Partner Criteria
The bar we hold every shop to.
We're picky on purpose. This isn't a marketplace that'll take anyone with a pulse and a product photo. Every shop on Knurlbase has earned their spot — here's the bar they cleared.
| Requirement | What it means |
|---|---|
| Made in the USA | All partner products are manufactured domestically. We do not accept importers, dropshippers, or "designed in USA, made overseas" brands. If a product is made in your shop, in another US shop, or assembled from US-made components, you qualify. |
| Under 5 employees | Founder-led, small operations. We want the person who answers the email to also be the person who might pack the box. This keeps the craft honest and the accountability direct. |
| Original designs | We want gear you invented, not commodity products with your logo on them. "Original" doesn't have to mean patented — it means meaningfully differentiated. If a customer couldn't get this exact thing, built this way, anywhere else, that's original enough for us. |
| 2–10 Fanatic-exclusive items | Every partner commits to making 2–10 items available only to Fanatic members. Custom finishes, upgraded materials, limited runs, small-batch collaborations — whatever makes sense for your shop. These are what the Fanatic is built on. |
| Free shipping on Fanatic items | Every Fanatic product ships free to members. No asterisks, no "over $100" thresholds, no weight-based exceptions. This is a promise we make on your behalf, and we need you to keep it. |
| Direct fulfillment | You ship directly from your shop to the customer. Knurlbase never touches inventory. When a member buys something from you, 100% of the purchase goes to you — and the relationship is between you and them. |
| Responsive support | You handle support for your own products. Members expect a human reply within 3 business days. If you're a one-person shop, that's fine — just be honest about turnaround times. |
| No platform exclusivity | You can sell on your own site, at trade shows, through resellers, anywhere. Knurlbase is one of your channels, not all of them. We just ask that Fanatic exclusives actually stay exclusive. |
We turn away more than we accept.
Most applications don't make it through. It's nothing personal — the bar is what makes the curation worth something to members.
No pay-to-play, ever.
You can't buy your way in. No placement fees, no featured-shop packages, no "upgrade your listing" tiers. You earned the spot or you didn't.