Payment Terms for International Buyers

Catalist's accepted payment methods for international buyers

Out of the broader menu, Catalist operates a narrower set of payment rails on day one. This is deliberate — the platform is optimized for speed of order release and document issuance, which favors payment instruments that clear quickly and require minimal bank-level coordination.

Wire transfer (SWIFT) in USD. The default. The buyer places an order through the portal, receives a pro-forma invoice with Catalist's US bank details (ABA routing number, account number, SWIFT code, beneficiary name and address), and sends USD from their local bank. The buyer pays any local bank fees, correspondent-bank fees, and FX cost on the send side. Once funds land in Catalist's bank, the order enters pick-pack at our Brooklyn, NY warehouse and is released for export.

Credit card in USD. Used primarily for smaller test orders. The card is charged at order confirmation and the order enters pick-pack immediately on authorization. Card processing fees are absorbed in the platform pricing model; buyers do not see a separate surcharge. Card limits apply — most issuers will not authorize a cross-border wholesale transaction above a certain threshold, which is why wire is the default for larger shipments.

A buyer's first order typically uses one of these two methods. The payment instrument does not affect the export documentation package — commercial invoice, packing list, and any requested certificates are identical regardless of how the buyer paid. See export documentation overview for the full document set.

Both methods settle in USD. Catalist does not process payments in EUR, GBP, CAD, AUD, AED, MXN, JPY, or any other currency. Buyers handling local-to-USD conversion through their own bank retain full control over timing and choice of FX provider, which most international importers prefer over a platform-mediated conversion rate.

Currency considerations — USD-only pricing and FX exposure

Every Catalist invoice is denominated in US dollars. The unit price per case, the pallet-level price breaks, the freight charge if handled by Catalist, and the final invoice total are all in USD. Buyers do not see a reference price in their local currency, and Catalist does not lock an FX rate on the invoice date.

The practical consequence: international buyers carry FX exposure between the date they commit to an order and the date they actually send USD to Catalist's bank. On most orders this window is 1-7 days. For buyers on approved net-30 terms, the window extends to roughly 30 days from invoice issuance.

Most experienced international importers hedge this exposure through their local bank. Common approaches:

1. Forward USD purchase. The buyer buys USD forward on the invoice date, locking in the rate at which they will convert local currency when payment is due. Cost is typically 10-40 basis points over spot, depending on the forward tenor and the currency pair.
2. USD working capital account. Larger importers keep a USD balance at their local bank, funded opportunistically when the local-to-USD rate is favorable. Invoice payment draws from the USD balance rather than from same-day local currency conversion.
3. Price absorption at destination. The buyer prices the destination sell-through with a 2-5% FX buffer built in. This is common where the buyer's downstream customers do not accept frequent price changes and where the buyer prefers margin predictability to hunting the best FX rate on each order.

Catalist does not offer FX hedging, currency conversion, or multi-currency invoicing. These are bank-level services and are handled through the buyer's existing banking relationship. Invoice due dates and payment terms are the same regardless of which hedging approach the buyer uses.

For buyers in countries with capital controls or FX licensing requirements (several South American, Middle Eastern, and African markets), the wire-out process may require additional local documentation — commercial invoice, proof of commercial purpose, and in some jurisdictions a government-issued import license. This is a local banking requirement, not a Catalist requirement, but the documents Catalist issues do satisfy the commercial-invoice and proof-of-purpose portions.

Risk mitigation for both parties

A reasonable question from international buyers considering their first order: if Catalist does not accept LC or escrow, what protects the buyer if something goes wrong? The honest answer requires unpacking what each instrument actually does.

Letters of credit protect the seller, not the buyer. An LC guarantees that the seller gets paid once the seller presents the agreed document set. The buyer's bank pays the seller's bank on document presentation — it does not verify that the goods are what the buyer ordered, only that the documents match the LC terms. Buyers who want LC for protection are usually conflating two things: the bank-mediated guarantee (which protects the seller) and the document-matching requirement (which provides weak proof that a shipment was made).

