DDP Shipping from China: How Packaging Buyers Avoid Surprise Customs Bills
The first customs invoice is a rite of passage for new importers — and an avoidable one. Most surprises come from a single line in the quote: the Incoterm. Here is what each means when your custom boxes ship from our Dongguan factory.
The four terms you will actually see
EXW (Ex Works) — the goods leave our floor with you (or your forwarder) owning everything: trucking, export clearance, freight, import duties. Best for buyers with an existing China logistics partner. Cheapest on paper, most work in practice.
FOB (Free on Board) — we deliver the goods cleared onto the vessel at a Chinese port; you own the ocean freight and everything after. The traditional default for container-scale buyers with a freight forwarder.
DAP (Delivered at Place) — we handle export and freight; you pay the import duties and taxes when the boxes arrive. Common for air shipments.
DDP (Delivered Duty Paid) — we handle everything, including duties and taxes, and the boxes land at your door like a domestic parcel. You never meet a customs broker.
Why we usually recommend DDP for packaging orders
Custom packaging has a property most products do not: the duty rate is low and stable (paper goods typically run 0–6% duty depending on destination), and freight scales with volume — which you already know precisely at quote time. That makes DDP the one term where the factory can give you an exact, final landed price up front.
For DTC brands and startups, DDP converts international manufacturing into something as predictable as a domestic PO:
- No customs broker onboarding
- No surprise VAT/duty invoice three weeks after delivery
- One tracking number, one invoice, one accountable party
When DDP is not the right answer
- Full-container buyers with a freight contract — your negotiated rates will beat ours; take FOB.
- Countries with complex import licensing — if your side must control clearance for compliance reasons, DAP keeps you in charge of the process.
- Split deliveries to an Amazon FBA warehouse — possible under DDP, but tell us the appointment rules so the schedule holds.
What we need from you
Two details let us quote DDP accurately on day one: destination postal code and total gross weight tolerance of the packed goods. With those, freight lands as a firm number in the quote — not an “approximately” that becomes an invoice later.
Ask for DDP pricing in your first inquiry — start here and include your destination city.