FAQ

Do you need our help or support?

Are you in need of help or support? Want to explore our membership benefits, schedule a demo, or have a specific question? Browse our support categories, and whether you want to book a product presentation, request a call back or simply consult our frequently asked questions, we have got your back!

I want to collaborate with IMPA and contribute with articles and insight for one or more of your platforms. Can I?

You surely can! If you have something exciting to share, please get in touch with Dom or Jasmine from our Insight team by using the contact form on our website.

How can I get a premium listing in the Members’ Directory?

Unfortunately, at the moment you cannot. However, we are working on this feature and are hoping to bring this option to you in the new year. Please bear with us.

How can I be sure a supplier is truly a member of IMPA and is not just using the logo on their website?

Simple! Check the IMPA Online Members' Directory (make sure you are logged in first). Our Directory is updated daily, so if a company is not in there, it is because they are not a member! And if you want to be extra sure, you can always write to us using our contact form and we will check for you.

How do I update my contact details?

Please get in touch with our Membership team by using our contact form. We will be happy to make any changes needed for you.

I have not heard from IMPA in more than a month at all – is there something wrong?

There certainly is! Please ensure our email addresses are whitelisted/safelisted and regularly check your junk/spam folder to ensure nothing from us gets redirected there. If you are still not getting any of our email, please get in touch with our team by using the contact form and we will try to help.

How can I log in the members’ area?

Head over to the Members' Area and log in with your credentials. If you do not remember your password, please reset it by using the link on the right of the form. If you still cannot get through, reach out to Stevie, our IMPA Membership Officer, and she will be happy to assist; use this contact form.

I have a Shipserv account and want to be verified as a member of IMPA. What do I do?

Please request verification as an IMPA member in your ShipServ account, and allow up to 48 hours for our team to confirm this.

I am not happy with my listing in the Members’ Directory. What can I do?

We are sorry about that! Just get in touch with our membership team using our contact form, and we will set your listing straight.

How do I access digital issues of the Marine Trader or the Insight Centre?

It will all be easy to access through our Members' Area. Just log in and browse!

Where can I see events that are happening in the IMPA community?

On our website's homepage, we have included a handy calendar feature (just scroll to the bottom of the page) where you can see our upcoming events and gatherings. It is also worth keeping an eye on our separate event websites.

Why is your Members’ Directory only available online? You used to have it in print.

Our Association gets, on average, 10 new membership applications every month, and we welcome new members all the time into our network. We realised, because of this, that our Directory, that used to be printed every year, very quickly became obsolete. The digital one, however, was updated weekly (now daily!), and always stayed actual. This, coupled with our increasing efforts towards embracing a more sustainable way of doing business, has resulted in us leaving behind the printed version and focusing our time and resources on a much-improved digital Directory. We hope our members understand this.

How can I pay for my membership?

We accept payment by bank transfer, PayPal and even credit card. Upon approving your application, you will receive an invoice for your first year of membership, and you will be able to have a chat with our lovely Accounts Manager to see which method of payment suits you best.

Where can I find my IMPA membership number?

Your membership number can be found in your membership certificate, your welcome pack, as well as in every monthly members' newsletter we send out. If you still cannot find it, you are always welcome to reach out to Stevie from the IMPA membership team by using our contact form; she will be happy to let you know your unique number.

I want to apply for supplier membership but have only recently established my company and cannot provide references yet. Can I still join?

Asking for references is a policy we have developed in the early days of our Association because we wanted to ensure that all IMPA members are trusted and reliable industry professionals whose work can be vouched for by their customers. While we understand that some companies are newly-established and cannot yet provide the required references, we need to maintain this policy across the board. Hence, we kindly ask you to defer your application until you can provide these references in the near future. In the meantime, you can still get access to all our newsletters and bulletins by signing up on our homepage.

What information do we need to provide at application stage and what does the process of becoming a member involve?

Purchaser members will need to fill in our quick and easy application form and give as much detail as possible during this stage. Once your application is approved, you will be invoiced and will be able to pay by bank transfer or card. Upon payment receipt, Stevie, our Membership Officer, will write to welcome you as a full-fledged member of IMPA!

Supplier members will need to fill in our quick and easy application form and give as much detail as possible during this stage, as well as include details of two of their ongoing customers who could offer our team a satisfactory reference about their business relationship with the applicant. Our team will get in touch with the referees via email and upon receiving positive references, will proceed with your application and ensure that you are invoiced for the first year of membership. Upon payment receipt, Stevie, our Membership Officer, will write to welcome you as a full-fledged member of IMPA!

