Cash flow kills importers far more often than price does. A container is paid for in China, sits on water for a month, clears customs, and only then turns into an invoice your customer has not paid yet. Every week of that gap comes out of your own working capital.<\/p>\n
Payment terms are the way buyers pull that gap back to a manageable size. They are also a business arrangement, not a promotion, and they are agreed properly and in writing.<\/p>\n
Both structures are normal because they match where the cost sits: the factory spends money before you have goods, and nothing ships until payment is complete. For repeat customers, the split between deposit and balance — and the payment method — is open to discussion, agreed in writing before production starts.<\/p>\n
Payment arrangements granted loosely cost more than they are worth. If the stages are not agreed on paper before production starts, disputes end up priced into the goods and every buyer pays for it. Written terms and a documented order history are what make the arrangement work for both sides.<\/p>\n
For a first order we work on the standard deposit and balance structure. Terms become a conversation once there is a delivery history to look at.<\/p>\n
With the factory, arranged and documented through us. That is why the stages are agreed per order rather than set as a blanket policy.<\/p>\n
Yes, and it is common on a mixed order. Terms on one or two product lines, standard payment on the rest.<\/p>\n
The written terms say so. That is the reason we put the stages in the order confirmation rather than leaving them to be remembered later.<\/p>\n
Tell us the order, the product lines and the payment stages you have in mind. We will tell you what the factories will accept and put the agreed version in writing.<\/p>\n
If you want to see where the goods are held while terms are being arranged, the answer is our warehouse and packing service<\/a>. For the shipment itself, see consolidation<\/a> or freight<\/a>.<\/p>\n