Escrow protects the buyer more directly — funds only release after the buyer confirms receipt of goods — but at a cost: escrow fees, delayed payment cycles, and disputes that can take weeks to resolve. Escrow works for one-off transactions where neither party expects repeat business. For an ongoing wholesale relationship, escrow economics break down quickly.

Catalist's answer to buyer protection is operational, not instrument-based:

• Brand-direct stock. Every brand on the platform is sourced directly from the brand owner or an authorized US importer of record. The goods are at Catalist's Brooklyn warehouse when the buyer places the order — not drop-shipped from an unknown party.
• Document transparency. Commercial invoice, packing list, and certificates (where applicable) are issued from the same verified inventory the buyer ordered. The document set the buyer's freight forwarder receives matches exactly what ships.
• Pre-ship inspection on request. Buyers can arrange third-party inspection at the warehouse before shipment for an additional fee. This provides buyer-side verification without requiring escrow.
• Dispute handling. If a shipment arrives with a verified shortage or damage traceable to Catalist, resolution is handled through credit or reshipment against the buyer's account. The buyer does not need to initiate a bank-level dispute to recover.

For the seller side (Catalist), the same payment-before-release model protects the platform: funds clear before goods leave the warehouse, which removes the counterparty risk that LC and open-account terms are designed to address. This symmetry — fast payment clearance, documented inventory, and direct dispute resolution — is why Catalist does not need to replicate the full instrument menu of a traditional trade bank.

Buyers whose corporate procurement policy mandates LC for all cross-border transactions will not be able to work with Catalist today. This is a known limitation and is part of why the platform is best-suited to independent importers, regional retail chains, and hospitality buyers rather than very large multinational procurement groups.

Getting net-terms as an international buyer

Net-30 and net-60 terms are available for international buyers, but they are not the default. The qualification path is intentionally conservative — Catalist extends trade credit to accounts that have demonstrated ordering history and on-time payment behavior, not to new accounts on day one.

The typical path:

1. Orders 1-3: Prepaid. First three orders are paid before release, via wire transfer or credit card. This period establishes the buyer as a real operating business, not a one-off account.
2. Net-terms application. After three successful orders, the buyer can apply for net-terms. The application requests basic financial information: trade references, years in business, typical annual import volume, and the amount of monthly credit the buyer is requesting.
3. Review and approval. Catalist reviews the application against the buyer's ordering history, the size of the credit request, and the documented financial references. Approval is not guaranteed. Approved accounts typically start with net-30 at a credit limit calibrated to the buyer's recent monthly order volume.
4. Net-60 escalation. Very large enterprise accounts with a longer track record (6+ months of on-time payment on net-30) may qualify for net-60. This is a smaller population and is handled case-by-case.

A few practical notes for buyers targeting net-terms:

• The three-order threshold is a minimum, not a guarantee. A buyer who placed three orders over two years has not built the cadence signal that net-terms review looks for. Buyers who want net-terms quickly tend to place their first three orders within a 60-90 day window.
• Order size matters. A buyer requesting a $50,000 net-30 limit on the strength of three $1,500 prepaid orders is outside the risk envelope. The granted limit typically tracks the buyer's demonstrated order size.
• Late payment on net-terms returns the account to prepaid status. Re-qualification requires another sequence of on-time prepaid orders before net-terms can be reinstated.

Net-terms on international accounts are also the primary mechanism by which Catalist supports the kind of order volumes discussed in container-scale mixed-brand orders. Large mixed-brand shipments are easier for the buyer to finance on net-30 than on prepaid wire, particularly when the destination sell-through cycle matches the 30-day payment window.

For the initial orders and for buyers who do not qualify for net-terms, wire transfer in USD remains the standard mechanism. The payment model is simple on purpose: it keeps the international buyer experience predictable and the order-release timeline fast.

Related reading

• How US wholesale for export works
• Full documentation overview for international buyers
• Container-scale mixed-brand orders for international importers
• Using the same documents for marketplace seller authorization
• Why Catalist operates with no per-brand minimums

Frequently Asked Questions