Need help with a corporate order

[xandertan]

Hi guys, do pardon me if my enquiries sound a little silly.

I own an online webstore and have just received my first bulk order from an large company. The goods will need to be shipped in from overseas. However, I'm not too sure of the usual process for such orders.

I am aware that most companies would pay a cheque when the receive the goods. However, since the order needs to be shipped in, do I ask for a 50% deposit first?

Any help or opinions would be highly appreciated!

[QRM]

Depends what your terms and conditions are when they placed the order? If you didn't spell it out in the beginning then its a bit rich to start asking for deposits etc after the order.

[katbh]

Also it depends on if the order is local in Singapore or if you are on-shipping. If it is local in Singapore, and it is an unusually large order - make sure you get a valid purchase order from the company and if you are worried to a quick ACRA search on the company.
If you are shipping to another country, it depends on the country. Unfortunately there are are number of countries that I do not ship to unless they pay 100% in full in advance.
If you are an online store, don't you have paypal set up for the clients to pay? Unlike VISA/MC/AMEX you do not have to pay any fees to set up a Paypal account as a vendor. AND you can accept payment from paypal through paypal credit or through VISA or MASTERCARD.
Very few online stores accept orders unless they are paid for online at the time of purchase (you know...add to your cart...check out etc)

[xandertan]

Thanks for your replies

It's a renowned local company so I believe it'll the the invoice then cheque payment kind of thing. If I had the quantity in hand it'll be easier as I'll just deliver the goods and receive payment. However, I'm not too sure how to handle the order now since it has to be shipped in from my overseas supplier and I'm unsure how people normally settle these orders (Eg. Bulk orders / Orders with special requests / Custom orders such as t-shirt printing, brochure printing etc)

I didn't have any terms and conditions for bulk order when they contacted me as I never did any mass orders previously. Normally it's just small orders and I have stocks for them.

If anyone have prior / similar experience, do enlighten me! Many thanks

[nutnut]

Sounds like a very nice problem to have!

[xandertan]

Haha yes indeed. Just want to make sure it's handled professionally