EXW vs. FOB vs. DDP

EXW, FOB, and DDP are Incoterms, standardized international trade terms that define exactly where the seller's responsibility ends and the buyer's begins. When a manufacturer quotes you a price, that price means very different things depending on which term is attached, so two quotes can only be compared once you know their terms.

EXW (Ex Works) means the price covers the games sitting at the factory door and nothing more. You (through your forwarder) pay for trucking to the port, export clearance, ocean freight, import clearance, duties, and final delivery. EXW quotes look cheapest but push every cost and risk onto you, including Chinese export paperwork that is genuinely awkward for a foreign buyer to handle. Most experienced publishers avoid pure EXW for China shipments.

FOB (Free On Board) means the manufacturer pays to get the goods onto the vessel at a named Chinese port, typically FOB Shenzhen or FOB Shanghai. Export clearance and origin charges are the factory's problem. You take over from the moment the container is loaded: ocean freight, insurance, import customs, duties, and destination trucking. FOB is the standard arrangement for board game manufacturing and the one most forwarders expect.

DDP (Delivered Duty Paid) means the seller delivers to your named destination with all freight and duties already paid. Some manufacturers and forwarders offer DDP as a convenience, and it can make sense for small or first-time runs because you get one predictable number. The tradeoff is markup and less visibility, since you cannot see how much of the price is freight versus duty versus margin. Whatever term you use, get it in writing on both the manufacturing quote and the freight quote so nothing falls into the gap between them.