agreement. We reserve the right to end any delegate's participation, without refund, where conduct materially endangers the cohort or the host.

Deliverables described in the mission brief — supplier shortlists, term sheets, QC reports, landed-cost model, 30-day facilitation desk — are provided as informed recommendations, not as commercial guarantees. Final contracts and procurement decisions rest with you and your organisation. We make no representation about a specific counterpart's future performance.

Site copy, brand marks, mission briefs, deliverable templates, and source code are owned by Shang You or licensed to us. You receive a non-transferable licence to use the deliverables for your own commercial purposes; you may not republish or resell them as a stand-alone product. Information you share with us in a brief remains yours.

We provide services with reasonable skill and care. Our aggregate liability for any claim arising out of these terms is capped at the mission fee actually paid by the affected delegate.

We are not liable for delays or non-performance caused by events outside our reasonable control — including but not limited to visa-system outages, airline strikes, civil unrest, epidemic response, and natural disasters. Where such events disrupt a cohort, we will work in good faith to reschedule or to issue a credit toward a future mission.

The platform integrates with third-party services such as airlines, hotels, embassies, and payment processors. Their terms apply to your interactions with them. We are not responsible for losses arising solely from a third party's acts or omissions, though we will help you pursue a complaint where it is fair to do so.

We may suspend or terminate access to the platform if you breach these terms materially or repeatedly. You can stop using the platform at any time; the cancellation schedule in §05 governs the financial consequences for any cohort you are registered to.

These terms are governed by the laws of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. Any dispute that cannot be resolved through good-faith negotiation inside thirty (30) days will be submitted to the exclusive jurisdiction of the courts of Lagos State, Nigeria.

We may update these terms — the “Last updated” date at the top is authoritative. Material changes are emailed to affected delegates before the change takes effect. Questions and notices go to info@shangyoutrade.com.