tret
An allowance to purchasers, for waste or refuse matter, of four pounds on every 104 pounds of suttle weight, or weight after the tare is deducted.
tret: the buyer's cut for dirt and damage in bulk goods
Tret was a customary allowance granted to purchasers of bulk commodities, particularly in maritime trade, to account for loss, degradation, or refuse matter incurred between the seller's scales and final use. The standard rate was fixed: four pounds per 104 pounds of suttle weight (the weight after tare, or container weight, had already been subtracted). This meant a buyer purchasing 1,000 pounds of suttle weight could deduct roughly 38 pounds without further negotiation or inspection.
The allowance existed because goods shipped by sea or transported overland genuinely deteriorated. Salt lost moisture. Spices picked up dust and insect damage. Dried fruits fermented in humid holds. Wool absorbed water. Rather than dispute every shipment lot-by-lot, merchants codified tret as an accepted loss factor baked into the price. The practice was most common in the trade of spices, salt, dried goods, and fiber materials between the 15th and 19th centuries.
Tret and tare: two separate deductions
Tret is often confused with tare, but they operated at different points in the transaction. Tare was the weight of the container itself, subtracted first to establish the suttle weight (net weight of goods alone). Tret then applied as a percentage of that suttle weight. A barrel of spices might weigh 200 pounds gross, with a 20-pound barrel (tare), leaving 180 pounds suttle. The buyer would then receive a tret allowance of roughly 6.9 pounds on that 180-pound suttle weight. The buyer paid for only about 173 pounds of actual product.
Tret declined as measurement became more standardized, insurance mechanisms developed, and buyers gained access to independent weighing and inspection. By the early 20th century, most international commodity trades had replaced customary allowances with explicit quality standards, moisture clauses, and spot inspection protocols. Modern bulk sales of agricultural or mineral goods now specify exact moisture content, foreign matter percentage, and damage tolerance rather than applying a blanket tret figure.
The term survives in historical accounts of trade and in the records of old merchant houses, but it has no practical use in contemporary commerce. Understanding it is essential when reading historical bills of lading, invoices, or maritime contracts from before 1900, since failure to account for tret will produce incorrect reconstructions of actual goods transferred or profits realized.