u/Tom-Incoclyse

not looking for theory actual stuff you've seen in the field.

i'll start: client insisted on FOB Shanghai for a full container. carrier loaded the box, it sat on the terminal for 11 days waiting for a vessel. damage happened on the terminal. client assumed it was covered. it wasn't risk had already transferred when the goods passed the ship's rail. except with containers that's not how it works anymore, FOB doesn't cover terminal handling. FCA to the carrier's premises would've fixed it. nobody caught it.

seen it happen more than once with DDP too supplier quotes DDP from China, doesn't have an IOR entity at destination, shipment gets held at customs, nobody can legally clear it. "DDP" on the invoice means nothing if the seller can't actually act as importer of record.

curious what you've run into FOB abuse, EXW where the buyer had zero idea what they signed up for, CIF with no real insurance behind it, whatever. what's the one you keep seeing come back?

Ça fait plusieurs mois que je travaille sur mon saas de conseil dans l’import export (incoclyse.com) j’essaye linkedin, et le cold call mais c’est très compliqué je n’ai que 6beta testeur et je n’arrive pas à avoir de client payant, comment faites-vous ??

A buyer I talked to imported industrial equipment from China, CIF Rotterdam. Supplier provided an insurance certificate. Looked fine.

Part of the cargo was damaged during transit, improper handling at an intermediate port. Claim filed. Insurer paid almost nothing.

Because CIF only requires Institute Cargo Clauses (C). And Clauses C explicitly excludes theft, handling damage, contamination.

The buyer assumed "insured" meant "covered." It didn't.

Two things people miss with CIF:

1. Risk transfers at origin, not destination. The moment goods are loaded, the risk is yours. You're claiming against a policy you didn't choose and didn't negotiate.

2. Clause C = minimum coverage. Clauses A covers all risks. Clauses C covers only specific listed perils. Everything else is your problem.

In this case: €38k in equipment. Insurer paid €4,200.

Fix:

Ask for CIP instead, same structure but Clauses A coverage. Or keep CIF, request the certificate upfront, and top it up yourself. The premium delta is usually small vs. the exposure.

Common with Asian suppliers. CIF is their default offer, not deception, just the cheapest compliant option. The buyer just doesn't know what they're actually getting.

Happy to go deeper if useful.

I’ve been building a tool to help SMEs deal with Incoterms and CBAM compliance. Beta, free, no catch.
Not necessarily you — if you know someone in logistics, purchasing, or international trade at a small company, I’d love an intro. Or just send them this post.
I just need real feedback from people who actually deal with cross-border shipments day to day. 20 minutes, that’s it.
Comment, DM me, or tag someone below

I'm a 22-year-old co-founder building a compliance tool for French SME exporters. We help them pick the right Incoterms® (international trade rules) on their invoices using AI.

Niche? Absolutely. Boring? Depends who you ask.

Here's what 6 months of building taught me. None of which I expected.

1. Your "obvious" customer is sometimes your worst customer

We initially targeted freight forwarders. They know international trade, they deal with this problem daily, they're easy to reach.

Turns out they're already Incoterms® experts. They don't need the tool. They ARE the tool.

The real customer is the SME exporter who has no idea what they're signing. They're writing EXW on every invoice because their grandfather did it, and they're absorbing risk they don't even know about.

Lesson: validate who has the pain, not who seems related to the pain.

2. A niche feature nobody cares about today can become your best lead magnet tomorrow

We added CBAM compliance alerts almost as an afterthought. CBAM is the EU's carbon border tax. It affects steel and aluminum exporters, and the fines for non-compliance are real.

That feature now opens doors that the core product alone never would. It's specific, time-sensitive, and regulatory: the trifecta for B2B urgency.

Lesson: build the feature that solves the problem people are scared of ignoring, not just the one they say they want.

3. "Beta" is a business model, not just a technical phase

We onboard beta testers manually. We activate their plan in the backend, invite them to a WhatsApp group, and follow up personally.

This is slow. It's also the best thing we've done.

Every beta tester has taught us something a survey never would have. One conversation changed how we display results entirely. We would have shipped the wrong thing to 200 paying customers without it.

Lesson: slow beta = fast product-market fit.

4. LinkedIn algorithm punishes companies and rewards humans

We have a company page. It gets nothing.

My co-founder Nathan posts from his personal profile. Same content, same topic. The reach is 10x. Every time.

We now treat the company page as a secondary mirror and put all effort into personal content. The algorithm rewards individuals sharing expertise, not brands broadcasting.

Lesson: in B2B, your founder IS your marketing channel. The logo is just a footnote.

5. Regulatory moats are real and underrated

When your product sits at the intersection of ICC trade rules and EU regulation, most competitors don't bother. The entry cost isn't technical. It's intellectual. You have to actually understand Incoterms® 2020 and CBAM deeply to build something credible.

That's a moat. Not as flashy as a patent, but it works.

Lesson: pick a space where the domain knowledge itself is the barrier. Then go deep.

6. Distribution beats product, every single time

We have a good product. I'm proud of it. But what's actually moving the needle right now is cold email, LinkedIn outreach, and showing up in communities where our customers hang out.

We spent 3 months perfecting the AI model. We should have spent 1 month on the model and 2 months on getting it in front of people.

Lesson: build 40%, distribute 60%. Adjust later.

If you're building something in a regulated, boring, niche B2B space, I'd love to compare notes. It's a different game than consumer SaaS and I find very few people talking about it honestly.

Happy to answer anything in the comments.

(We built Incoclyse. If you're curious what the product looks like after all this, just ask and I'll drop a link in the comments.)