The most common payment types for an international transaction are a letter of credit, documentary draft for collection, open account, payment in advance, and barter.
Most of these transactions involve not only the importer and the exporter, but the respective banks of the parties involved, freight forwarders, and government customs agencies as well.
The Role of an Importer: An importer is a company that is bringing in, or importing goods to their domestic market for sale or distribution. Importers benefit from this practice because they can acquire products at a higher quality, or lower price, than would be available domestically.
The Role of an Exporter: An exporter is a company that is shipping, or exporting, goods outside their domestic market for sale or distribution. Exporters benefit from this practice by making a profit with the sale or transfer of goods to international markets, or by expanding into new international markets to broaden their customer base.
The Role of A Forwarding Company: A freight forwarder is a company that ships goods, on a regular basis, to different locations around the world. An exporter will call a forwarder if that exporter wants to ship goods overseas without having to take on the responsibilities of logistics, customs, and paperwork by themselves. A freight forwarder's main concern is the efficient shipment of goods all over the world. Another objective of the forwarder is to make money. They