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How do you handle paying overseas suppliers?

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kupad_rse

kupad_rse

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Jan 25, 2026
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Hi folks - I'm looking into setting up an eCommerce store for apparel, likely a mix of catalogue and bespoke.

I've been speaking with potential vendors in different countries for quotes and which ones import into the UK, but before going further want to understand what's the best way to handle paying these vendors.

I've just got a business account with my bank (HSBC), but their international transfers to places like China + Turkey take days and cost quite a bit in fees. Also the transfer times are a bit unpredictable, which I'm concerned about with paying on time.

Do people have any suggestions on best ways to optimise this, or tools to use? I'm starting this myself so don't have a dedicated finance person to consult on this.

Thanks!
 
I'd second the use of Wise. International transfers we've done from UK have always arrived minutes and the admin fee is provided upfront so you can see what it will cost. Always found quite good exchange rates with them as well which are locked in for 2 hours once your start the transfer quote.
 
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Thanks for the responses!

Just for more context: at the start I'm forecasting to make around 5 payments a month, probably 1-5k GBP each (at least that's what I'm budgeting). I'm a little anxious around the best way to handle first-time payments to suppliers I've not used before, since these are large amounts (at least for me!).

How do you guys navigate this? Do you do smaller test orders first, use escrow, visit suppliers, or just take the risk? Any horror stories or lessons learned?
 
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With regard to the second point, I did, for a while, run a store selling sneakers and apparel.

Most brands have clear supply routes, so you will be buying from very reputable, and very visible, sources. We only stocked if we could see that clearly, so the risk we took was fairly small in that regard, despite our order sizes being fairly large.

Equally, in those days, most big brands had importers into the UK all set up, so relatively few payments were international.

Never buy other than from the brands designated distribution set ups.

If you are also selling stuff that you are getting manufacturered for yourself, that would be different.
 
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Payments from Santander UK to China (using debit card) are pretty instantaneous as far as I can tell. Fees are around 2.5%

Note to self: I must try Wise for this, I only use it for receiving at the moment.
 
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@kupad_rse - who are your suppliers? Are you buying from brand distributors? If it’s off-brand things can go awry so you may be better off using an agent.
 
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fisicx said:
@kupad_rse - who are your suppliers? Are you buying from brand distributors? If it’s off-brand things can go awry so you may be better off using an agent.
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I'm looking at custom manufacturing with smaller suppliers/factories rather than buying from brand distributors - so definitely the 'off-brand' scenario mentioned in one of the earlier posts.

Interesting point about agents, I hadn't considered that. Do you have any experience using them? How does it typically work in terms of fees and do they do anything around payment protection? Also, perhaps a stupid question, how do you actually go about finding reliable agents?
 
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Talk to @MOIC who is a well respected agent and member of UKBF.

Very often you are dealing with resellers and intermediaries who will lie consistently as they are only interested in the sale. Using an agent means you have a far higher chance of receiving what you ordered and a lower chance of your order getting stuck in the docks because something hasn’t been paid.
 
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I have used World First for many years, after having a £7k payment from HSBC (Helping Small Businesses Close) to a supplier in the Philippines vanish into a black hole.

I did get the initial payment back eventually, but if it weren't for someone I knew working in the Chief Executive's office it might have been even harder.
 
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Definitely Wise! Best Conversation rate and best fees. Also, platform is cristal clear, it takes seconds to do anything with banking.
 
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I know you are the customer, and vendors cannot be too picky as to what payments they will accept, but they usually still can have a say in the matter.
 
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