Proforma Invoice, SWIFT & the 70/30 Split Explained

Payment is where most first-time importers feel least confident, and it is also where the smallest mistakes cost the most: a missing reference number that leaves your deposit unmatched for a week, an intermediary bank fee that makes your transfer arrive $40 short, or — far worse — an emailed change of bank details that was never sent by your supplier. None of this is complicated once you have seen it laid out. Disentis Modest has produced in our own Istanbul workshop since 1998 across 600+ models in sizes 34⁠–⁠60, and this is exactly how the money side works with us and with most Turkish producers.

What a Proforma Invoice Is — and What It Is Not

A proforma invoice is a formal offer: this is what you asked for, this is what it costs, this is how it will ship, and this is where to pay. It is not a receipt, not a tax document and not proof that goods exist yet. It is the document that turns a WhatsApp conversation into something your bank and your customs agent can both work with.

• It is a commitment on both sides. Once you pay against it, the supplier is holding those goods at those prices for you.
• It is what your bank wants. Most banks require a supporting document naming the beneficiary and the purpose before releasing an international transfer.
• It is what your customs agent needs. In markets requiring pre-shipment paperwork, the proforma is the base document for opening it — in Nigeria, for example, your Form M is opened against it.
• It is not final. Quantities can shift if stock moves; freight can be adjusted when final weights are known. The commercial invoice issued at shipping is the definitive version.
• It should be dated and numbered. That number is the reference you will use for every payment and every message about the order.

The Checklist: What Must Be on It Before You Pay

Read the proforma against this list every time. Two minutes here prevents most of the problems that follow.

• Proforma number and date, plus a validity period if prices are held for a limited time.
• Full seller details — company name, address, and the same name on the bank account.
• Your details exactly as they appear on your import paperwork. A mismatch between the proforma name and the consignee name causes clearance queries.
• Line-by-line detail: model code, colour, sizes, quantity per size, unit price, line total.
• Total pieces and total value, plus currency stated explicitly (USD or EUR — never assume).
• Payment terms, e.g. 70% deposit and 30% before shipping.
• Delivery terms and destination city, plus freight if it is included or a note that it is quoted separately.
• Estimated gross weight and carton count — your freight cost depends on these, and they should not be a surprise later.
• Bank details: account holder name, IBAN, SWIFT/BIC code, bank name and branch.

Practical tip: check that the account holder name on the bank block matches the company name at the top of the proforma. If they differ and no one explained why in advance, stop and ask before you send anything.

Why 70/30 — and What Each Half Actually Protects

The 70% deposit, 30% before shipping structure is the default across Turkish wholesale, and it is not arbitrary. It splits risk at the one point where both sides have something to lose.

• The 70% covers production reality. Fabric is bought, goods are picked and packed, and cartons are made up. That work is committed before anything ships.
• The 30% protects you. You do not release the balance until the goods are physically ready and the real freight figure is known — so you are never paying for a shipment that has not been prepared.
• It fixes the freight problem. Freight can only be priced accurately once cartons are packed and weighed. Paying the balance at that moment means you pay actual freight, not an estimate.
• It keeps your capital working longer. On a $2,000 order, $600 stays in your account for the two to five days production takes — small, but it adds up across a year of reorders.
• Variations exist. Smaller first orders are sometimes paid 100% upfront simply because splitting a $400 payment into two transfers costs more in bank fees than it saves in risk.

How a SWIFT Transfer Actually Works

An international transfer is not a direct line between two banks. Your money usually passes through one or two correspondent banks, and each one in the chain can take a fee. Understanding that explains almost every surprise in the process.

• IBAN and SWIFT/BIC are both required. A Turkish IBAN is 26 characters, beginning TR followed by 24 digits. A SWIFT/BIC code is 8 or 11 characters. If either is a character short, the transfer will bounce or sit unallocated.
• Charge codes decide who pays the fees. OUR means you pay all charges and the beneficiary receives the full amount. SHA means you pay your bank's fee and the beneficiary absorbs the rest. BEN means all charges come out of the transfer.
• Under SHA, expect $20⁠–⁠60 to be deducted along the way. Your supplier then receives less than the invoice value and may ask for the shortfall. Choosing OUR usually costs $40⁠–⁠80 but removes the problem entirely.
• Timing is 1⁠–⁠3 business days, and same-day is possible if you send before your bank's cut-off. Weekends and public holidays in either country do not count — a Friday-afternoon transfer often lands on Tuesday.
• The reference field is not optional. Put your proforma number there. Payments arriving with no reference sit unmatched in a suspense account until someone works out whose they are.
• Currency conversion has a spread. If you hold local currency and pay in USD, your bank's spread is typically 0.5⁠–⁠2% and is separate from the transfer fee. Ask for the all-in rate, not the headline rate.

Practical tip: send your bank's transfer confirmation as a screenshot on WhatsApp immediately after sending. Matching a payment takes minutes with the confirmation and can take days without it — and those days come off your production time, not the supplier's.

The Fraud That Actually Happens — and How to Stop It

The most common loss in international wholesale is not a supplier disappearing. It is a buyer paying the wrong bank account after receiving a convincing message about "updated bank details". This is worth reading twice, because recovery after the fact is rare.

• Treat any change of bank details as suspect by default — always, even if the message looks entirely normal and comes from the address you have always used.
• Verify by voice, not by text. Call the number you have always used — for us, +90 555 336 47 86 — and have the person confirm the account verbally. Do not use a phone number supplied in the message announcing the change.
• Check the account country. A Turkish supplier being paid into an account in a third country, with no prior explanation, is a red flag worth a phone call every single time.
• Confirm the name matches. The account holder should be the company on the proforma, not an individual you have never dealt with.
• On a first order with any new supplier, consider a small test transfer and confirm receipt before sending the balance. The extra fee is cheap insurance.
• Keep one channel. Agreeing at the outset that all payment details are confirmed on the same WhatsApp number removes the ambiguity attackers rely on.

What to Budget Beyond the Invoice Total

Your landed cost has more lines than the goods value. These are small individually and meaningful across a year.

• Outgoing transfer fee: roughly $15⁠–⁠50 per transfer from your bank.
• Intermediary and receiving fees: roughly $15⁠–⁠55 combined, avoidable by paying OUR.
• FX spread: 0.5⁠–⁠2% of the amount if you are converting.
• Two transfers, not one. A 70/30 split means paying the fixed transfer fee twice — one reason very small first orders are sometimes settled in a single payment.
• Freight, duty and clearance sit outside all of this — see your own landed-cost multiplier before you set retail prices.

Payment Day: A Six-Step Routine

• 1. Build your list on the collection page with models, sizes within 34⁠–⁠60 and quantities, then send it on WhatsApp to +90 555 336 47 86.
• 2. Receive the proforma and read it against the checklist above. Query anything unclear before paying, not after.
• 3. Confirm the total clears the $400 minimum order — typically 25⁠–⁠35 pieces in dresses and tops, or 12⁠–⁠20 in outerwear.
• 4. Send the 70% deposit by bank transfer, charge code OUR, with the proforma number in the reference field.
• 5. Send the confirmation screenshot immediately, and keep it with your order file.
• 6. When packing is finished and weights are confirmed, pay the 30% balance against the final freight figure. We ship worldwide.

Nothing in this process is unusual by international trade standards — it is the same proforma-and-transfer structure used across the industry. What makes it feel smooth or painful is entirely in the details: a numbered reference, the right charge code, a name that matches, and one verified channel for anything involving bank details. Get those four right and payment stops being the anxious part of importing.