Cash on delivery moves the payment to the doorstep, and with it the risk. The customer pays when the parcel arrives, the carrier holds the money for a while, and the shop ships goods it has not been paid for yet.
The flow, step by step
The order is placed with cash on delivery selected. When the label is bought, the amount to collect is declared to the carrier and printed on the label along with the collection method. The courier collects at delivery, in cash or by card depending on the carrier, and the parcel is handed over. The carrier then remits the collected amount to the shop, net of its fee, on its own schedule.
| Step | Who acts | What can go wrong |
|---|---|---|
| Declare the amount | Shop, at label purchase | Wrong figure cannot be corrected later |
| Collect at the door | Courier | Customer refuses or is absent |
| Remit to the shop | Carrier, 7 to 20 days | Cash flow gap in the meantime |
| Reconcile | Shop | Matching a batched payout to orders |
Remittance times and costs
Remittance typically lands between 7 and 20 days after delivery, and it usually arrives batched: one payment covering many parcels. The surcharge runs around 3 to 6 euros per parcel, sometimes with a percentage on higher order values. Both facts belong in the price of the service you offer, because a 4 euro fee on a 35 euro order is more than 10% of the sale.
When it still makes sense
Cash on delivery costs more and pays later, so it is worth offering where it converts customers who will not pay in advance. Refusal rates are the number to watch: a refused parcel means the outbound cost, the return cost, and a garment back in stock weeks later, possibly in a season that has moved on. Watching that rate per campaign or per channel tells you whether the option is earning its cost.
How Agilo handles it
Agilo buys shipping labels through connected brokers and sends the amount to collect with the shipment request, so the figure printed on the label is the order value on record rather than one retyped into a carrier portal. Order and shipment stay linked, with tracking and status against the order, which is the record you need when a carrier remittance arrives batched and has to be matched back to the parcels it paid for.