How long do I have to wait until I receive my IMPA certificate? Can I receive it in print?

Not long! Once your application is approved and payment has been made, our membership team aims to get in touch with you within a matter of days. If a week passes from confirmation of payment and you have not been contacted, please double check your spam/junk folder to see if our email got there by mistake and, if it's not there, feel free to give us a call or message us through our contact form. We'll be happy to help.

As for receiving your certificate in print, we are afraid there is no option for that. We try to keep printing to a minimum mainly for environmental reasons; it is why we decided to have an exclusively-digital Directory as well. You are, however, welcome to print your digital certificate yourself for framing in your office.

Where can I get the IMPA member’s logo?

This should be available in your Members' Area and should have been emailed in your orientation message from our membership team. If you do not have it, please contact us and we our team will be happy to help.

Where can I follow everything IMPA is doing and how can I ensure I am on IMPA’s various subscribers’ lists?

You can subscribe to our non-member newsletters directly from the homepage of our main website. You can also make sure to follow our various social media platforms, as well as our weekly-updated blog and monthly podcast. All these links can be found in the footer of our website.

Can I gift someone a one-year membership of IMPA?

You certainly can! Please reach out to Stevie from the IMPA membership team by using our handy contact form, and tell us the name, email and telephone number of the lucky person, and we will help you sort this great gift.

If I become a member of IMPA, will I get instant access to all the IMPA products, like the Marine Stores Guide?

This is a common misconception, and we are afraid to say no. Many of our projects and initiatives are standalone products that require a lot more human and time resources to manage, therefore we charge for these separately. However, as an IMPA member, you often get discounts when purchasing our other products or memberships.

I want to allocate some of my marketing budget to advertising across IMPA’s platforms. Whom should I contact?

That's great! Across our product portfolio, we have a reach that extends to 40,000+ industry professionals. If you want to explore the various options for promoting your business and getting your brand out there, please reach out to Nicole or Karen by using our contact form.

Is there any reason I should go for the corporate membership?

Our corporate membership option is an affordable way for companies who want to see multiple personnel (or divisions in the case of some supplier members) join IMPA; it is not an inherently better option, but one that would ensure up to five individuals at the same company (in the case of purchasers) or up to three individuals or divisions of the same company (in the case of suppliers) become IMPA members and get the afferent benefits.

Can I contact my regional ambassador directly through the website to enquire about membership?

You certainly can and are in fact encouraged to do so! All our ambassadors are eager to discuss IMPA with potential members and are looking forward to chat to you about any concerns you may have before joining.

How can IMPA improve my day-to-day job as a purchaser or supplier in maritime?

By becoming part of our Association as a purchaser or supplier member, you gain not only the support of a global network, but also unlock opportunities for collaboration and knowledge exchange, as well as access to member-only events and seminars. We can help support your work on CSR with lower rates for our initiatives, assist you with finding sustainable suppliers, offer you the latest insight in the sector, facilitate networking and debating through our regular events, help you with continuing professional development, and more. For us at IMPA, it is important to offer services and products that the community and our members actually require, and as a member, you will be encouraged to offer us your suggestions for new and existing initiatives.

Why should I join a trade association?

Joining a big community like IMPA’s will come with wonderful opportunities that will benefit your career. While networking and building relationships are often the two most touted benefits, there is much more to being a member of a trade association such as IMPA. From benefitting from continued education and development in an area that is often forgotten in the traditional classroom to being involved in the development and implementation of best practices in the sector, member companies can take advantage of excellent opportunities that are unique to our community. Finally, we also work hard to amplify our members’ voices, so by becoming part of our organisation, you can rest assured your concerns will be heard and suggestions considered.

If IMPA acts as a non-profit organisation, why do you charge for membership?

We totally understand where this question is coming from. We act as a non-profit organisation simply because all our members’ financial support goes back into the running of the Association, its projects, and its initiatives. Without our wonderful members’ support over the past four decades, we would not have been able to come this far and create and manage so many initiatives and education programmes. We do, however, try to keep the membership fee as low as possible in order to ensure that every procurement professional out there can afford to join us. Our membership fees have not changed in almost a decade, despite our project portfolio quadrupling.

Questions regarding membership?

If you cannot find what you are looking for, then please get in touch with us directly.

Contact Stevie Davison-Scott

Membership and Ambassador Liaison Officer

Picture of Stevie Davison-Scott

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