Who pays the duty: DAP and DDP
The most common cause of a refused international delivery is not a late parcel. It is a customer being asked for money they did not expect.
The two you will meet
- DAP, Delivered At Place. You pay the carriage. The recipient pays any import duty and VAT, usually to the courier before delivery. This is the standard default.
- DDP, Delivered Duty Paid. You pay the duty and import VAT as well, so the parcel arrives with nothing to settle.
Why DAP surprises customers
On DAP the first your customer hears about the charge is a text message asking for money before their parcel is released, often with a handling fee on top of the duty itself. It is the single most common cause of refused deliveries and complaints on cross border orders. Not because the charge is wrong, but because nobody warned them.
Where you can claim IOSS on an EU order the VAT is settled at checkout and much of this goes away. With the €3 duty now applying under €150 as well, IOSS matters more than it used to.
DDP is not just a setting
DDP requires your carrier account to be set up for duty billing, because the carrier has to know who to invoice for the duty it fronts. Turning it on in software alone produces held or returned shipments the account cannot honour.
The honest sequence is to arrange duty billing with your carrier first, then enable DDP in your shipping software, and to state the term on the commercial invoice either way so that nobody downstream has to guess.
Common questions
What is the difference between DAP and DDP?
Under DAP, Delivered At Place, you pay the carriage and your customer pays any import duty and VAT before delivery. Under DDP, Delivered Duty Paid, you pay the duty and import VAT as well, so the parcel arrives with nothing to settle.
Which is better for ecommerce?
DDP gives a better customer experience because there is no unexpected bill on the doorstep, but it costs you more per order and needs duty billing set up on your carrier account. Many UK sellers use DAP for most destinations and IOSS for EU orders under €150, which removes the VAT element at checkout.
Can I just switch DDP on in my shipping software?
No. The carrier has to have duty billing enabled on your account so it knows who to invoice for the duty it pays on your behalf. Enabling it in software alone tends to produce held or returned shipments.
You do not have to work it out alone. Tell us what you ship and where, and someone here will talk it through with you. We would far rather answer a question early than see a parcel held at a border.
Talk to the teamSources
Checked 2026-08-01. This is guidance, not customs or tax advice. Rules in this area change, so follow the links above for anything that turns on your own goods or registrations.
Shipping software that asks the right questions
Pick Pack Track handles customs paperwork, Northern Ireland declarations and IOSS while you print the label, on ten carriers and your own accounts with no per label markup.
Join the waitlist