Terms — how billing works.

What payment buys

When you pay, you're paying for the full quoted sample count at your quoted per-unit rate — paid in full, up front. Payment reserves lab capacity for your project: your samples get a slot in the extraction, prep, sequencing, and analysis queue as soon as they arrive.

Rate lock

The per-unit rate on your quote is held for this project — it doesn't change if pricing changes after you pay. If the samples you actually ship push your project into a larger volume tier, you get that better rate automatically; you never pay more per unit than what you quoted, only ever the same or less.

Volume tiers are priced in blocks, and a block sometimes costs less than a smaller order would. When your quoted count falls inside one of these blocks, we price you at the block and the extra units beyond your requested count ship at no additional cost. That headroom is real — if your quote shows more units included than you asked for, that's why.

If fewer samples arrive than quoted

This is the part we want to be direct about: if you ship fewer samples than your quote covered, the unused amount is not refunded in cash. It becomes credit instead.

• The credit is whichever is larger: the shortfall — your quoted count minus what you actually shipped — priced at your locked rate; or the difference between what you paid and what your actual shipment would have cost on its own, at our standard price for that count. If you ship exactly the count you quoted, both of those are zero, so no credit is owed — you already paid for exactly what you received.
• It's valid for 12 months from the date your project settles (when we finalize the actual count against your payment).
• It's redeemable against any BioKEA project, not just a repeat of the same service — quote the original quote number when you start the new project and we'll apply it.
• Unused credit that isn't redeemed within that window expires.

We settle this way because pay-in-full pricing is what lets us hold your rate and reserve lab time the moment you pay — refunding cash after the fact would undo that. Credit keeps the arrangement fair in both directions without unwinding a payment that already bought you a locked rate and a reserved slot.

If more samples arrive than quoted

We invoice the difference when results are delivered, billed at your locked rate — or at a better tier's rate if the larger count now qualifies for one. You never pay more per unit than what you quoted.

Academic & nonprofit rates

The academic/nonprofit rate is available to degree-granting institutions, government agencies, and non-profit research organizations. You attest to eligibility when you pay; we don't ask for separate documentation up front, but we may follow up if something doesn't line up.

Turnaround

Typical projects complete in 4–8 weeks from sample receipt. That's an estimate based on our normal queue, not a guarantee — custom assay design, unusually large batches, or sample quality issues can extend it. We'll flag anything project-specific at quote time.

Purchase orders

If you're paying by purchase order, we can issue a Net-30 invoice instead of taking payment online. Your PO number is printed on the invoice. Net-30 invoicing doesn't change the rate lock or the credit policy above — the same terms apply once the invoice is paid.

Data deposits

GBIF, NCBI SRA, and Zenodo submissions are part of the standard deliverable for every project — they're not an add-on. If institutional or publication considerations require it, we can put a hold or embargo on public deposits; just tell us when you request your quote or any time before results are delivered.

Quote validity

A quote is valid for 30 days from when it's issued. Pricing, tier boundaries, and rates can change after that, so if your quote has expired, ask us to re-issue it before you pay.

Questions

Email contact@biokea.ai, or use the contact form, before you pay if anything here doesn't match what you expect for your project.

BioKEA · Berkeley, CA