Close
The safest first container from India to Romania is the one where no payment leaves your account without a document to show for it. That means a written proforma invoice, most of the money released only against shipping documents, and a pre-shipment inspection before the balance moves. Keep the first order to one mixed 20ft, so that if something still goes wrong, it stays small.
Our landed-cost breakdown for Romania priced one 20ft and showed what it costs once it’s sitting on your racks. This post goes back a step, to what comes before that: who holds your money, who checks the tiles, and how much you have at risk. We’ve set it out in three phases: before you pay, before it ships, and when it lands.
A first order from a new supplier can go wrong in four ways. You pay and nothing ships. The tiles ship, but they aren’t what you approved. They arrive damaged. Or everything turns up exactly as agreed and then sells slower than you planned.
The first three come down to structure: how you pay, who inspects, and what evidence you keep. The fourth comes down to order size, and in Romania that one deserves real weight. The statistics institute (INS) counted 21,791 residential building permits from January to August 2026, 12.2% fewer than a year earlier. Size your first order on demand you can already see, not demand you’re hoping for.
Order size is the cheapest risk control you have, because it caps everything else. A mixed 20ft lets several sizes and finishes share one container, as long as each one clears the supplier’s minimum per SKU.
Fill the first container with the sizes and finishes your customers already ask for by name. Hold the slower or speculative lines back until it has sold through, so the follow-on is bought on your own sales data and not on a forecast.
And think about the reorder now, not later. Shade can drift between production batches, so ask for shade and batch codes on every box and write down what you received. When the second container comes from a different batch, you’ll want to know before your customer does.
At Wolf, the first 20ft can be mixed, with a minimum per SKU inside the container.
Start with who you’re paying. Every commercial exporter in India needs an Importer Exporter Code (IEC), which is based on the company’s PAN. Ask for both, check the IEC on the DGFT portal, and compare the company name on the proforma with the beneficiary on the bank account. If they don’t match, stop and ask why before any money moves. And if the bank details change after you’ve agreed terms, confirm by phone on a number you already hold, never the one in the new email.
Every payment then rests on a written proforma invoice. It should spell out size, finish, thickness and grade, quantity in m² and boxes, packing, the Incoterm with its named port, payment terms, the delivery window, and what happens if breakage or defects go past an agreed tolerance. Name the producer too, because your customs broker needs it for the anti-dumping code. For whoever approves the payment to the supplier (plata către furnizorul din India), the rule is simple: no transfer without a matching document.
|
Structure
|
What protects the buyer
|
What protects the seller
|
Watch for
|
|---|---|---|---|
Which one fits depends on how well you know the supplier. A first order usually sits on an advance plus balance, or an LC if your bank relationship supports it. After a clean first shipment, terms can loosen.
The Incoterm on your proforma decides who pays for freight and, under CIF, who has to arrange insurance. It also decides when the tiles become your risk, and under all three common sea terms in Incoterms 2020 that moment is identical.
|
Incoterm (2020)
|
Who pays sea freight
|
Who insures the voyage
|
Where risk passes to you
|
|---|---|---|---|
CFR and CIF catch people out. The seller pays the freight, so it’s easy to feel the shipment is the seller’s problem until it reaches Constanța [confirm routing]. It isn’t. If the container is damaged at sea, the loss is yours. Under CFR the seller has no duty to insure, so you arrange your own cover. Under CIF the seller must insure, but only to the minimum: Institute Cargo Clauses (C), at 110% of the contract value. Tiles break, so ask in writing for all-risks cover under Clauses (A), or insure the cargo yourself.
Want to check shade and finish before you commit to anything? Request 3 free samples and judge the tiles on your own desk first.
Pre-shipment inspection for porcelain tiles is the last point where a problem costs you a re-sort in Morbi instead of a dispute in Romania. It happens once production is packed, and before the container is loaded and the balance paid.
Who does it? You, an agent you trust, or an independent inspector. On a first order a third party earns the fee, because neither side is marking its own work.
Agree the checklist and the sampling plan in the proforma, not on the day. For porcelain tiles it should cover:
Name the standard in the proforma. EN 14411 sets the requirements for ceramic tiles, and the EN ISO 10545 series holds the test methods behind them. Part 2 covers dimensions and surface quality, including straightness of sides and rectangularity, so both sides measure the same way.
Decide in writing, before production, what happens if the lot fails: the supplier re-sorts or replaces it, a re-inspection follows, and the proforma says who pays for it. Until the re-inspection passes, the balance stays with you.
Wolf welcomes third-party inspection at the factory before loading.
A claim is only as strong as the file behind it. Start the file at loading, not when the container opens in Romania.
Ask the supplier for photos or video of the loading: pallets going in, doors closing. Get the container number and the seal number, with the seal itself photographed, and check both match the bill of lading. Keep the packing list, box by box, and the inspection report. Our container loading guide for porcelain tiles shows what good loading looks like, so you know what the photos should prove.
When it arrives, check the seal is intact and the number matches before anyone cuts it. Photograph the doors opening and the load as it stands. Note any damage on the delivery receipt before you sign, then count and photograph broken boxes against the packing list.
Claim time limits can be short, and they aren’t the same for every shipment. They come from your contract with the supplier, your cargo insurance policy and the carrier’s terms, so read all three before the first container sails and diary the deadlines.
Wolf shares photo and video of loading, with container and seal numbers, on every shipment.
Importing direct isn’t right for every buyer, and in a slow market it matters even more to say so.
Buying from an importer who already holds stock in Romania or nearby makes sense when your monthly volume wouldn’t clear a 20ft in a reasonable time, or when you need a few pallets of many designs rather than depth in a few. It also suits buyers with no one to manage proformas, inspection and clearance, or who can’t fund duty and import VAT at the border.
You pay the importer’s margin for that, and you give up control of shade, batch and lead time. Our guide to importing direct versus buying from an EU distributor sets out the channel maths, and it applies to Romania as much as to the Netherlands.
Before you pay
Before it ships
When it lands
Wolf is a porcelain tile manufacturer in Morbi, Gujarat, exporting to more than 40 countries. You can see who you’d be buying from on our exports page. We set a first order up to keep your risk small:
If you haven’t priced the container yet, start with what one 20ft costs landed in Romania. If you’d rather see the tiles first, request 3 free samples.
Tie payment to evidence. Use a written proforma invoice, a modest advance with the balance paid against copies of the shipping documents (or a letter of credit through your bank), and confirm the goods by pre-shipment inspection before the balance is released. The right mix depends on how well you know the supplier.
A check of the finished goods before loading, by you, an agent or an independent inspector. It covers shade consistency, size and calibre, surface defects, quantity and packing, usually with photo or video evidence.
Free On Board. The seller delivers the goods on board the ship at the Indian port, and the buyer carries cost and risk from that point, including sea freight and any insurance.
Usually, when minimums are set per SKU rather than per container, each size clears its own minimum inside one 20ft. Confirm the supplier's minimums before ordering.
Get 3 free samples plus a Romania first-order checklist covering the proforma, payment, inspection and arrival steps, so every stage is agreed before any money moves.
No spam, no obligation.
