SAFE TRADING TIPS - Tradekey Help Center

03 Aug 2020

Support Center

	SAFE TRADING TIPS

Solution

Dear TradeKey Member,

TradeKey would like all transactions between our members to be mutually beneficial. Although we cannot guarantee the success of every transaction, the following are some recommended guidelines for trading:

There are a few essential steps you can take to investigate your possible future business partner. These steps will enable you to reduce the chances of deceptive transactions and unwanted misunderstanding. Here are the steps:

Confident Relationship With Your Trading Partner

Awareness and Factual knowledge

Learning more about your trading partner has always been important when making trading decisions. It is highly recommended to have a good relationship with the buyer or seller. Try to have a conversation by phone in order to ensure that the contact details they have listed on their TradeKey member page are correct. If the contact details are incorrect please do report the issue to Tradekey Staff. Please ask the TradeKey member to put in writing that they are selling original items and not counterfeits or other 'versions'. Also, request them to provide some references from their clients worldwide.

Verify Contact Details

Always confirm if the address, phone number and email address given to you by your trading partner belong to the same company. If a trader provides inconsistent contact details, for example an address in the UK and phone number from another country, we recommend that you look up the address in the local phone directory, obtain the local phone number, and call this number to confirm that the person you are in touch with actually works for the company. Similarly, if a partner's email address states that they work for a certain company, you should verify this. Beware of scam artists who alter their return email address heading to make it look like they work for a company when, in fact, they don't.

Communication Channel

Please make sure that your conversation is channeled through your respective TradeKey member's area. When using free online messengers, it is recommended to make sure that you are in contact with the actual and authorized representative of a particular company.

Reliable Compensation

Always rely only on widely known and trusted companies for payment & shipping. Please do inquire about their return policy, and preferably have your transaction and invoice documented on the Company’s Letterhead.

Payment Method

It is advisable to use Escrow.com, Letter of Credit, Bank Wire Transfer or PayPal for payment as opposed to Western Union. If a seller insists that you pay them using Western Union then you should exercise caution. (NOTE: Please ensure that the beneficiary name, for a Bank Wire Transfer, matches the 'Company Name' and is NOT a personal account.)

If throughout the transaction the supplier seems too focused on your payment details rather than the product, exercise caution.

Consult With Commercial Services

In addition to TradeKey.com, try and contact the commercial services usually located in the Consulate or Embassy of the country that you want to import from. Their job is to help verify sellers from their country. For example, if you want to import from China, you should contact the commercial services of China and so forth. Trade associations, Chamber of Commerce located in the importers' country are also good sourcing resources.

Article Details

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Created On:

25 Oct 2007 01:50 PM