Payment schedules vary by supplier and order. KEYTOP accepts T/T, with a deposit of at least 30% and the balance before shipment; confirm the exact deposit and remaining balance in the quotation.
The number itself is the easy part. What decides whether the terms are safe for you is what each payment buys and what has to be true before you release it, and that is where quotations differ far more than the percentage does.
What the deposit actually pays for
A deposit is not a good-faith gesture. It funds work the factory has to commit to before a single pair exists:
Ask which approved materials or tooling commitments the deposit will fund and when those commitments will be made for this order.
Ask whether a production slot has been confirmed, what conditions apply and how any change will be recorded; a deposit alone does not establish reserved capacity.
The deposit should be tied to the work and risk allocation stated in the actual quotation. Ask which materials, tooling or booking commitments it funds, what evidence precedes the next payment, and how cancellation or a failure to reproduce the approved sample will be handled. A percentage alone does not establish those terms.
Assess the requested payment against the transaction type, confirmed supplier identity and written scope. Compare the payment trigger, evidence to be supplied and the agreed response to a failed approval; neither full advance payment nor offered credit alone establishes that a supplier is acceptable or unacceptable. KEYTOP’s confirmed sample and bulk payment policies remain as stated below.
What the balance should be tied to
The balance-payment trigger should be clear in the quotation, including what evidence the buyer will receive before payment.
The weakest version is “balance before shipment” with nothing attached. It means you pay when the factory says the goods are ready.
The stronger version ties the balance to evidence: balance released after inspection passes. You or a third-party inspector (SGS, Bureau Veritas, or an agent you appoint) checks the finished goods against the approved sample and the agreed defect standard. Once it passes, you pay, and the goods ship.
Ask for this in writing at quotation stage, not after production starts. A factory that has planned for inspection will already have a checkpoint in its schedule. One that has not will treat your inspection as a delay.
Sample charges are a separate transaction
Sampling is quoted and paid on its own, before any bulk deposit exists. Two things need to be explicit:
Who pays the courier. International courier on a footwear sample is not trivial, and it is usually the buyer’s cost in both directions.
Whether the sample charge comes back. At Keytop the sample charge is refundable against a bulk order. That is common but not universal, and the conditions vary more than the policy: some factories credit it only if the order lands within a stated window, some deduct it from the deposit invoice, some from the final balance. If it matters to your budget, get the mechanism in the quotation, not just the word “refundable”.
Sample orders themselves are paid in full before dispatch. There is no deposit structure on a sample, because there is no production slot to protect.
Keytop’s terms, stated plainly
| Method | T/T |
|---|---|
| Deposit | At least 30%; exact payment schedule in the quotation |
| Balance | Before shipment |
| Sample orders | Paid in full before dispatch |
| Sample charge | Refundable against a bulk order |
| Courier on samples | Buyer’s cost |
| Usual ports | Xiamen or Shenzhen, FOB or CIF confirmed at quotation |
Anything beyond this (a different deposit percentage, an inspection-linked balance, a specific Incoterm or destination) is confirmed in the quotation for the actual order, because it depends on quantity, tooling, and destination. It is not something a website should promise in advance, and you should be careful with any supplier whose site does.
What to confirm before you accept a quotation
Five questions, all of which a real factory can answer in one reply:
- What percentage is the deposit, and does it change for a first order or for custom tooling?
- What exactly triggers the balance, a ready notice, a shipping document, or a passed inspection?
- Who pays the sample charge and the courier, and under what condition does the sample charge come back?
- Which Incoterm and which port is the quotation based on?
- What happens to the deposit if the approved sample cannot be reproduced in bulk?
The fifth one is the question buyers often skip and later regret. Ask it while you still have leverage.
Keytop is a footwear manufacturer in Jinjiang, Fujian, producing casual sneakers, casual shoes, boots, outdoor footwear, sandals, slippers and slides for brand owners, importers and retail programs. The MOQ is 1,500 pairs for sandals, slippers and slides and 1,000 pairs for casual sneakers, casual shoes, boots and outdoor footwear, counted per style, color and size; styles, colors and sizes cannot be mixed to reach the minimum.
If you want these terms confirmed against a real order rather than in the abstract, send the product family, quantity, colorways and destination market, and ask for the payment schedule in writing with the quotation. Send a footwear brief, or compare the OEM and ODM routes first if you are not sure which one fits.