About Trade Loan

Who we help

Trade Loan exists for one kind of business problem: the gap between paying for goods and getting paid for them when those goods cross a border. That's importers paying a factory deposit months before the container lands. Wholesalers funding duty and import GST at the wharf. Online stores ordering private-label stock for a season that's still half a year away. Manufacturers bringing in components. Exporters producing an order for an overseas buyer who pays 60 or 90 days after the ship arrives.

These businesses are often profitable and growing. What they're short of is time — the months their money spends at sea, at the border and on the shelf. That's the problem we're built around.

Why a site just for trade

General business-loan websites treat a supplier deposit like any other expense. It isn't. An import order spends cash in stages — deposit, balance, freight, border costs — before a single unit sells, and each stage has its own timing, its own exchange-rate exposure and its own paperwork. Export orders run the other way, with production costs up front and payment arriving long after. We think those businesses deserve plain-English help that starts from how trade actually works, which is why our guides, calculators and pages are all about landed costs, lead times, payment terms and the official ATO, ABF and Austrade rules.

What we can talk to you about

• Unsecured, cash-flow and line-of-credit options for trading businesses, typically $5,000 to $500,000, sized on turnover and bank statements.
• Property-secured business loans from $20,000 to $5,000,000 — first mortgages, second mortgages and caveat loans over residential or commercial property.
• Past credit issues and ATO debt considered case by case.
• Business purposes only.

We don't publish interest rates. Every facility is priced on the business's own situation — trading history, security, the order and the timeline — and you'll see the real figures for your circumstances before you commit to anything.

Our promises

Put simply: asking what's possible doesn't touch your credit file; your enquiry isn't sold on or blasted to a list of lenders; and a real person who understands import and export orders works on it. In return, we ask one thing — please fill in the form accurately. The amount, what it's for, your turnover and any property you own all shape which option fits, and accurate answers mean we can match you properly the first time.

How we work

You send a short enquiry — it takes about 60 seconds. A real person reads it and calls you to understand the order, your supplier or buyer terms, and when the stock sells or the buyer pays. We explain what's realistic and what each option would need. Only if you decide to go ahead do documents and a credit check come into it. The how it works page has the detail.

Before you enquire, you might find the landed cost and funding gap calculator useful — it shows how much cash an order needs and for how long.

Who writes our content

Our content is written and reviewed by the Trade Loan editorial team, using official sources such as the ATO, the Australian Border Force, business.gov.au and Austrade. It's general information, not financial, tax or customs advice for your situation.

See if you qualify →