The practical answer: agree a deposit that only starts production, tie any further payments to evidence you can verify, and hold the final balance until the pre-shipment inspection has passed and the unit is ready to load — with every term written into the proforma invoice or contract before you transfer any money. How you pay an off-road caravan factory decides how much leverage you keep if the build is late, wrong or poor quality, because once money crosses borders, your protection comes from milestones and documents, not from goodwill.

Why Payment Terms Decide How Safe the Deal Is

When you buy an off-road caravan from China, you pay before the goods exist. A caravan order is normally several weeks of production followed by international shipping, so the factory holds the physical asset for most of the transaction. If you have already paid most of the price, a delayed or defective unit leaves you with expensive options: accept a compromise, wait for rework, or pursue a claim across borders.

Payment terms are the one lever you control from the start. Splitting the price into staged payments tied to verifiable events — specification locked, production started, inspection passed — keeps the supplier motivated to deliver on time and to a standard, because each stage of your money depends on it. None of this works unless the stages are written down and agreed before the first payment.

The Structure Most Off-Road Caravan Export Orders Use

Most export quotations for caravans from Chinese factories are built around a deposit and a balance:

• Deposit. Commonly around 30 percent of the order value, paid by bank transfer to start production. The exact percentage varies by factory, order size and how much customization is involved, so treat any number you see online as a starting point and confirm the actual split in writing. Deposits fund materials and chassis fabrication; they are normally not refundable once production has started, which is why the specification must be final before you pay.
• Balance. Paid before shipment. For a first order, the balance should be released only after you are satisfied with the finished unit — normally after a pre-shipment inspection — and before the caravan is loaded or the shipping documents are handed over. Some factories accept the balance against a scanned copy of the bill of lading for repeat, trusted customers; that is a relationship concession, not something to rely on for a first order.
• Progress payments for large orders. For multi-unit fleet orders, some suppliers agree to staged payments — for example after the chassis stage and after the fit-out stage — so the money follows documented production progress. Each stage must have defined evidence attached to it, such as dated photos or an inspection report; without evidence, staged payments only mean you pay earlier.

A sample or first trial order often follows a simpler two-payment structure, but the principle is the same: never pay the full value before you can verify what was produced.

Lock the Specification Before You Pay the Deposit

The deposit starts production, and production follows whatever specification the factory has on file. If the specification is still changing when you pay, you lose negotiating room later: any change after the order starts can be quoted as an extra, and you have already committed your deposit.

Before transferring money, make sure the written quotation contains the complete basis of the order: model and size, layout and berths, the standard equipment list, every option and customization agreed, the price basis (which Incoterms apply and what is included), lead time, and the payment schedule. A supplier that publishes its standard export range — as LZM does with its off-road caravans from China, listing sizes, layouts and standard equipment per model — gives you a concrete starting point to compare against any customization you request. Requesting changes after the deposit should be a written amendment stating the effect on price and delivery time.

T/T or Letter of Credit: What Each Method Actually Protects

Two payment methods dominate China caravan exports, and they protect you in different ways:

• Telegraphic transfer (T/T). The simplest and cheapest method. You instruct your bank to transfer USD or another agreed currency to the supplier's account. A T/T protects nothing by itself — it is just a transfer — so its safety comes entirely from the contract and the milestone structure around it. For first orders, a deposit T/T followed by an inspection-linked balance T/T is the most common arrangement.
• Letter of credit (L/C). Your bank promises to pay the factory's bank once the factory presents the documents specified in the L/C — typically the commercial invoice, packing list, bill of lading and any inspection certificate you require. An L/C at sight protects against non-shipment and against paying before the goods move, because the bank only pays against compliant documents. It does not guarantee that the caravan matches its specification; it is a documentary instrument, so the inspection requirement must be built into the L/C conditions if you want the payment to depend on inspection results.

L/Cs carry bank fees on both sides and any discrepancy in the documents can delay payment, which some factories price into the quotation. As a rule of thumb, milestone-based T/T works well for mid-sized first orders with an inspection step, while an L/C is more common for larger values or when you want a bank to intermediate between two companies that do not know each other yet. Confirm the method before the price is final, because the supplier's costs differ between them.

Tie the Balance to Inspection, Not to a Calendar Date

The final balance is your strongest quality lever, and it should be linked to a defined event. The cleanest structure for a first order is: balance due after the pre-shipment inspection has been completed and passed, and before the caravan is loaded for shipment. That way the factory has an incentive to fix any defect found at inspection before it asks for the remaining money.

Agree in advance what happens if inspection fails: rework at the factory's cost, a new inspection date, and a deadline after which you can cancel and claim a refund of the deposit portion that has not been consumed. If you cannot inspect in person, use a third-party inspection company or a detailed video walk-through with the checklist agreed beforehand — the point is to have an independent record that the unit matches the specification before the balance is paid.

What the Contract and Proforma Invoice Must State About Money

A professional Chinese caravan exporter issues a proforma invoice before production; for larger or customized orders, ask for a short sales contract in addition. Whatever the document, make sure the money terms are explicit:

• Unit price and the exact currency of the order, with all prices on one Incoterms basis so you know what the price includes and excludes.
• Deposit amount and the event it pays for (starting production).
• Balance amount and the precise trigger (for example, "due after buyer's pre-shipment inspection is passed and before loading").
• The supplier's registered company name and bank account details, matching the entity that signs the contract.
• Cancellation and refund terms, including what happens to the deposit if the factory cannot deliver.
• What the factory pays if delivery is late, and how rework at its cost is handled.
• Delivery time stated with a date or a clear window, not a vague number of days "from confirmation".

Red Flags in Payment Requests

Some requests should slow you down regardless of how good the quotation looks:

• A demand for 100 percent payment in advance of production.
• Payment to a personal bank account or to a beneficiary different from the company that signed the contract.
• A later email changing the bank account details — verify any account change through a second channel, such as a phone call to a number you already have, because account-detail fraud is common in cross-border trade.
• Pressure to pay before you have received a written quotation and a frozen specification.
• Vague milestones with no evidence attached, combined with a request to pay early.

None of these automatically means the supplier is dishonest, but they all shift risk to you, and an established exporter should have no difficulty accepting a normal, written structure.

Currency, Fees and Transfer Practicalities

Quotes for Chinese caravan exports are usually priced in USD. Confirm the currency in the proforma invoice, check who bears bank and intermediary fees on each side (small wording differences here can cost several hundred dollars on a larger transfer), and keep the transfer receipts with your order file — they are useful for your own records and for customs documentation later. If exchange rates move significantly between quotation and payment, agree in advance whether the price is fixed in the quote currency, so there is no dispute about what you owe.

Common Questions Importers Ask

Is a 30 percent deposit normal? A deposit in that range is a common starting point in caravan export quotations, but the exact share varies by factory and order value. What matters more than the percentage is what the deposit is tied to: it should be paid only after the specification and written quotation are final.

Can I pay the balance only after the caravan arrives in my country? Most factories will not ship a caravan without being paid, so an arrival-based balance is rarely available on a first order. If you need the payment released only against shipment, an L/C or a documentary collection arrangement may suit you better than a plain T/T.

Does a letter of credit protect me against poor quality? No. An L/C pays against documents that match its conditions, not against the physical condition of the caravan. Quality protection comes from the specification, the inspection clause and the balance structure — make the inspection certificate a condition of the L/C if you use one.

Should I pay extra to add an inspection condition to the payment schedule? A factory that exports regularly should treat an inspection-linked balance as a normal request. If a supplier insists that the full balance is due before any inspection is possible, treat that as a warning sign and compare how other factories quote the same order.

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