What DDP and DDU Actually Mean

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What DDP and DDU actually mean

Delivered Duty Paid and Delivered Duty Unpaid describe the same shipment with the duty bill pointed at two different people. Everything downstream follows from that one choice.

Your obligations

What shipping DDP commits you to

Delivered Duty Paid in full: which costs the merchant absorbs, what has to be declared, and the stages of a DDP shipment from packing through final-mile delivery.

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Your customer's experience

What DDU leaves your customer to handle

Delivered Duty Unpaid from the buyer's side: the paperwork they inherit, the charges they don't expect, and why weeks of customs delay land on your brand rather than the carrier's.

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Common questions

Every DDP and DDU question, answered

Twenty questions on who pays, who carries the risk, what happens at the door, and how to configure each — grouped by basics, customer experience, cost, and setup.

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DDP vs DDU, side by side

	DDP — Delivered Duty Paid	DDU — Delivered Duty Unpaid
Who pays duties	The merchant, collected at checkout as part of the total price.	The customer, collected by the carrier or a customs agent at delivery.
When the cost is known	At checkout. The customer sees one all-in price and owes nothing on arrival.	After the parcel arrives. The amount is usually a surprise.
Customs clearance	Handled by the merchant or a provider acting as Importer of Record.	The customer completes clearance and pays the charges — but the merchant still owns accurate documentation.
Delivery speed	Faster. Duties are prepaid and paperwork is filed before the border.	Slower. The carrier has to reach the customer and collect before customs releases the parcel.
What goes wrong	If the landed cost was estimated rather than guaranteed, the merchant is back-billed the gap.	Refused deliveries, customs holds, and abandoned parcels — sometimes destroyed in-country rather than returned.
Customer experience	Matches how people shop domestically: one price, nothing owed at the door.	A bill from a courier they don't recognize, before they can have their order.

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