Sourcing Note 11 · Sourcing Method
Who pays for inspection tells you who expects to fail
Most POs leave the inspection line blank. That blank is where the argument starts.
Who pays for inspection tells you who expects to fail, and most POs leave that line blank.
I read a Gulf delivery clause last week where inspection was the buyer's cost only if he insisted, and the factory had already booked the container. The buyer found the cartons wet at the port and the seal was already on. The argument was over who should have been standing there, not over the water.
What I write in before deposit:
- Independent pre-shipment inspection, buyer-nominated, at the factory gate, not at the port after sealing.
- Loading photographed carton by carton, with a timestamp, before the container seal goes on.
- A signed count and condition report attached to the invoice, not filed after the claim.
- Who pays the inspector named in the PO, so the cost is never the excuse for skipping it.
Send me your current inspection clause and I will mark where it still says maybe.