About DDP services

Introduction

When shipping internationally, parcels that cross borders may be subject to customs duties and taxes. Incoterms (International Commercial Terms) are standardized terms that define the roles and responsibilities of buyers and sellers in global trade. There are many Incoterms, DDP (Delivered Duty Paid) is one of them, and it ensures a smooth delivery process for buyers, as they face minimal logistical concerns.

What is DDP ?

DDP (Delivered Duty Paid) is an Incoterm under which the merchant assumes all responsibility for delivering goods to a specified destination, covering all costs, including shipping, insurance, and import duties. Essentially, the merchant support all risks and expenses until the goods are delivered to the buyer's location.

What’s the difference between DDP and DAP ?

DAP (Delivered at Place) is an Incoterm under which the merchant delivers goods to a specified location, ready for unloading, but does not cover import duties or taxes. The buyer is responsible for clearing customs and paying any import fees.

Key Differences between DDP and DAP:

Advantages of the DDP

• The merchants can know the duties and taxes amounts ahead and invoice them directly to their clients at the check-out.
• No bad surprise at delivery with unexpected costs.
• No contact between the carrier and the end customer.

How will DDP work ?

We’ve enhanced our integration with UPS and Colissimo to enable DDP shipping. With this new setup:

• Bigblue will cover the duties and taxes upfront and invoice the merchant for these fees.
• Commercial invoices or CN23 forms are handled electronically with DDP

Bigblue DDP process in detail

Overall Process of DDP Service

Coverage

Bigblue covers the DOMs* and the rest of the world via Colissimo and UPS.

*Guadeloupe (including Saint Barthélémy et Saint-Martin), Martinique, Réunion, Mayotte, Guyana

How to activate the DDP service?

1. Contact Bigblue to check if you are eligible to the DDP service
2. Set-up your CMS to enable the D&T calculation out checkout (ask your contact at Bigblue for guidance).
3. Chose how you would like to charge the D&T amounts to the end consumers.
   1. There are two ways of inserting the duties and taxes amounts and making sure that the final customers are aware of these:
      1. Display Duties & Taxes as separate items at the checkout.
      2. Increase your product price to include the D&T amounts.
4. Contact Bigblue support to activate the feature ⇒ You will be able to set the incoterm when creating or editing a fulfilment.

   1. 

5. Create a new shipping method on your CMS for DDP orders and activate it on the destinations you would like to deliver to by DDP.
   1. You can:
      1. Or keep the new shipping method with the new wording.
      2. Or wait for all the pre-DDP orders to be shipped to deactivate this shipping method.
6. Map the shipping method with the DDP carriers on the Bigblue app, in the auto-fulfilment section.

FAQ

Common challenges and how to address them:

• What documents are needed for a DDP shipment? For DDP shipment, the documents required depend on the carriers : for UPS it’s the commercial invoice only ; for Colissimo and any postal network carrier, it’s the CN23 and the commercail invoice.
• Who pays customs duties under DDP? Customs duties are paid by the end customer. The charges will either appear at the checkout or be included in the overall price of the item. The procedure is as follows: the carrier first advances the funds, then invoices Bigblue, who then re-invoices the merchant.
• How do we calculate duties and taxes? Duties and taxes are calculted on your CMS, through the set-up made.
• Is it possible to made a returns in a DDP shipment? Unfortunately, it’s not possible for the moment.

Glossary

👉 DAP: Delivered At Place (the duties and taxes are known and paid by the final client at delivery).

👉 DDP: Delivered Duty Paid (the duties and taxes are known and paid by the merchant prior to the shipment).

👉 Customs clearance: Official permission to bring goods into (imports) or take goods out (exports) of a country.

👉 D&T (Duties & Taxes):

• Customs Duties: A charge placed on most goods being imported. This charge is a % of the goods value and transportation costs. It will depend, mainly on product origin, HS code and destination country.
• VAT (Value Added Tax): Sales tax imposed by the government on all goods and services sold within a country. The VAT % will depend on, but not only, the country/region, type of goods, local regulations (eg. per state) and government policies.

👉 DDP charges: Extra charge by the carriers related to DDP such as advance funds fees or forwarding charges (D&T not paid in destination country)

👉 De Minimis: Several countries have a ”de minimis” threshold, under which shipments are cleared without incurring customs duties or taxes.

👉 Incoterm: Series of pre-defined commercial terms used to clearly communicate the tasks, costs, and risks associated with the transportation and delivery of goods.