if you send out 5K worth of chips to someone you have never done business with without receiving payment.

I can see if either a)you know your buyer well or b)you can deal with a loss of a few bucks if something goes wrong.

Where in the real world do you get goods without first paying? Last time I looked, Wal-Mart takes alot of info (and a credit card number) from a purchaser before the sale, and I GUARANTEE they will not let you walk out of the store with $500 in product (forget 5K) without being pretty darn sure that they are getting paid.

Again, no problems with a party I know and trust.
I understand that there are alot of old relationships here and in a perfect world, these things would go smoothly, but, in general, I feel this is a privilege and NOT a right. For you to expect it always is a little much.

I dunno, may be it is the NY'er in me, but sooner or later one of you is going to be a sorry victim,
posting here why you should beware of so-and-so...