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Trial orders: how to start small without being scammed

A trial of one to a few trucks is how most new copper relationships begin. How to structure it so both sides are protected, and what comes after.

Copper Supply2 min read

Buyers want to test before committing to a contract. Sellers want to be paid before they lose control of their copper. A small trial is how real counterparties bridge that gap.

What a trial looks like

In the deals we worked on in 2025 and 2026, trials were typically:

  • one to a few trucks, about 25 to 50 MT, sometimes up to a few hundred tonnes for established sellers
  • delivered into a bonded warehouse where the buyer has an account, or collected by the buyer's own trucks at the plant
  • inspected and assayed by a firm the buyer appoints
  • paid by bank transfer after inspection, with no letter of credit for the trial itself
  • followed by a contract with a payment instrument once one to three trucks have passed

Some buyers cap trials at a fixed tonnage per new seller and move to a contract only after the trial pays out cleanly.

Protecting the buyer

  • The goods must be in your control or a neutral warehouse before you pay. See test-and-pay.
  • Appoint the inspector yourself.
  • Agree in writing what happens if the trial fails: who pays for transport back, and how quickly.

Protecting the seller

  • Deliver only into a warehouse you have checked, with the receipt in a name you agreed.
  • Agree a short, fixed window between the inspection result and payment, such as 48 hours.
  • Agree what the buyer may test, by which method and which laboratory.
  • Keep the trial small enough that losing it would hurt, not ruin you.

Ore and concentrate trials

For ore and concentrate, the assay decides the price, so sampling matters more than anything else. Agree joint sampling, a named independent laboratory, and an umpire laboratory if results differ. Grade can vary truck by truck. See buying ore by the truck.

After the trial

A trial that passes should lead to a written contract: monthly quantity, price formula against the LME, inspection, and a payment instrument such as a letter of credit. Write down what you learned in the trial: actual weights, actual grade and actual timings. That is the basis of a contract both sides can deliver.

This guide is general information from our experience in the copper trade. It is not legal, financial or tax advice. Markets and rules change, so check current conditions before you rely on anything here.

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Trial orders: how to start small without being scammed · Copper Supply