Seller delivers to the buyer's door — the buyer only pays import duties and taxes on arrival.
Delivered at Place (DAP) requires the seller to deliver the goods to the buyer at a named place of destination, ready for unloading. The seller arranges and pays for export customs, main international freight, and all transit costs. Risk transfers from seller to buyer when the goods arrive at the named destination and are ready for unloading (but before unloading occurs). The buyer is responsible for import customs clearance, import duties, VAT, and any local taxes in the destination country. DAP is the standard Incoterm used by major courier services (DHL, UPS, FedEx, DPD, GLS) for international parcel delivery when the buyer pays their local customs charges.
DAP is the standard choice for courier and parcel shipments, air freight, and road freight where the seller wants to control the shipping process but leave import tax responsibility with the buyer. It is the default for most B2B e-commerce and international trade shipments. Use DAP when your buyer is an importer who has their own customs broker and can handle import clearance efficiently.
Do not use DAP if you want to offer your buyers a fully-landed price with no surprise import charges — use DDP instead. Also avoid DAP if your customer is a private consumer in a country with high import duties, as unexpected customs charges on delivery cause returns and disputes.
Yes, DAP effectively replaced DDU from Incoterms 2010. DDU was used in Incoterms 2000 and described the same concept — seller delivers to destination without paying import duties. The term was renamed and clarified as DAP in Incoterms 2010 and retained in Incoterms 2020.
The buyer pays all import customs duties, VAT, and taxes under DAP. The seller delivers the goods to the destination country but the buyer must clear customs and pay whatever duties apply in their country. This is sometimes called 'delivered duty unpaid' informally.
If the buyer fails to clear customs or cannot pay import duties, the goods may be held at the port of entry or abandoned. The buyer bears the cost of storage and any resulting damage. In some cases, goods may be returned to the seller at the buyer's expense. This is a significant risk for sellers shipping to buyers in countries with complex import regimes.
No. Under DAP, the seller delivers goods ready for unloading at the named destination but is not responsible for the unloading itself. The buyer arranges and pays for unloading. If the seller also needs to unload, use DPU (Delivered at Place Unloaded) instead.
Yes. Most courier services (DHL, UPS, FedEx) operate on DAP terms by default for international shipments. The shipper (seller) pays the courier to deliver to the destination country, but the recipient (buyer) receives a customs duty notice and must pay local taxes before final delivery. Some couriers offer a DDP option where duty charges are pre-paid.
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