"Test first, pay after": when it is safe and when it is a trap

"Send your inspector. Test the copper. Pay only when you are happy." It sounds like the fairest offer in the market, and sometimes it is. Many genuine trial deals in African copper work exactly this way.

The problem is a scam that uses the same words. The difference lies in who controls the copper at the moment you pay.

The safe version

Test-and-pay is safe when the copper is under the control of someone neutral, or under your own control, before you pay. For example:

• The seller delivers into a bonded warehouse that you or your buyer have an account with. The warehouse receives the trucks, weighs them and issues a receipt in a name you agree in advance.
• An independent inspector you appoint takes samples and witnesses the weighing.
• You pay by bank transfer, and the warehouse then transfers the goods into your name or releases them to you against a release order you can check with the warehouse directly.

Or, at the mine or plant gate:

• Your own trucks collect the material.
• Samples are taken jointly and tested at an independent laboratory.
• You pay per truck before the truck leaves, or against a short, agreed window after the lab result.

In both cases the copper cannot disappear between the test and the payment, because the seller no longer controls it.

The scam version

The scam keeps the words and removes the control:

1. You are invited to inspect copper at a site or warehouse the seller arranges.
2. The copper is real. The assay is excellent. Often it is real copper that belongs to someone else, shown to you with the help of a contact on site.
3. You are asked to pay before the goods are transferred into your name, usually "so the release can be processed" or "because export documents need funds".
4. After payment the seller stops replying. The copper you tested was never theirs to sell.

Variants include paying "only the export taxes" or a "warehouse release fee" after a successful test. See upfront fee scams.

Five questions that separate the two

1. Whose name is on the warehouse receipt today, and whose will it be after I pay? Get the answer in writing from the warehouse, not from the seller.
2. Can I call the warehouse myself on the number published on its own website?
3. Who appoints the inspector? You should, or a firm both sides agree in writing.
4. What exactly happens at the moment I pay? The answer should name a document that transfers control: a warrant, a release order or a transfer confirmation.
5. What if the result fails? Who pays for transport back, and how quickly?

If any answer is vague, stop.

Why legitimate sellers accept test-and-pay at all

For a small first shipment, a real producer often prefers test-and-pay to waiting for a letter of credit. It is quick and cheap. Once the buyer has tested one to three trucks, the parties usually move to a contract with a payment instrument. See trial orders.

Bottom line

Testing before paying is good. Paying before you control the goods is the risk. Make sure the order is always: test, take control, then pay.