Indian businessmen ordered 2,000 pairs of shoes in Yiwu and asked for final payment after paying the deposit. As a result, Yiwu merchants directly distributed 2,000 right shoes, saying that they would only give the left shoes if the final payment was settled. At first glance, this trick may seem like a joke, but in fact it is specifically aimed at dealing with Indians.
In the transaction between Yuu merchants and Indian buyers, one "right foot shoes" event caused a lot of attention, which appears to be a humorous story on the surface, but reflects the long-standing problems in China-India trade.
Over the past few decades, Yue and India’s trade has been very close, and as one of the world’s largest wholesale markets, Yue exports a wide variety of goods to India every year, especially shoes, but despite the huge volume of trade, payment issues have been bothering merchants.
For Yiwu businessmen, doing business with India is sometimes like entering a somewhat complicated game, according to the data of the Chamber of Commerce, Yiwu exports to India reached $18.7 billion in 2024, of which shoes occupy a larger proportion.
Every year, footwear merchants in Yiwu conduct a large number of transactions with Indian buyers, but payment problems often become the biggest obstacle to transactions.
The businessman Wang, the owner of the incident, revealed that the initial agreement with the Indian buyer Rajiv was very clear: 30% of the deposit came into account after production began, and the remaining 70% was settled before the goods were issued.
However, when the production was completed and ready for delivery, Rajiv suddenly asked to modify the payment method, saying that after the goods arrived in India, the quality inspection should be carried out first, and the final payment should be paid after passing the qualification. Boss Wang believed that this was obviously a means by Rajiv to deliberately delay the payment time.
In Yiwu, a similar situation is not uncommon, and for most merchants, "going-to-pay" has become a taboo, India's clearance policy is more complex, and the time of goods from the port to the destination tends to be long.
During this period, some Indian buyers will ask merchants to reduce prices on the grounds of "quality problems" or "market changes", or even directly default on the final payment. This not only loses funds for Yiwu merchants, but also faces high costs. Cross-border rights protection costs.
As a result, businessmen have gradually adopted some unconventional approaches to cope with the situation, which, although seemingly “extreme”, effectively avoid losses.
For example, some merchants will split the goods into several parts, key parts such as the left foot of the shoe, the clothing buttons, the batteries of toys, etc., until the finish is cleared.
Although these practices are not ideal transaction methods, they are the experience accumulated by merchants in long-term trade risks, which can ensure that their payment is not in arrears.
These strategies are not aimed at Indian merchants, but are the relentless choices faced by merchants in cross-border trade, which exposes various issues in terms of clearing processes, payment methods and risk control in Chinese and Indian trade.
Especially in India, many merchants have not fulfilled their obligations to pay the final payment according to the contract, resulting in Yiwu merchants having to reduce risks through this "split delivery" method.
Essentially, these issues reflect the shortcomings in the linkage of trade rules between China and India, and in order to reduce similar disputes, the two sides need to promote more transparent and standardized cross-border trade agreements, simplify clearing processes, and clarify foreign exchange settlement rules.
At the same time, Yiwu can also cooperate with the Indian Chamber of Commerce to establish a dispute mediation mechanism so that when disputes arise, there can be a clear and efficient resolution channel.
Only by establishing a trade environment with transparent rules and risk-sharing can this "right-footed shoe" situation be avoided from becoming the norm. On this basis, the trade between China and India can achieve real mutual benefit and win-win, not just the emergency defense means of merchants.
What do you think of this matter?
In the transaction between Yuu merchants and Indian buyers, one "right foot shoes" event caused a lot of attention, which appears to be a humorous story on the surface, but reflects the long-standing problems in China-India trade.
Over the past few decades, Yue and India’s trade has been very close, and as one of the world’s largest wholesale markets, Yue exports a wide variety of goods to India every year, especially shoes, but despite the huge volume of trade, payment issues have been bothering merchants.
For Yiwu businessmen, doing business with India is sometimes like entering a somewhat complicated game, according to the data of the Chamber of Commerce, Yiwu exports to India reached $18.7 billion in 2024, of which shoes occupy a larger proportion.
Every year, footwear merchants in Yiwu conduct a large number of transactions with Indian buyers, but payment problems often become the biggest obstacle to transactions.
The businessman Wang, the owner of the incident, revealed that the initial agreement with the Indian buyer Rajiv was very clear: 30% of the deposit came into account after production began, and the remaining 70% was settled before the goods were issued.
However, when the production was completed and ready for delivery, Rajiv suddenly asked to modify the payment method, saying that after the goods arrived in India, the quality inspection should be carried out first, and the final payment should be paid after passing the qualification. Boss Wang believed that this was obviously a means by Rajiv to deliberately delay the payment time.
In Yiwu, a similar situation is not uncommon, and for most merchants, "going-to-pay" has become a taboo, India's clearance policy is more complex, and the time of goods from the port to the destination tends to be long.
During this period, some Indian buyers will ask merchants to reduce prices on the grounds of "quality problems" or "market changes", or even directly default on the final payment. This not only loses funds for Yiwu merchants, but also faces high costs. Cross-border rights protection costs.
As a result, businessmen have gradually adopted some unconventional approaches to cope with the situation, which, although seemingly “extreme”, effectively avoid losses.
For example, some merchants will split the goods into several parts, key parts such as the left foot of the shoe, the clothing buttons, the batteries of toys, etc., until the finish is cleared.
Although these practices are not ideal transaction methods, they are the experience accumulated by merchants in long-term trade risks, which can ensure that their payment is not in arrears.
These strategies are not aimed at Indian merchants, but are the relentless choices faced by merchants in cross-border trade, which exposes various issues in terms of clearing processes, payment methods and risk control in Chinese and Indian trade.
Especially in India, many merchants have not fulfilled their obligations to pay the final payment according to the contract, resulting in Yiwu merchants having to reduce risks through this "split delivery" method.
Essentially, these issues reflect the shortcomings in the linkage of trade rules between China and India, and in order to reduce similar disputes, the two sides need to promote more transparent and standardized cross-border trade agreements, simplify clearing processes, and clarify foreign exchange settlement rules.
At the same time, Yiwu can also cooperate with the Indian Chamber of Commerce to establish a dispute mediation mechanism so that when disputes arise, there can be a clear and efficient resolution channel.
Only by establishing a trade environment with transparent rules and risk-sharing can this "right-footed shoe" situation be avoided from becoming the norm. On this basis, the trade between China and India can achieve real mutual benefit and win-win, not just the emergency defense means of merchants.
What do you think of this matter?