About this handbook
The Solo Exporter's Handbook is written for people who sell to overseas buyers on their own: freelance export agents, one-person trading businesses, and the one salesperson at a small factory who looks after every foreign customer.
Who writes it
The RelaySolo team. We make RelaySolo, an AI sales assistant for solo export salespeople that keeps client records on the user's own computer. The handbook is separate from the product: each guide stands on its own, and only a short paragraph at the end says where the app can help.
How each guide is made
- One question per guide. Something a solo exporter actually has to decide or write this week, such as which Incoterms rule to quote or what to check in a letter of credit.
- Primary sources first. Rules are checked against the body that publishes them: the International Chamber of Commerce for Incoterms and UCP 600, government agencies for fraud reporting and public holidays. The sources are listed at the end of every guide.
- No invented numbers or stories. We don't make up statistics, case studies, customers or quotes. Where a figure appears, it comes from a named source.
- Say where it depends. Customs rules, bank practice and holiday dates differ by country and change. When that's the case we say so and point you to who decides: your bank's trade desk, the customs authority, the official calendar.
- Researched and written one at a time. New guides are added a few at a time, not generated in bulk.
Keeping guides current
Every guide shows a "Last checked" date. We re-check a guide when the rules it relies on change, for example a new version of Incoterms or a country changing its working week, and update that date.
What this handbook is not
It isn't legal, tax or financial advice. A guide can tell you how a payment term usually shares risk; it can't tell you whether to accept a particular buyer's contract. For that, ask your bank or a lawyer who knows the buyer's country.
All five parts
- 01 · Quoting and trade terms
- 02 · Getting paid
- 03 · Samples, orders and documents: samples, proforma invoices, delay and price-increase emails.
- 04 · Fraud and safety: bank detail change fraud, phishing and fake buyers.
- 05 · Working across markets: working weeks and holidays, plain English.
How we handle visitor data is in the privacy notice. Running a sales team rather than working alone? Our team product is OrgRelay.