Incoterms
When you buy something from e.g. Alibaba, handling of goods are covered by international trade regulations. For the transport and delivery of goods from seller to buyer, these are called Incoterms, and are a set of defined and published terms by the International Chamber of Commerce and can help you when there are potential disputes. Alibaba sellers tend to stick to them, since they are clearly defined and used (and encouraged) all over the world.
Why do you need to know this? Because depending on which incoterm is used to send you your goods, you will or will not be liable for taxes, duties, import paperwork, risks and formalities.
The TL;DR
The most important thing to know is that if you don't want to face any additional import costs, taxes, etc. you want to make sure the seller can ship them to you under
DDP (Delivered Duty Paid). If you see any other incoterm in your shipping section, make sure you know what you're getting yourself into. These aspects can be very complex, time consuming and expensive for someone not familiar with what's involved in getting goods from one side of the world to another.
A complete list of Incoterms with their description in readable English can be found here:
http://www.logistiikanmaailma.fi/en/contracts/terms-of-delivery/incoterms-2020/
Note: DAP is the new DDU.
Additional information and details can be found on the Wikipedia page:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Incoterms
