
Once you’ve sent a proforma invoice to your international prospect and received their order, you need to prepare your goods for shipping, including the paperwork that must accompany the goods. Learn more here: How Does the Proforma Invoice Fit in the Export Process. There can be a lot of volatility in the export process, so minimize your risk by setting a specific time frame for your quote. dollars or some other currency.īe sure to date your proforma invoice and include an expiration date.

However, in an international transaction, your quote would be provided as a proforma invoice. If the inquiry came from a domestic prospect, you probably have a standard quotation form to use. That inquiry may include a request for a quotation. In a typical export exchange, everything starts when you receive an inquiry about one or more of your products. With that in mind, here are 11 standard shipping documents for export that you need to understand in order to be successful. I’d argue that this not-so-sexy part of exporting is more important than the sexier side but maybe that’s just because it’s what I’ve been focusing on for more than 25 years.


It’s the stuff you need to do-and do correctly-to successfully deliver goods and make money.

You’ve heard people talk about how to do the sexy part of exporting-the research, the schmoozing, the travel and all the marketing and sales stuff that people think about when they think about the glamor of international trade.īut what I want to talk about is the not-so-sexy part of exporting: the basic export documents required for international shipping.
