Your supplier offers a smaller deposit if the balance arrives before shipment. Another asks for half upfront, while a sample seller wants full payment before dispatch. The percentages tell you when cash moves, but not whether the goods will meet your specification or whether you can recover an advance. Start with the purchase risks and release conditions, then negotiate the split.
The purchasing situations below are fictional, generalised examples, not customer transactions. This article is general information, not legal, tax or investment advice. No payment schedule guarantees delivery, quality or recovery of funds.
Read T/T as the transfer method
In supplier quotations, T/T usually refers to payment by bank transfer. The accompanying terms determine when the buyer sends the deposit and balance. T/T itself does not create an inspection condition, escrow arrangement or automatic refund right. Those details need agreement outside the transfer instruction.
If you propose stablecoin funding for a supplier bank payout, discuss that arrangement with the supplier and provider separately. Do not assume a quotation saying T/T approves a wallet transfer. The China supplier payment guide distinguishes the funding leg from the supplier's intended receipt.
Use 30/70 to discuss the balance milestone
Under a 30/70 arrangement, the buyer pays thirty percent as a deposit and seventy percent at the agreed later stage. That can leave more cash unpaid during production than a half-upfront schedule, but the benefit depends on what releases the balance. Payment before an inspection still leaves the buyer exposed to quality issues.
For a fictional repeat packaging order, purchasing might negotiate the balance after an agreed inspection and before shipment. Write down who appoints the inspector, what constitutes acceptance and how rework affects the payment date. The inspection guide keeps that decision separate from finance's transfer process.
Understand what a 50/50 request funds
A half-upfront schedule puts more of the order value at risk before completion. A supplier may request it for materials or custom production. Ask what work the advance starts and whether the buyer can verify progress before the remaining payment becomes due. A stated need for materials does not prove they will be purchased.
For a fictional custom display order, the buyer could review samples and specifications before accepting a larger deposit. Consider whether a smaller initial order or a different milestone would reduce exposure. Do not infer that a supplier requesting half is unreliable, or that accepting less makes another supplier safe.
Treat 100% before shipment as full exposure
Full prepayment means the buyer has no unpaid balance left to withhold if a problem appears later. For a low-value sample purchase, a buyer might knowingly accept that exposure after verification. A new production order deserves a different assessment, even if the supplier uses the same payment language.
Clarify whether the request means payment before production or only after completed goods are ready for dispatch. Both precede shipment, but the evidence available at the decision point can differ. The sample-payment guide separates a trial purchase from approval of the eventual production order.
Compare terms with the actual order
Look at supplier history, customisation, cash you can afford to have tied up, inspection access and the cost of delay. Record the delivery term and responsibility for transport as well. Paying the balance before shipment does not by itself tell you when transport risk transfers or who pays freight.
If the requested advance exceeds your business's acceptable exposure, negotiate rather than relying on a payment receipt to protect the purchase. A letter-of-credit comparison offers another structure to discuss with your bank, without suggesting that it solves every supplier risk.
Keep percentages tied to an agreed total
Write the schedule against the invoice currency and approved order value. If quantities, freight or price change, agree how that affects the deposit credit and remaining amount. A percentage copied from the original quotation may no longer describe what is due.
The multi-factory schedule shows why each supplier needs its own release approval. Use pay an invoice to ask A2vanta about the proposed instalment and required documents before funding. Obtain a quote for the current payment, keep the supplier's credit acknowledgement and do not reuse an expired deposit quote for the balance.