Invoice No. 7.-C. & F. Invoice of 5 Bales Grey Dhooties shipped by Percival, Keene & Co. per steamer "Barrister," Liverpool, for Calcutta, by order and for account and risk of Messrs. Thomas Smedley & Co., Calcutta. Export invoices on c.f. & i. (or, as more frequently written, c.i.f.) terms are used chiefly in the Indian trade. In this case all the charges-packing, forwarding, shipping, freight, insurance, &c.—are included in the price, and the price is given in the currency of the country to which the goods are going. On the next page is an example of this kind of invoice for the goods detailed in "Loco" Invoice No. 4 (page 85). Here our customer in Calcutta has offered us in rupees what he is able to pay, and we have accepted his offer, and have fixed exchange at, say, 1/4. Rs. 1. 1. 1. (To put this indent through we sacrifice Rs. 7.13 (10/5) out of our commission.) Invoice of 5 Bales Grey Dhooties shipped at Liverpool per steamer "Barrister" for Calcutta, by order of Messrs. Bunder, Abbas & Co., on account and risk of those concerned, by Harvey, Mitchell & Co. 1001/4 4 Bls. 1600 same 5 Bls. 2000 pairs @ Rs. 1. 1. 0. c.f. & i. Rs. 2125 Stamp: Two-headed Swan. Weight: 21 cwt. CHAPTER X THE EXPORTATION OF GOODS-Continued 5. "FRANCO" INVOICES. "Franco" (or "rendu franco" or "free"), as stated on pages 10 and 81, means generally, but not invariably, c.f. & i. plus foreign import duty (if any) and carriage and other charges up to delivery of the goods at destination. Twenty or thirty years ago all goods sold in the United Kingdom for export were on "loco" terms, but to-day it is quite common (for the continent especially) for goods to be sold "franco Paris," "franco Milan," &c., and as foreign competition increases this mode of selling will doubtless become more and more common. "Franco" invoices for the continent are usually expressed in metres and kilogrammes, and also in the currency of the country to which the goods are going, instead of in English weights, measures, and money. They should also, when practicable, be made out in the French, Italian, Spanish, &c., language as may be required. We will suppose we are a Bradford firm, and that a customer (say in Paris) asks us to quote "franco Paris" for certain goods, of which we have previously sent him patterns. To enable us to do this we must first reduce our price per yard into fcs. per metre, and then ascertain what the import duty and charges come to. For the duty we refer to the French Customs Tariff, where we find that the duty on the goods in question is, say, fcs. 220 per 100 kilogrammes. (The Customs tariffs for nearly all foreign countries may be inspected at the principal Chambers of Commerce in the United Kingdom.) As regards the forwarding charges from Bradford to Paris, we know from previous experience that they come to, say, fcs. 11 per 100 kilogrammes, and to this we have to add our charges for packing the goods, and the cost of insurance. If we are in doubt as to either the duty or the forwarding charges, or both, we write to a forwarding agent at one of the French ports, giving particulars, and asking him to quote a through rate from Bradford to Paris, and say what the import duty would be. We shall receive a reply by return of post. Being in possession of the requisite information, we can now make our calculation as to the price at which we can afford to sell the goods laid down in Paris, but in order to enable us to make the calculation we must know the following equivalents: 1 metre = 1.0936 yard. 1 yard = 0.9144 metre. 1 inch = 2.54 centimetres. The simplest way of making the calculation is to take the lot of goods required, and, after adding charges, &c., convert the pounds, shillings, and pence into francs and centimes, and the yards into metres. We will suppose that the goods about which we are negotiating with our Paris friend are those represented by the following invoice, which we have received from the manufacturer:5 pcs. 56 in. Fancy Worsteds241, 24, 245, 26, 261 = £ s. d. 125 yds. @ 4/- 25 3 0 0 12 7 £24 10 5 ... Forwarding charges on the gross weight 134 lbs. ... Commission 21% 03 9 0 1 5 £24 15 7 fcs. 626.91 = 61 7.70 119.90 754.51 18.86 ... Total cost laid down in Paris As the usual arrangement with our Paris customer is Making the total fcs. 773:37 23.90 fcs. 797-27 Fcs. 797-27 is the cost of the 125 yards. A yard is equal to 0-9144 metre, therefore 125 yards multiplied by 0-9144 are equal to 114.9858 metres, say 115. Dividing fcs. 797-27 by 115, we find that the price per metre, franco Paris, is fcs. 6·93. As French prices usually proceed by twentieths of a franc we might quote in this case fcs. 6.95, but we should probably say fcs. 7. All export firms who do a continental business have these calculations worked out in a series of elaborate tables at different rates of exchange, thus showing at a glance the equivalent of the English price per yard or per lb. in francs, marks, liras, &c., per metre or per kilogramme. Other tables on the same basis show the additions which must be made for Customs duty and forwarding charges. Our quotation being accepted, we pack the goods in a truss (a small bale), and despatch the package to a shipping agent at a French port, say in this case Messrs. Hernu, Péron & Cie., of Boulogne-sur-Mer. We also advise Messrs. Hernu, Péron & Cie to forward the goods to our Paris customer, and to debit our account with the forwarding charges, Customs duty, and other expenses. A few days later we shall receive from them a Debit Note somewhat similar to the following: HERNU, PERON & CO. LTD., BOULOGNE-SUR-MER, le 27 Septembre, 1898. Bradford. Messieurs HALLINGS & Co., Doit pour frais à une balle suivant détail ci-bas d'envoie d'euxmêmes le 23 court et reéxpedié Franco en Petite Vitesse a MessieursA. C. Poiré & Cie, 39, Rue du Pont, Paris, par l'entremise à domicile. A leur debit fcs. 128.10. Transport de Bradford à Paris 62 ks. payent pour 70 ks. @fcs. 6.50 par 100 ks. ... Droits de Douane, manutention commission et timbres * 4.55 121.55 ... |