Duties & Taxes Included: How DDP Shipping Works

When you order from Valerie Equestrian to the United Kingdom or the European Union, the price you see at checkout is the final amount you pay. Import duties and taxes are already included, your parcel clears customs before delivery, and no courier will ever hand you an unexpected invoice at the door. This is called DDP — Delivered Duty Paid — and it is how every UK and EU order from our store ships.

What DDP actually means

DDP (Delivered Duty Paid) is an international shipping term under which the seller — not the buyer — is responsible for import duties, import VAT and customs clearance in the destination country. The alternative most online stores use is DAP (Delivered At Place, formerly known as DDU — Delivered Duty Unpaid): the parcel travels to your country, and then the carrier bills you for duty, VAT and a customs brokerage fee before releasing the delivery.

With Valerie Equestrian, all of that happens on our side. You order, you pay once at checkout, and the parcel arrives as a normal domestic-style delivery.

Why "surprise customs fees" happen with other stores

Three separate charges can appear when a store ships without DDP:

Charge	What it is	Who bills you	With Valerie Equestrian (UK & EU)
Import VAT	The destination country's VAT applied to the goods value — 20% in the UK, 19–25% across EU member states	Customs, collected by the carrier	Included in checkout price
Customs duty	A percentage tariff on apparel and textile goods entering the customs territory	Customs, collected by the carrier	Included in checkout price
Brokerage / handling fee	The carrier's own fee for doing the customs paperwork, typically €5–25 per parcel	The carrier directly	Not charged — clearance is handled before delivery

These charges have become more visible, not less. Since the EU customs reform that took effect in July 2026, the former €150 duty-free threshold for parcels entering the EU has been removed, so low-value e-commerce parcels shipped without DDP are now assessed as well. In the UK, import VAT has applied to overseas orders since the 2021 Brexit-era rules. In practice: ordering equestrian gear from a non-DDP store abroad means the courier holds your parcel until you pay.

What this means for your order

For orders to the United Kingdom and the European Union: the checkout total is final. No customs bill, no carrier "import fee" text message, no parcel held at a depot. Shipping itself is also free, with no minimum order — typical delivery is 5–8 business days to the UK and 6–10 business days across Europe, with tracking from the moment your order ships.

For other destinations, shipping is free and customs handling depends on your country's rules — write to info@valerieequestrian.com before ordering and we will confirm the details for your destination.

Why we ship DDP

A premium purchase should not end with a surprise invoice. A rider ordering a velvet saddle pad or a competition show jacket should know the full cost at checkout — the same way they would buying from a local tack shop. Transparent landed cost is part of the product.

More questions about shipping, sizing or returns? See our FAQ.