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Quick Answer
DDP (Delivered Duty Paid, per ICC Incoterms 2020) means the supplier handles freight, customs clearance, import duties, taxes, and last-mile delivery — you receive the goods at your door with no surprise costs. FOB (Free on Board) is cheaper upfront but you pay separately for freight, customs brokerage, duties, and delivery, which can add 15–35% on top of the quoted price. For first-time importers or buyers without a customs broker, DDP is the lower-risk option. We ship DDP to 100+ countries.
Sources & Standards
Last reviewed: 2026-09-18 · By: Ramon Wang, Sales Director, SublimApparel
Buyer's Guide · Shipping Terms Comparison
Both terms get the goods from China to your door. The difference is who pays duties, who handles customs, and who owns the risk in transit. Here's the side-by-side.
Choose FOB if
You have a US/EU customs broker and import 5+ containers per year.
Best for: large brands, vertical retailers, frequent importers.
Choose DDP if
You're a small brand, first-time importer, or want a one-invoice landed cost.
Best for: dropshippers, e-com brands, agencies, event merch.
| Dimension | FOB | DDP |
|---|---|---|
| Who pays duties | You (the buyer) | The factory's forwarder |
| Who handles customs clearance | You or your broker | Factory's forwarder |
| Who owns goods in transit | You, once goods cross the ship's rail at origin port | Forwarder, until goods are delivered to your door |
| Risk during transit | Yours (from origin port onward) | Forwarder's (door-to-door) |
| Best for small / first-time buyers | No — requires customs broker | Yes — one invoice, no broker needed |
| Best for high-volume importers | Yes — direct control, lower per-unit duty | Sometimes — depends on forwarder rates |
| Total landed cost visibility | Hidden — duty added on top of factory + freight quote | Transparent — all-in one delivered price |
| Cash flow | Pay factory, then freight, then duties (3 invoices, 3 timings) | Pay one delivered invoice |
| Customs holdup risk | High if you don't have a broker | Low — forwarder handles it daily |
| Lead time from PO to door | 25-45 days (port-to-port, plus your clearance) | 20-40 days (door-to-door, predictable) |
DDP looks like a premium service, but on small-to-medium B2B orders the factory's forwarder usually beats your own broker on three line items:
Duty rate. Forwarders negotiate trade-rate discounts (often 1-3% below posted duty) and consolidate HTS classifications across clients.
Last-mile delivery. They have daily consolidation trucks; a one-off importer pays LTL rates that are 30-50% higher per carton.
Demurrage risk. If customs holds the shipment, demurrage at the destination port is $80-300/day. The forwarder absorbs that on DDP; you pay it on FOB.
On paper, FOB looks cheaper because you only pay the factory + ocean freight. With DDP, the freight forwarder's quote includes duties, customs brokerage, and last-mile delivery. In practice, DDP is often cheaper in total because the forwarder buys duties at trade rates and consolidates shipments — most B2B buyers see 5-15% savings on landed cost with DDP.
If you're on FOB terms, the shipment is in your name. You (or your broker) have to clear it, pay any duties owed, respond to any customs query, and arrange final delivery. If you're a small brand without a US/EU customs broker, this can stall your shipment at the port for 2-4 weeks. DDP avoids that because the factory's forwarder handles everything before delivery.
Yes, but only before the goods leave the origin port. Once the cargo is on the vessel under FOB terms, ownership has transferred. If you realize mid-production that you can't handle customs, you can re-route the cargo to a DDP forwarder — but expect a 10-20% premium for the late change.
For orders under $800 per shipment entering the US, Section 321 de minimis lets the package enter duty-free under a single consignee — this is what most dropshippers and small brands use. Once your shipment exceeds $800 (per consignee, per day), full customs clearance kicks in, and DDP becomes valuable.
DDP. If you have never imported before, you don't have a customs broker relationship, you don't know HTS classification, and you don't have a duty-payment account set up. DDP lets you receive the goods at your warehouse with one invoice. FOB is appropriate once you're doing 5+ containers per year and have a broker on retainer.
All three reach the same Yiwu production managers — no call center, no chatbot. Average reply under 1 business day.
1-minute guided form. Step-by-step inputs for size breakdown, deadline, destination. Best for orders of 200+ pieces.
Direct chat with a Yiwu production manager. No signup, no form, no bot. Attach artwork on the first message.
Full contact form with name, company, role, message. Same 24-hour reply SLA, written record for procurement teams.