DPD Ireland tracking status
DPD Ireland “Parcel going through Customs process”: what it means
The short answer
Keep an eye on itDPD is handling customs for your parcel, and you may owe VAT and duty before it delivers. If you get a request, an unpaid charge sends the parcel back after 5 working days. DPD says its requests always name who sent your goods.
When to act: If a charge looks wrong or you already paid it at checkout, or this line has not moved after 3 working days with no request, file a complaint and we send it to DPD Ireland.
Also shown as: “Notification sent re. payment duty/taxes” · “Reminder sent re. payment/authorisation” · “Payment of Customs Charges before delivery required”
What to do now
- 1
Look through your email and texts, including spam, for a customs request. DPD says it comes from a DPD Ireland email address, with its branding and the name of the company sending your goods. Compare that name with your order.
- 2
Open DPD's tracking page yourself and enter your tracking number, instead of using a link in a text, and check it matches your parcel.
- 3
Compare the amount with your order: what you paid at checkout, the value of the goods and the number of item lines.
- 4
If the charge is right, pay it soon, as DPD lists 5 working days before an unpaid parcel goes back to the sender.
- 5
Keep the request, your order confirmation and a screenshot of the tracking.
- 6
Still not sorted? File your complaint here. We write it with you and send it to DPD Ireland, so you do not have to chase it yourself.
What does “Parcel going through Customs process” mean?
DPD does not define this line, and the full histories that show it are older, so today's wording may differ. In one from Britain, 'Parcel going through Customs process' came a day after the order data and the parcel was delivered two days later with nothing to pay, so the line alone does not mean a charge. That parcel had not reached an Irish depot when the line appeared. Where a charge is due, one older history shows 'Notification sent re. payment duty/taxes' and then daily 'Reminder sent re. payment/authorisation' lines, mixed with 'Your parcel is travelling through the DPD network'.
Parcels from outside the EU, including Great Britain, can owe VAT and customs duty if the seller did not collect them at checkout. DPD then declares the goods for you and collects the charges, which must be paid before the parcel is released into its network. DPD's guide gives VAT at 23% whatever the value and a fixed €3 duty per item line on goods in consignments up to €150 sold online to consumers, and says a separate EU handling fee of about €2 is expected. DPD does not merge lines, so a seller who lists identical products separately adds a €3 charge for each. The guide names no fee of DPD's own, but an older press report and a shared thread put a DPD brokerage fee at €5, so check your request for the amount. DPD says its requests always come from a DPD Ireland email address, with its branding and the name of the sender of the goods. It also sends texts, and one person reports customs texts they took as fake on the day of four deliveries in a row. Parcels from Northern Ireland do not go through customs clearance with DPD and no duty is payable. DPD lists three reasons a parcel goes back: charges not paid within 5 working days, missing customs data, and goods that cannot be imported.
Why does DPD Ireland show it?
- The parcel came from outside the EU, including Great Britain, and needs customs declarations
- The seller did not collect VAT and duty at checkout
- The fixed €3 customs duty per item line on goods up to €150
- The seller listed identical products on separate lines, each with its own €3
- VAT, which DPD's guide puts at 23% whatever the value
- Missing or poor customs data from the seller, which can send the parcel back
How long does it last?
In older histories the line is followed by 'Your parcel is travelling through the DPD network', then a depot line such as 'DPD IE UK Inbound', then a van line. DPD gives no time for this step. Where a charge is due, the parcel is released into its network once you pay. DPD says a parcel with charges unpaid for 5 working days goes back to the sender, and it does not say when the count starts.
Other DPD Ireland statuses
- Your parcel is travelling through the DPD networkNormal
- Order received / DPD awaiting parcelNormal
- Non-ConveyableKeep an eye on it
- Your parcel is held at the DPD depotTake action
- We tried to deliver but we couldn't locate youTake action
- Delivered but not receivedTake action
Who is responsible for a late or missing parcel from DPD Ireland?
When you buy online from a business, the parcel is normally the seller's responsibility until you have it. Under Irish consumer law (the Consumer Rights Act, section 35), goods stay at the seller's risk until you, or someone you nominated, have them in your physical possession, unless you booked the carrier yourself and the seller did not propose it. Section 36 says the seller must deliver without undue delay, and by 30 days after the contract at the latest, unless you agreed something else. DPD's contract is with the sender, and its terms make the sender answer for claims about delivery from the person receiving the parcel. Customs charges are different: DPD collects them from you before delivery unless the seller took them at checkout.
If you sent the parcel yourself and booked with DPD Ireland directly, your contract is with DPD Ireland, under its Terms and Conditions of Carriage. For a parcel within the Republic, its liability is limited to the lower of the replacement value of the goods or €15 per kilogram, up to €1,500 per consignment, unless you paid for additional cover, and it excludes loss of income and other indirect loss. For a parcel that never arrives, the terms say DPD is not liable unless it is told in writing within seven days of the anticipated delivery date, with a claim form within 21 days. If you booked on the parcel booking site that Parcel2Go runs under DPD's name, that site's terms say your contract is with Parcel2Go and not with DPD Ireland, so its conditions apply instead.
Questions about “Parcel going through Customs process”
What does 'Parcel going through Customs process' mean on DPD?
DPD does not define it. In one older history it appears on a parcel from Britain before it reached an Irish depot. On its own it does not mean you owe anything: that parcel came two days later with no charge.
How long do I have to pay DPD customs charges?
DPD lists 5 working days. If the charges are not paid in that time, the parcel goes back to the sender. It does not say when the count starts, so pay soon after the first request.
Is a DPD customs text or email real?
It can be. DPD says it asks by text, email or both, and that requests always come from a DPD Ireland email address and name the sender of your goods. It says it never asks for payment for a redelivery by text or email. Check the tracking number on DPD's tracking page yourself.
Why do I have to pay customs when I already paid for the order?
The price you paid does not include VAT and duty unless the seller says so at checkout. DPD says the charges are worked out from the commodity code, the value of the item and the cost of transport.
Do I get the customs charge back if I send the item back?
Not for a change of mind. DPD says the €3 duty and related VAT cannot be refunded then. Refunds are limited to goods shown to be faulty and actually returned to the sender.
Based on
- DPD Ireland: Customs Update for Consumers (charges, 5 working days, refunds)
- DPD Ireland: Fraudulent Communications (VAT and duty requests)
- boards.ie: history with 'Parcel going through Customs process', no charge
- boards.ie: history with the payment notification and reminder lines
- boards.ie: wording of a DPD customs reminder text
- boards.ie: Samsung S24 thread, tracking reading as going through customs process
- boards.ie: Amazon thread, tracking reading as going through customs process
- Irish Examiner: DPD on when it asks for payment
- Irish Times: Parcel from UK lands reader with confusing bill (older report of the €5 brokerage fee)
- r/ireland: DPD brokerage fee thread
- r/Dublin: customs texts on the day of a DPD delivery
- Irish Statute Book: Consumer Rights Act, section 35 (passing of risk)
- Irish Statute Book: Consumer Rights Act, section 36 (delivery of goods, 30 days)
- DPD Ireland: Terms and Conditions of Carriage, Republic of Ireland, National section (Conditions 1, 16, 17 and 18, PDF)
- Parcel2Go: conditions of the DPD booking site (the contract is with Parcel2Go)
- DPD Ireland: Customs Update for Consumers (who pays VAT and duty)