Payment terms, in plain words
Most Chinese suppliers don’t publish payment terms. We’d rather you read them here than find them on a proforma invoice after you’ve committed to a deadline.
Nothing below is unusual. It’s the same standard for a one-piece prototype and a 500-piece run.
The short version
| Your situation | Deposit | Balance |
|---|---|---|
| First order under US$3,000 | 100% with the PO | — |
| First order US$3,000 and above | 50% | 50% before shipment |
| Tooling, fixtures, paid samples | 100% | Credited against the production order |
| Repeat customer, 3 clean orders | 30% | 70% before shipment |
| Annual spend US$50k+, 1 year or more | Net 30, after a credit check | — |
| Rush orders (under 5 working days) | 100% | — |
Prices are quoted in US dollars by default. EUR and GBP on request. Quotes hold for 30 days — 15 days when the material market is moving.
Why the deposit
Material is bought the day your order lands, not the day it ships. A 50% deposit covers the bar stock and books the machine slot. The balance is due before the goods leave, because once a pallet is on a plane, the only leverage either of us has is goodwill.
If that’s a problem for your cash flow, say so before you order rather than after. We’ve worked out schedules with customers for a decade; it has never cost anyone the relationship. Silence does.
How an order actually runs
- You send the PO and confirm the drawing revision — one line is enough, but the revision number matters. Parts made to the wrong revision are our most expensive kind of mistake.
- We send a proforma invoice with the deposit amount, lead time, and the shipping term in writing.
- Deposit received — material ordered, machine slot booked, engineer assigned.
- First article measured on CMM before the run continues. Report sent to you for approval if you asked for one.
- Balance invoice issued a few days before completion. Goods ship the working day after it clears.
- Documents with the shipment: commercial invoice, packing list, dimensional report. Mill certificates, RoHS/REACH declarations and fumigation certificates on request.
Payment methods
| Method | When to use it | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Bank transfer (T/T) | Default for every order | Our account details appear on the proforma invoice only |
| Wise | EUR and GBP orders | Lower fees than a correspondent bank; we quote the same price |
| PayPal | Orders under US$1,000 | We add the transaction fee — it’s about 4.4% plus a fixed charge |
| Alipay / WeChat Pay | Customers paying from inside China | — |
| Letter of credit | Orders above US$50,000 | At your bank’s cost; add 5 working days to the lead time |
What we need from you
- Legal company name and billing address, as it should appear on the invoice
- VAT / EORI number, if the shipment is DDP or DAP into the EU or UK
- PO number, if your system needs one on the paperwork
- The name of whoever approves the first article, so we’re not waiting on someone who’s on holiday
Questions we get asked
- Can we pay 100% after delivery?
- Not on a first order. After three clean orders and a credit check, we’ll talk about net 30 — and for regular customers we usually get there.
- Can we pay the balance after third-party inspection?
- Yes. Book the inspector, tell us the date, and we’ll have the parts ready and the paperwork open. The inspection fee is yours; we don’t add anything for the wait.
- Do you take a letter of credit?
- Above US$50,000, yes. It costs what your bank charges and adds about five working days to the schedule.
- What happens if the parts are wrong?
- If a toleranced feature is out, we remake or credit it — reported within 14 days of delivery. If it’s our fault we pay the freight back, too.
- Can you invoice in euros?
- Yes. The price is converted at the rate on the invoice date and stated on the document, so there’s no argument later.
Still unclear on something?
Ask before you order, not after. A one-line email to 1@gymachining.com gets an answer the same working day — usually within a couple of hours, since someone here is awake from 08:00 to 22:00 UTC+8.
Eileen handles invoicing and shipping documents. If your finance team needs a specific wording on the invoice, tell her and she’ll match it.