DDP (Delivered Duty Paid) is the incoterm with the seller’s maximum obligation: goods delivered at the agreed point in the destination country with transport, clearance and import taxes already paid. It is the closest thing to buying delivered at your warehouse.
How it works
The seller assumes every cost and risk of the full journey, including import clearance in your country. To do that they need the legal capacity to import at destination, directly or through third parties, and that is where DDP from China gets complicated: a Chinese supplier can rarely act as importer of record in Mexico, so the operation ends up resting on intermediaries you neither chose nor control.
Why a cheap DDP deserves suspicion
If the all-in price with taxes included looks impossible, it is usually explained by schemes that undervalue the goods or force the classification at clearance. And even when a third party runs the scheme, goods that entered the country misdeclared are a risk that lands near you: without your own clean customs entry, you cannot prove the legal status of what you are selling.
The common mistake
Choosing DDP to avoid dealing with customs. The convenience is real, but you are delegating exactly the part of the operation where mistakes become your legal and tax problem. If you want a frictionless operation, the healthy route is a serious forwarder that integrates clearance with your own importer registration, not a magic all-inclusive price.
Compare with FOB and CIF. Got a DDP offer? Write to us and we show you the real breakdown with our logistics from China.
