DAP (Delivered at Place): Seller's Risk to the Destination
DAP Delivered at Place, Incoterms 2020: the seller carries the goods to the named place at its risk; the buyer unloads and clears import. Costs and example.
Key takeaways
- Under DAP the seller bears all costs and risks until the goods arrive at the named place, ready for unloading.
- The buyer unloads the goods and handles import clearance, duties and taxes.
- DAP works for any mode and is the usual rule for door-to-door road deliveries across borders.
- The seller has no duty to insure, but it bears the transit risk and should insure it.
- If the buyer's import clearance is late, the resulting costs and risks fall on the buyer.
DAP, Delivered at Place, is the Incoterms® 2020 rule in which the seller takes the goods all the way to the buyer's named destination, at its own cost and risk, and delivers them on the arriving vehicle, ready to be unloaded. The buyer then unloads, clears the goods for import and pays the duties and taxes. It is the standard "delivered" rule for exporters who sell to a buyer's door but do not want to deal with customs in the buyer's country.
DAP replaced the old DAF, DES and DDU terms in 2010 and has been widely adopted since. This lesson explains exactly where delivery happens, who pays what, and how DAP differs from DPU and DDP.
When should you use DAP?
DAP works for every transport mode. It fits:
- cross-border road deliveries to a buyer's warehouse, the most common case in the Maghreb and Europe;
- container or air shipments where the seller organises door delivery but the buyer clears import;
- sales to buyers who expect a delivered price but have their own customs broker;
- deliveries to a port or terminal in the buyer's country, where the goods stay on the vessel or truck until the buyer unloads.
Avoid DAP when you cannot manage the risk of the whole journey, or when the buyer's country makes import clearance by a foreign seller's agent necessary for delivery to happen. If the buyer wants you to unload, use DPU; if it wants you to pay the duties too, use DDP.
Where does delivery happen and when does risk pass?
The seller delivers when it places the goods at the buyer's disposal at the agreed point within the named place, on the arriving means of transport and ready for unloading. Risk passes at that moment. Until then, every loss is the seller's, including at transhipment points and borders along the route.
If the buyer fails to carry out import clearance, or fails to give a notice it owes, the buyer bears the resulting risks and costs. If the place of delivery is not precisely agreed, the seller may choose the point that suits it best within the named place, which may not suit the buyer.
Who pays what under DAP?
| Step | Seller | Buyer |
|---|---|---|
| Packaging, marking, loading at origin | Yes | |
| Export clearance and export duties | Yes | |
| Transit formalities through third countries | Yes | |
| Main carriage to the named place | Yes | |
| Cargo insurance | Yes, in its own interest | |
| Unloading at the named place | Yes | |
| Import clearance | Yes | |
| Import duties, VAT and taxes | Yes |
If the seller's carriage contract includes unloading at destination, the seller pays it and cannot recover it from the buyer unless agreed. The same logic applies to destination terminal charges included in a door-to-door freight rate.
Documents and payment
The seller must provide, at its own cost, a document enabling the buyer to take over the goods at the destination, typically the transport document, such as a CMR consignment note, a bill of lading or a delivery order. It also supplies the commercial invoice, packing list, export declaration and any certificate of origin the buyer needs to clear import.
Under a letter of credit, DAP has a timing quirk: the seller is paid against documents issued at shipment, while it still bears the risk until arrival. That is not a problem in itself. The real trap is a credit that asks for a delivery receipt signed by the buyer: if the buyer does not sign, the seller cannot be paid. Refuse documents that depend on the buyer's signature.
Insurance under DAP
Neither party owes the other insurance. But because the seller bears the risk up to the named place, it should insure the whole journey for its own protection. The buyer should insure from unloading onwards.
Worked example: sanitary ware by road to Sfax
A ceramic sanitary ware manufacturer in Sétif sells three truckloads of washbasins and toilets to a distributor in Sfax, Tunisia, DAP Sfax, buyer's warehouse, Route de Gabès km 4, Incoterms® 2020.
| Item | EUR |
|---|---|
| Goods, three loads at 18,500 | 55,500 |
| Export clearance in Algeria | 300 |
| Road freight, three trucks at 1,900 | 5,700 |
| Seller's own transit insurance | 150 |
| DAP price | 61,650 |
The trucks leave Sétif on 9 February 2026 and cross into Tunisia. At the border, the buyer's customs broker has not yet lodged the import declaration, and the trucks wait two days. The waiting charges invoiced by the haulier fall on the buyer, because import clearance is its obligation. On 12 February the trucks reach Sfax: delivery takes place when they stand at the warehouse dock ready for unloading. The buyer's forklifts unload them, at the buyer's cost and risk.
DAP compared with DPU and DDP
| Point | DAP | DPU | DDP |
|---|---|---|---|
| Delivery | On arriving vehicle, ready for unloading | Unloaded at named place | On arriving vehicle, ready for unloading, cleared for import |
| Unloading | Buyer | Seller | Buyer |
| Import clearance | Buyer | Buyer | Seller |
| Import duties and taxes | Buyer | Buyer | Seller |
| Seller's risk ends | At the named place, before unloading | After unloading | At the named place, before unloading |
Compare all eleven rules in the Incoterms matrix, and read customs clearance to understand what import clearance involves for the buyer.
Common mistakes with DAP
- No precise address: "DAP Tunisia" leaves the seller free to deliver anywhere in the country.
- Unclear unloading: the buyer expects the driver to unload, the driver refuses.
- Destination charges forgotten in the seller's price, especially terminal handling and container detention.
- Seller does not insure because "DAP has no insurance obligation", although it bears the whole transit risk.
- Using DAP when the buyer cannot clear import, so the goods sit at the border at mounting cost.
Frequently asked questions
What does DAP mean in shipping?
DAP, Delivered at Place, means the seller delivers when the goods are placed at the buyer's disposal at the named destination, on the arriving vehicle, ready for unloading. The seller bears all costs and risks up to that point; the buyer unloads, clears import and pays duties.
Who pays unloading under DAP?
The buyer. Delivery happens before unloading, so unloading at the destination is the buyer's job and cost. If the seller's carriage contract already includes unloading, the seller cannot recover that cost from the buyer unless the parties agreed it.
Who pays import duties under DAP?
The buyer pays import duties, VAT and other import taxes and carries out import clearance. If the seller is to pay them, the parties should use DDP instead.
What is the difference between DAP and DDP?
Under DDP the seller also clears the goods for import and pays duties and taxes in the buyer's country. Under DAP those are the buyer's responsibility. Everything else, including the delivery point, is the same.