How do you make sure that a company overseas that you are about to buy a product from will deliver?

I am about to buy a big quantity of mattresses for redistribution from an overseas company. How do i make sure that they are going to deliver. They are asking for 30% up front payment.

Public Comments

1. Look into a revocable letter of credit. Call your bank to inquire. They are too complicated to get into here, but the brief story is this: You place your order with factory with L/C terms. Send order to your bank, who reserves funds from your account to pay L/C, and factory is notified that L/C is pending. Factory ships and provides documents according to order. Bank checks certified documents and releases funds to factory's bank once all terms and conditions are satisfied. Once again, call your banker to discuss both L/C and up-front fees. Lots more to cover here. Up-front fees aren't terribly uncommon, but I would shop around to find another factory who might waive the up-front. You might also get factory to waive up-front fee for slightly higher price. Good luck.