Your manufacturer offers one price to make your garments and deliver them to your warehouse, duties paid. For a growing apparel brand with a small team, that sounds pretty good. 

And sometimes it is. But before you make DDP your default, understand what is included, what you can verify, and what control you may be giving up.

Why brands like DDP 

DDP means Delivered Duty Paid. Under the Incoterms® rule, the seller arranges transportation and import clearance and pays the applicable import duties and taxes through delivery at the agreed destination, ready for unloading.  

The appeal is practical: fewer moving parts, one supplier to coordinate with, and a delivered price that makes budgeting easier. A manufacturer with strong freight relationships may also secure better transportation pricing than a small brand could obtain on its own. 

Paying someone to manage that work can be good business. The question is whether you understand the price of that convenience.

One price can hide several margins 

A DDP quote tells you what you will pay. It may tell you very little about how that price was built. 

Manufacturing, freight, brokerage, duties, delivery, and the supplier’s allowance for risk or profit may all sit inside the same number. There could be additional margin in the logistics portion. That is not automatically unreasonable, but without a breakdown you cannot assess it. 

If freight rates fall, will your next quote reflect that? If the supplier cites higher duties, can you see the calculation? And if two factories quote different delivered prices, how much of the difference is the garment itself? 

Ask for a separate goods price and an itemized delivery option. Compare that with an independent estimate for the same shipment, service, and destination, including brokerage, duties, insurance, and final delivery. Remember to value your own team’s time. Managing the import yourself does not automatically make it cheaper.

For brands bringing inventory into the U.S. or Canada and later exporting some of it, eligible duties may be recoverable through duty drawback. Think overseas wholesale orders or inventory transferred to another country. 

Buying DDP does not automatically disqualify you because you were not the original importer. U.S. and Canadian rules allow qualifying exporters and other parties to claim in certain circumstances. The practical challenge is getting the import records and any required transfers or waivers of drawback rights. 

If your supplier or its importing partner will not provide those records, a potential refund may be out of reach. A delivered invoice alone is not enough to establish a claim. Agree on access and cooperation before placing the purchase order, and have a drawback specialist assess eligibility. The destination, duty type, and claim requirements matter.

Know whose name is on the import 

DDP describes contractual responsibilities. It does not, by itself, prove who appears as importer of record on the customs entry. Ask for confirmation rather than assuming the supplier is the importer. 

Ask who is importing, which broker is clearing the shipment, and whether your company’s importer number will be used. If your brand is the importer of record, having the factory arrange and pay for clearance does not remove your responsibility for accurate entries and applicable duties. 

For apparel, that means understanding the classification, origin, and declared value being used. An unusually cheap delivered quote deserves questions about how the goods will be entered.

Before your next purchase order 

• Get the breakdown. Separate the goods price from freight, duties, brokerage, and delivery. 

• Confirm the terms. Name the delivery location, specify Incoterms® 2020, and agree how tariff changes and exceptional charges will be handled. 

• Identify the importer. Confirm who is named on the entry and what documentation your brand will receive. 

• Protect future options. If exports are likely, address drawback records and cooperation upfront. 

• Recheck as you grow. An arrangement that suits a few cartons may deserve another look at container volume. 

DDP can be a sensible choice for a small brand. Make it an informed choice, with enough visibility to judge the cost and enough documentation to support your next stage of growth. 

Before your next production order, ask your manufacturer to show you what sits behind the delivered price.