DDP and DDU look like a typo apart. What they actually move is the customs bill, from the seller's invoice to the buyer's doorstep.
What DDP actually commits the seller to
UPS Supply Chain Solutions defines the term on its own glossary page, read 2026-08-21:
“An Incoterms® rule…under which the seller is responsible for all risk and costs associated with shipping and delivering goods to a named place of destination…including export clearance, transport costs and – significantly – import clearances.”
Risk stays with the seller the whole way. UPS's own page places the handoff at the point the seller makes the goods available, ready for unloading, at the named place of destination — after customs, not before it. That is the one Incoterm where the buyer is never the party standing at the border holding an unpaid duty bill.
The same page adds a caution worth reading before choosing DDP: a seller who cannot handle the destination country's import formalities may be better off choosing DAP or DPU instead. Handling import formalities in a country you do not operate in is the actual work DDP asks for, not just a box to check at checkout.
DDU and DAP say the opposite
DHL's own comparison of the two terms, dated February 24, 2025 and read 2026-08-21, draws the line where it actually falls. Under DDU, once the shipment reaches its destination:
“the buyer assumes all risks and responsibilities, including customs charges, duties and taxes, unloading costs, and transportation to the next destination.”
DAP is the Incoterms 2020 name for the same idea. The seller still delivers the goods to the named place; the seller just never touches the import duty. That bill, plus whatever brokerage fee the carrier charges to collect it, lands on the recipient before the parcel is released.
| Question | DDP | DDU / DAP |
|---|---|---|
| Who pays the import duty and tax | The seller, before the parcel is released | The buyer, at delivery |
| Who files the import customs entry | The seller or the seller's broker | The buyer, or the carrier acting on the buyer's behalf |
| What the buyer is billed at the door | Nothing extra | Duty, tax, and often a carrier brokerage fee |
| Who this suits | A seller prepared to run import paperwork abroad, for a clean checkout total | A seller who wants the label bought and printed without a broker relationship |
What SMKlog's own checkout does
Read the international section of the calculator and it answers the question before you finish typing an address. Whenever international checkout is open on a given route, the disclaimer on that screen reads:
“Destination duties and taxes are paid by the recipient on delivery (DDU).”
SMKlog's online international labels cover Canada, the UK, Germany and Australia; other destinations are not sold here. Either way there is no button that prepays a recipient's duty, and no field that turns a shipment into DDP. That is a deliberate line, not an oversight: DDP is a brokerage relationship with a carrier or a customs broker in the destination country, and a parcel calculator that prices a box in seconds is not built to also stand in as an importer of record.
If a shipment genuinely needs DDP — a business selling internationally that wants a fixed landed price at checkout with nothing collected from the buyer later — that is arranged directly with a carrier's commercial account team or a customs broker, not through a self-service label screen. Ask through support and a person will tell you plainly whether SMKlog can point you toward that arrangement for your lane; the honest answer some weeks is no.
Where these rules come from
- UPS Supply Chain Solutions, Delivered Duty Paid (DDP) Definition — the seller's risk and cost responsibility, the delivery-point risk transfer, and the note steering sellers toward DAP or DPU when they cannot manage import formalities. No revision date shown on the page. Read 2026-08-21.
- DHL, DDP vs. DDU: Guide to Choosing the Right Shipping Incoterm — the DDU definition quoted above. Dated February 24, 2025. Read 2026-08-21.
Both are glossary pages published by carriers, not the Incoterms® 2020 rule text itself, which is a paid International Chamber of Commerce publication. Treat the wording above as what each carrier published on the date shown; a specific contract or purchase order can define its own terms that override any default.
Common questions
What does DDP mean in shipping?
Delivered Duty Paid. The seller pays the destination country's import duty and tax before the parcel is released, so the buyer owes nothing extra at the door. UPS's own glossary describes it as the rule under which the seller is responsible for all risk and costs of shipping to a named destination, including import clearance.
What is the difference between DDP and DDU?
Who pays the destination country's duty and tax. Under DDP the seller pays it upfront. Under DDU, also called DAP, the buyer pays it at delivery. DHL's own comparison puts it plainly: under DDU the buyer assumes all risks and responsibilities, including customs charges, duties and taxes.
Does SMKlog ship DDP?
No. SMKlog's own international customs section states its terms directly: destination duties and taxes are paid by the recipient on delivery. That is DDU, also written DAP, on every cross-border label this site writes. There is no option at checkout to prepay a recipient's duty.
Who actually offers DDP shipping?
A carrier's own commercial or brokerage account, or a customs broker working on the seller's behalf. UPS's own guidance points sellers who cannot manage the destination country's import formalities toward DAP instead, which is the arrangement a self-service label screen is built for.
Why would a seller choose DDP over DDU?
To keep the buyer's total cost fixed at checkout with nothing collected at the door. The tradeoff sits with the seller, who has to estimate and typically prepay the destination country's duty before the parcel leaves, and who takes on the paperwork of an import entry in a country they don't operate in.