Choose FOB if you have your own freight forwarder, or CIF if you want sea freight and insurance paid to your port. Choose DAP for delivery to a named address, and DDP only where Datum or a partner can act as importer of record.
The right term depends on how much of the freight and import work you want to handle. Each term moves cost and risk from Datum to you at a different point on the route.
What an Incoterm decides
An Incoterm is a short trade rule, published by the International Chamber of Commerce and written into the sales contract. It sets who pays for each leg of the route and where the risk of loss or damage passes to the buyer.
It also sets who clears the goods for export and for import, and who must insure them, if anyone. Datum quotes under Incoterms 2020.
An Incoterm does not decide when ownership of the goods passes. It does not set payment terms either, or what happens if one party breaks the contract. Those points belong in the contract itself.
The terms Datum offers
FOB: Free On Board
Datum delivers the goods on board the vessel your forwarder has booked, at the named port of shipment. Datum clears them for export and pays all costs up to that point.
Once the goods are on board, the risk passes to you, along with sea freight, insurance, import clearance, duty and delivery. Until then, the risk stays with Datum, including the days a container waits at the terminal.
FOB suits trade buyers with their own forwarder and cargo insurance, who want to choose the carrier and the sailing.
CIF: Cost, Insurance and Freight
Datum books and pays the sea freight to the named port of destination, and insures the cargo for the voyage. You take over at that port: unloading, import clearance, duty, taxes and the haul to site.
Cost and risk split at different points. The risk passes to you once the goods are on board at the port of shipment, as under FOB. Damage at sea is then a claim on the policy Datum arranged.
CIF suits buyers with a customs broker and haulier at their own port, but no forwarder for the sea leg.
CPT and CIP: inland depots and samples
CPT, carriage paid to, works for any mode of transport. Datum pays the carriage to the named place, but the risk passes when the goods are handed to the first carrier.
CIP adds insurance to the same split. Datum uses CPT or CIP when the destination is an inland container depot rather than a seaport, and for air-freighted samples.
DAP: Delivered at Place
Datum arranges and pays all transport to the named address, such as your site, warehouse or fabricator. The risk stays with Datum until the vehicle arrives there, ready for unloading.
You clear the goods for import and pay the duty and import taxes. Unloading is yours too, so plan a forklift or crane for heavy crates.
DAP suits project buyers who want one price to the door and have a customs broker. If clearance stalls, port storage charges usually fall to the buyer.
DDP: Delivered Duty Paid
Datum delivers to the named address with import clearance done and the duty and import taxes paid. The risk passes there, ready for unloading.
DDP suits a buyer with no means to import, such as a private owner. It is offered only where Datum or a partner can act as importer of record in your country.
The limits of DDP
The importer of record is the party named on the customs entry. It answers to customs for the declared value, the tariff code, the origin and the duty paid.
In many countries that party must hold a customs registration there, such as an EORI number in the UK and EU. It may also need a VAT registration in the country of import.
Import VAT is the second obstacle. Under DDP the import is in the seller’s name, so the buyer cannot usually reclaim that VAT.
For a VAT-registered business, DAP usually works better: you import the stone and recover the import VAT yourself. Ask for DDP when you request a quote, and Datum will confirm if it can be arranged.
EXW and DPU
Datum does not offer EXW, Ex Works. It leaves almost everything to the buyer, including loading at the seller’s premises and export clearance.
A foreign buyer is rarely set up to clear exports from another country. Loading crates of slab also needs the right lifting gear, and the seller needs proof of export for its tax records. FOB is the nearest term Datum offers.
DPU, delivered at place unloaded, is offered rarely. It makes the seller responsible for unloading at site, where slabs need the right lifting equipment.
Who pays and where risk passes
The table shows the main split under Incoterms 2020. CFR, Cost and Freight, is included for comparison: it is CIF without the insurance.
| Term | Transport | Main carriage paid by | Risk passes to the buyer | Seller must insure | Import duty and tax paid by |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| FOB | Sea or inland waterway | Buyer | On board the vessel at the port of shipment | No | Buyer |
| CFR | Sea or inland waterway | Seller | On board the vessel at the port of shipment | No | Buyer |
| CIF | Sea or inland waterway | Seller | On board the vessel at the port of shipment | Yes, minimum cover | Buyer |
| CPT | Any mode | Seller | On handover to the first carrier | No | Buyer |
| DAP | Any mode | Seller | At the named place, ready for unloading | No | Buyer |
| DDP | Any mode | Seller | At the named place, ready for unloading | No | Seller |
Under DAP and DDP, neither party has to insure, but the seller carries the risk in transit. Export clearance is the seller’s job under all six terms.
What every quote states
Every Datum quote states the Incoterm and a named place. Cost and risk split at that place, so it should be as exact as possible.
Write the term, the place and the edition together, for example “CIF Felixstowe, Incoterms 2020”. For DAP and DDP, give the full delivery address rather than a city name.
Under CIF, charges at the destination port are usually the buyer’s, unless the freight contract includes them. Ask for the quote to list what is included.
Stone reaches a container’s weight limit long before it fills the space. A 20 ft box takes about the same weight as a 40 ft box for less, so heavy orders ship in 20 ft boxes. A 3200 x 1600 x 20 mm slab of Calacatta Oro quartz weighs about 250 kg before packing. The guide to slab thickness gives weights per square metre.
Insurance under CIF, or your own
CIF obliges the seller to insure only to the minimum set by Incoterms 2020. That is Institute Cargo Clauses (C) or similar cover, for at least 110% of the contract price.
Minimum cover pays for major events such as fire, sinking, stranding, collision and jettison. It does not usually cover breakage from rough handling, a real risk with heavy slabs.
Under CIF you can ask for wider cover, such as Institute Cargo Clauses (A), at your own cost. CIP already requires that level of cover.
Importers who ship often may hold their own annual cargo policy, covering each shipment door to door. For them, FOB avoids paying for insurance twice, and claims run through their own insurer.
Standard cargo policies exclude loss caused by poor or unsuitable packing. That is one reason Datum photographs the packed crates before loading.
What to check with your customs broker
Before accepting a quote, check these points with your broker:
- Tariff codes. Quartz, terrazzo, engineered marble and natural stone can fall under different codes and duty rates.
- Origin. Some products attract extra duties linked to their country of origin.
- Documents. Typically a commercial invoice, packing list, bill of lading and certificate of origin.
- Wooden crates. Many countries require wood packaging treated and stamped to the ISPM 15 standard.
- Your registration. For example, an EORI number in the UK and EU, or a customs bond in the US.
- Import VAT. How it will be paid and reclaimed, where it applies.
- Port to site. Free storage days at the port, the haulier, and unloading equipment at the address.
Photos before loading
Datum sends photos of the actual slabs and the packed crates before the balance payment and loading. That applies under every Incoterm.
Natural stone such as Statuario or Honey Onyx differs slab by slab, so you approve the slabs themselves. For Nero Oro engineered marble or Arenaria terrazzo tiles, the photos show the product, finish and packing.
Under FOB and CIF, the photos record the condition and packing just before the risk passes to you. That supports any insurance claim.
Book-matched slabs must stay in sequence through packing. The guide to book-matched stone explains the numbering.
On arrival, inspect the crates before signing the delivery note. Note any damage on it, take photos and tell your insurer and Datum straight away. Delivery terms are on the shipping page.
Next step
Order samples while you choose, or browse the range in the catalogue. For a written quote, email contact@datumsurfaces.com with the products, quantities, your preferred Incoterm and the named port or address.