The delivery term is not a formality but a sales argument. We explain the difference between the three main terms through the buyer's eyes.
EXW means the buyer comes to collect the goods at your factory gate and arranges everything themselves. CIF means you take the goods to the US port, and the buyer handles customs and onward transport. DDP means the goods arrive at the buyer's warehouse and all costs are borne by you and included in your price.
The small European producer offers EXW out of habit, because it is easiest for them. The mid-sized US buyer, however, often prefers the opposite: they do not want to start arranging transport from Europe.
When a buyer gets two offers, one stating an ex-works price in Estonia and the other the final price at their warehouse in Ohio, the second offer is comparable in seconds. The first requires work. Work means friction, and friction means lost deals.
DDP demands more from you: a transport partner, a customs broker, insurance, currency risk. But it makes you a full-fledged supplier who is easy to do business with. Often that is the decisive difference.
In the launch package we build you a pricing model in all three logics, with actual transport prices and customs rates. That way, for each buyer you can choose the term that maximises the probability of a deal, without losing margin.
The first consultation is free: together we'll see who in the US already buys your product and how to reach them.