Part 02
Getting paid
When you sell alone, one unpaid shipment can wipe out a year. The payment term decides who is exposed if the other side doesn't perform: you, after the goods have left, or the buyer, before they arrive. This part is about choosing terms you can live with and checking the paperwork that comes with them.
Three questions before you agree a payment term
- If the buyer never pays, what do I lose? The goods, the freight, or only a margin? Compare the options in export payment terms compared.
- If a bank is involved, what exactly does it promise? A confirmed letter of credit, an unconfirmed one and a documentary collection are very different promises. Before you ship under a credit, go through what to check in a letter of credit.
- How does the money reach me safely? Bank details on your proforma invoice are exactly what fraudsters try to change. Read how bank detail change fraud works and tell your buyers how you will never change them.
Payment terms and trade terms work together. Under some Incoterms rules you control the transport documents, and with them, some leverage over a buyer who hasn't paid the balance.
Guides in this part
- 02 · Getting paidExport payment terms compared: who carries the riskFrom cash in advance to open account: who is exposed at each step, what banks do and don't promise, and how to write the term.
- 02 · Getting paidLetter of credit: what to check before you shipA seller's checklist for a new credit: dates, documents, tolerances and confirmation, with the UCP 600 article behind each point.
Other parts of the handbook
- 01 · Quoting and trade terms
- 03 · Samples, orders and documents: samples, and delay and price-increase emails.
- 04 · Fraud and safety: also fake inquiries and phishing.
- 05 · Working across markets: bank holidays move payment dates; write payment terms in plain English.
Quoting a price for the first time? Start with how to write a quotation email on relaysolo.com.
How these guides are researched and checked: about this handbook.