The common split on a China packaging order is thirty percent with the order and seventy before shipment. The deposit buys board and locks a production slot; the balance settles once goods are ready. That structure is not a favour to the factory – it is how the cash flow of a job with weeks of lead time works – but the exact percentages are negotiable, and what the balance is tied to matters more than the number.
What the deposit actually pays for changes with the job. On a reorder of an existing box, it is mostly a scheduling device. On a new die-cut carton, the deposit usually has to cover tooling before anything else moves, which is why factories ask for it before releasing a die to the floor. Tooling and sampling costs are itemised in the guide to sampling costs, and it is worth confirming in writing whether the die is included in the deposit or billed separately.
The useful negotiation is not the deposit percentage but what releases the balance. A buyer who ties the balance to a passed inspection – their own, a third party’s, or the factory’s outgoing AQL report – keeps leverage where it matters, at the moment the goods exist and can still be reworked. Once the goods ship, the leverage is gone and any problem becomes a claim instead of a correction. Inspection standards are set out in the note on AQL and outgoing inspection.
Paying the full amount up front is the position that removes all of your leverage, and it is more common than it should be on small orders where the buyer wants to save admin. Some factories ask for it on very small runs because the admin cost of chasing a balance exceeds the margin. If you accept it, do it with a supplier you have shipped with before, and treat it as a pricing trade-off rather than a norm.
Letters of credit invert the risk. The bank pays against documents rather than against trust, which protects the buyer from paying for nothing and the seller from shipping without payment. The costs are the bank fees on both sides, the document requirements that must match exactly – a typo in a container number can bounce a presentation – and the time the paperwork adds. For a first large order where neither side has history, an LC is a reasonable tool. For a regular reorder, it usually costs more than the risk it covers.
Bank charges deserve a line in the calculation. An international wire crosses one or more intermediary banks, each of which may deduct a fee, and the amount that arrives is often lower than the amount sent. Contracts usually state which side carries which charges – ours, yours, or shared. On a large balance the difference is real money, so confirm the charge split before transferring rather than reconciling it after.
Payment timing interacts with production scheduling in ways buyers underestimate. A deposit that lands two days late can push a job out of its production slot, and the next open slot may be a week later in a busy season. The same applies to the balance: factories release shipments in the order the balances clear. Payment and contract essentials, including what to put in writing, are covered in the payment and contract FAQ.
Currency movement sits behind the percentages. A quote valid for thirty days is priced on an exchange rate, and a balance paid sixty days later lands on a different one. Whether the rate risk sits with buyer or seller is a term of the quote, and it is worth knowing which before arguing about a price revision. The mechanics are set out in the guide to the terms used on packaging quotes.
For repeat buyers, the honest question is not which terms are safest but which keep the relationship working. A factory that is paid reliably on agreed dates puts your reorders at the front of the queue in a tight season; a buyer who delays balances gets flexible service in exactly the weeks when flexibility is scarce. Terms are a tool for the first order; track record is what governs the tenth.
Structuring a first order with a new supplier has a known pattern: a moderate deposit, the balance against a passed inspection, and the paperwork path agreed in writing before the deposit moves. That keeps both sides exposed to a share of the risk and gives both an incentive to resolve problems while the goods are still in the plant. The first-order sequence from quote to shipment is walked through in the export order management guide.
Chengtop works on standard deposit and balance terms with the balance tied to inspection, and quotes the tooling, sampling and unit price as separate lines so the deposit is transparent. If your payment process needs specific terms, tell us at the enquiry stage on the quote request page rather than at the invoice stage – terms set early cost nothing, terms changed late cost days.
