Incoterms (international commercial terms) are a series of 11 internationally recognised, universal terms that define and clarify the obligations between buyers and sellers, and is published by the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC). The most common incoterms are delivered at place (DAP/DDU), or delivered duty paid (DDP).
This article discusses the various settings and configuration options available for incoterms within your Shippit account. For more information about what the various incoterms are, see the Understanding incoterms article. For more information about shipping internationally, see the International shipping article.
Incoterm setting levels
You can set incoterms at different levels, which are applied to orders from the most specific to the least specific.
Global incoterms
Global incoterm settings apply to all international orders, regardless of the carrier, lane, or specific order details. This is your default incoterm, and is used only if no other incoterm settings apply. If you need to change your global incoterm setting, see the setting global incoterms section.
Carrier level incoterms
Carrier level incoterms define whether or not a carrier is able to support a specific incoterm. If a carrier doesn't support a specific incoterm, then it does not provide quotes for orders using that incoterm. If you need to change your carrier incoterm setting, contact your Shippit account manager, or get in touch with us.
Lane level incoterms
Lane level incoterms apply to all shipments using a specific lane, regardless of the carrier, or specific order details. This incoterm is applied when an order is going to a specific destination country, and no more specific incoterm settings apply. This setting overrides the global and carrier incoterm settings. If you need to change your lane incoterm setting, contact your Shippit account manager, or get in touch with us.
Order level incoterms
Order level incoterms apply only to an individual order, and overrides all other incoterm settings for that order. If you need to change your order incoterm setting, see the setting order incoterms section.
International carrier allocation
Incoterms play an important role in selecting which carrier is allocated for your international shipments. Because the incoterm settings are applied before the carrier is allocated, your settings can impact carrier selection.
⚠️ IMPORTANT: If you are uncertain which incoterms are supported by your carrier, check with the carrier directly, or get in touch with your Shippit account manager.
For example, if you have an order going to the United States, Carrier A might be set to ship in that lane with DAP/DDU, while Carrier B might be set to ship in that lane with DDP. While the overall cost including duties might be the same, you might decide to ship with DDP to reduce complexity for your customer.
In these images, you can see a product shipping with DAP/DDU is automatically allocated to one carrier, while the same product shipping with DDP is allocated to a different carrier:
This can happen if the allocated carrier for a DAP/DDU order doesn't support DDP.
Change global incoterm settings
Global incoterm settings apply to all international orders, regardless of the carrier, lane, or specific order details. This is your default incoterm, and is used only if no other incoterm settings apply.
💡 NOTE: If you haven't changed your global incoterm settings, it defaults to DDU.
Changing global incoterm settings
Log in to your Shippit account.
Open the drop down menu in the top right of your screen, and click Settings.
Click International Shipping to go the international settings for your store.
In the Default international customs details section, select your default incoterm.
Click Save to save your changes
Change order incoterm settings
Order level incoterms apply only to an individual order, and overrides all other incoterm settings for that order.
Changing order incoterms settings
Log in to your Shippit account.
Create a new order from the New orders screen, or modify an existing order.
In the International shipping section, select your preferred settings.
Continue with order creation and shipping as normal.
Incoterms and BYO carriers
You can ship with either DAP/DDU or DDP for partner rates that you access through your Shippit account. If you have your own agreements with carriers and access those as a BYO carrier in your Shippit account, you might be limited based on your contractual terms with them. For example, if your contract stipulates DAP/DDU, you can only get quotes for shipments with DAP/DDU. If your contract stipulates DDP, you can view quotes for both DAP/DDU and DDP, and book accordingly.