Incoterms Guide | Cubeship

INCOTERMS GUIDE
BUYER AND SELLER RESPONSIBILITIES, EXPLAINED

All eleven Incoterms 2020 rules, set out from the lightest seller obligation to the heaviest. Each rule shows where delivery happens, where risk transfers, which side pays what, who has to insure, and the mistake that most often gets made with it.

How To Use This Guide

Every rule changes who arranges freight, who handles export and import formalities, and the point where risk shifts from seller to buyer. The two are not the same: under the C rules the seller pays the freight to destination but stops carrying risk at origin. Settle the rule, the named place, and the edition in the sales contract before you price the freight.

What To Check

Confirm the named place or port in the sales contract
Check whether the rule is sea-only or usable for any mode
Understand who controls main carriage and insurance
Confirm who is responsible for export and import formalities

No Incoterms matched your search. Try EXW, FOB, DDP, CIF, or insurance.

HOW THIS HELPS AN IMPORTER

Picking the wrong rule is not a paperwork mistake, it is a cost and liability mistake that shows up months later. These are the three places we see it bite hardest, and what we do about each.

You are quoted FOB on containers

Under FOB the seller carries risk until the box is actually on board, which means it is on risk for days at a terminal it no longer controls, and neither side tends to price that. We move these to FCA so delivery matches the real handover, and set up the contract so the on-board bill your bank wants can still be issued.

A DDP price that quietly costs more

A foreign seller quoting DDP has to act as importer of record. It can do that in the United States with a resident agent, its own bond, and a broker power of attorney, but the duty usually comes back to you with a margin on top and the seller carries compliance liability it may not be equipped for. We model the same shipment as DAP with you clearing, and you see the real gap.

CIF cover that will not answer a claim

CIF only obliges the seller to buy minimum named-perils cover, which does not respond to ordinary handling damage. We check the certificate against what you are actually shipping and place the difference before departure.

NOT SURE WHICH RULE YOU SHOULD BE BUYING ON?

Send us a purchase order or a quote and we will tell you where the cost and risk actually sit, and what the alternative rule would change. Ocean consolidation as an NVOCC, air freight, and the door-to-door legs either side.

INCOTERMS GUIDEBUYER AND SELLER RESPONSIBILITIES, EXPLAINED