This guide explains the difference between DDP (Delivered Duty Paid) and DDU (Delivered Duty Unpaid) shipping, when each applies, and why Swap recommends DDP for the vast majority of international B2C shipments.

Note: DDU is now officially referred to as DAP (Delivered at Place) under Incoterms 2020, but both terms are still widely used. This guide uses DDU throughout for clarity.

DDP and DDU are Incoterms — standardised trade terms from the International Chamber of Commerce that define who is responsible for duties, taxes, and customs clearance in an international shipment.

With DDP, the seller takes responsibility for all costs and risks involved in getting goods to the buyer, including import duties, taxes, and customs clearance. The buyer receives their package with no additional charges on delivery.

In an ecommerce context, duties and taxes are typically collected from the customer at checkout, giving them full visibility of their total cost before they pay.

With DDU, the buyer is responsible for paying import duties, taxes, and customs clearance fees before receiving their package. The seller ships the goods; the carrier then collects the outstanding fees from the customer at the point of delivery.

For the vast majority of international B2C shipments, DDP is the better choice — and it's the only method Swap supports.

No surprise fees. When duties and taxes are collected at checkout, customers know exactly what they're paying. Unexpected charges at delivery are one of the leading causes of parcel refusal, returns, and negative reviews.

Faster customs clearance. DDP shipments clear customs more quickly because all fees are pre-paid. DDU shipments can stall while the carrier chases the recipient for payment.

Better conversion. Transparent pricing at checkout builds trust and reduces cart abandonment for international customers.

What happens with DDU? If a customer refuses to pay duties on delivery, the package is returned — or abandoned if return costs outweigh the value. Some countries don't permit abandonment and require returns regardless, leaving the merchant to cover both the outbound and return shipping costs.

DDU is generally only appropriate for B2B shipments where the receiving business can reclaim or offset import duties and taxes through their own tax filings.

Swap cannot process DDU shipments. If you require DDU for B2B orders, you'll need to arrange this outside of Swap.

Some countries do not permit DDP imports. For shipments to these destinations, inform the recipient upfront about potential customs charges and ensure all documentation is accurate to minimise delays.

Some merchants look at prepaying duties and taxes on a DDU/DAP shipment as a shortcut to the same outcome as DDP, to avoid both the customer being contacted directly by the carrier and the need to register for tax purposes in the destination country. In practice, this approach doesn't achieve either. Here's why:

The consumer is still the importer of record. Under DDU/DAP, the customer is the importer of record regardless of who has prepaid the duties and taxes. Customs or the carrier can still contact them directly as part of the import process.

Prepaying doesn't remove your tax obligations. Registration requirements are triggered by the fact that you're making sales into that country — not by who happens to settle the customs bill on an individual parcel. Prepaying duties and taxes yourself doesn't change your underlying sales activity, so it doesn't remove the need to register where required.

TL;DR: "Prepaid" carrier options aren't the same as DDP. These offerings typically aren't built on true DDP Incoterms. They're billing mechanisms layered on top of a DDU shipment, generally designed for B2B freight — not the consumer/B2C rules that apply to ecommerce shipments. So while it may look similar to DDP from the outside, it doesn't deliver the same compliance or customer experience outcomes.

If you want the benefits of true DDP — no surprise fees for customers, faster customs clearance, and correct tax treatment — it needs to be set up as DDP, which is what Swap supports.