Globalization has strongly increased trade between countries. With the internet, doing business online has become more important than ever. Unfortunately, fraud has also increased.
The following tips could save your company some important financial loss.
1. Confirm Contact details
Always verify that the contact information such as the address, phone number and email do actually belong to the company in question. Do a search in a local directory and call up the company to make sure that the person really works there.
2. Check company background information
Ordering a simple credit report can save your company a lot of headaches. These reports cost between $70.00 USD to $300.00USD and gives you the legal and financial history of any given company. With this information, you can decide if you want to proceed with business transactions.
3. Ask as many technical questions as possible
Ask various technical questions such as certificate of origin, quality standards, warranty and detailed questions about your products. This will quickly differentiate a good partner from a bad one.
4. Research the market value
Search what the market price of your product and be suspicious of any deal that is too good to be true.
5. Meet Your Partner in Person
After doing all verifications suggested in point 1 and 2, try to meeet your business partner in person and visit his company’s facilities. While the internet offers you a wealth of information on your potential partner which enables you to make an initial assessment, there is no substitute for face-to-face contact. In doubt, contact the local embassy or consulate for help, guidance and tips in order to better plan your trip.
6. Be cautious when ordering or providing Samples
Before purchasing products, you need to request a sample to make sure that it is up to your standards. If you are a seller, make sure to request payment for samples. This especially applies to products with a high resale value.
7. Order pre-shipment inspection services
As a buyer, you can avoid poor quality products by ordering these services for quality control.
8. Exercise caution for advanced payment
When you are a buyer and you enter into a contract, it is normal for the seller to request partial payment before shipping the order. Avoid all payments with services like Western Union as it is extremely hard to identify the owner of the account receiving the payment. A safer option would be a letter of credit.
9. Pay close attention to high risk countries
Be especially careful when you are dealing with regions with high fraud incident such as Eastern Europe and Africa.
Ariel Dess specializes in assisting companies successfully do business with Latin America. To access to his beneficial resources, tips and links, click here global b2b
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