DDU (Delivered Duty Unpaid) means you ship the parcel internationally and the customer is responsible for paying any import duty and VAT when the carrier attempts delivery. In practice this means the customer receives a surprise bill — sometimes days after placing the order — before they can collect their parcel. Many customers refuse the parcel or pay reluctantly and never buy again.

DDP (Delivered Duty Paid) means all duties, taxes, and import costs have already been settled before the parcel reaches the customer. From the customer's perspective there are no unexpected charges. When goods are held in EU stock and shipped locally, there are no import duties or import VAT at all because the goods are already inside the EU customs territory. DDP is the standard for brands serious about EU market development.

Yes — if the declared value of goods in a single shipment exceeds €150 (the EU de minimis threshold), EU customs duty is payable on import. The rate depends on the product category under the EU's Common Customs Tariff: apparel attracts 12%, electronics typically 0–3.7%, and most general consumer goods around 4%.

Below €150 declared value, customs duty is waived under the de minimis rule — but import VAT is always charged regardless of order value. Import VAT is applied to the total of product value + shipping + any duty, at the destination country's standard rate. The calculator above handles this threshold automatically.

Import VAT is charged by the destination country's customs authority at the point of entry into the EU. Under DDU shipping, this charge is passed on to the end customer and collected before the parcel is released for delivery. Rates vary by country: Germany 19%, Netherlands 21%, France 20%, Italy 22%, Spain 21%.

If you hold goods in EU-based stock and use the OSS (One Stop Shop) scheme, VAT is collected at checkout and remitted directly to the relevant tax authority — rather than being charged as a surprise at the customer's door. Local EU fulfillment is what makes this possible.

There are two routes. The first is to stock goods inside the EU. Once goods are physically in the EU customs territory, there are no import duties or import VAT on individual customer orders. All local VAT is handled at checkout via the EU OSS scheme. Delivery times drop to 2–5 business days rather than 10–21, and customers experience no door-step charges.

The second route is to ship DDP internationally — meaning you absorb and pre-pay the duty and import VAT on behalf of the customer. This removes the customer surprise but does not eliminate the underlying cost; it just moves it from the customer to you.

For brands with meaningful and growing EU order volume, local EU stock is the structurally correct solution. It eliminates the charges entirely rather than just redistributing them.

The EU de minimis rule exempts shipments with a declared customs value under €150 from customs duty. If you ship a product worth €90 to a customer in Germany, no customs duty is charged. However, import VAT still applies regardless of value. On that same €90 product plus shipping, the customer in Germany still pays 19% import VAT on the full import value — that is the "surprise at the door" even on low-value orders.

The threshold was revised in 2021 as part of EU VAT reforms targeting cross-border ecommerce. Previously shipments under €22 were fully VAT-exempt. That exemption no longer exists. Every B2C parcel into the EU now generates a VAT obligation regardless of order value.

The EU OSS (One Stop Shop) allows sellers to register for VAT in one EU member state and remit VAT collected from customers across all EU countries via a single quarterly filing. Without OSS, you would need a separate VAT registration in each EU country where you exceed the local threshold.

OSS is relevant if you hold stock in the EU and sell to customers across multiple EU markets. If you are shipping DDU from outside the EU, OSS does not remove the import VAT charge at the customer's door — it only applies to sales of goods already inside the EU. Getting inventory into the EU via a seller of record platform is what makes OSS operationally useful.

An EU Seller of Record is the legal entity named on the sale transaction from the EU customer's perspective. For a non-EU brand selling into the EU, the seller of record determines who holds the VAT liability, who is named on the compliant invoice, and who bears legal responsibility for product compliance under frameworks like GPSR (General Product Safety Regulation).

Without an EU entity, non-EU brands cannot register for EU OSS, cannot be named as the compliant GPSR responsible person, and face growing friction with marketplace seller requirements. A seller of record platform like EuroSOR becomes the named EU entity on transactions, handles all VAT registrations and filings, acts as the GPSR responsible person, and coordinates customs on your behalf — while you retain full control of pricing, customers, and product strategy.

Shipping internationally from the US, India, UK, or Australia to an EU customer typically takes 10–21 business days in transit, plus 2–7 days for customs clearance on parcels that are held or inspected. Total door-to-door is commonly 2–4 weeks.

Shipping from an EU warehouse to an EU customer typically takes 2–5 business days. For Germany, Netherlands, and France specifically, next-day or 2-day delivery is achievable from a centrally located EU fulfilment centre. Faster delivery directly correlates with higher conversion rates, lower cart abandonment, and stronger repeat purchase intent — independent of the duty and VAT question entirely.