CashondeliveryinEurope:carriers,currenciesandlimitsforwebshops

Cash on delivery (COD) means your customer pays for the order when the parcel arrives, at the door or at a pickup point, and the carrier pays the amount on to you. In much of Central and Eastern Europe, including Poland, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary, Romania, Croatia, Slovenia and Serbia, many shoppers still expect it as a payment option, so a webshop selling there often needs it. What you can offer depends on the carrier: each one collects COD only in certain countries, in a set currency and up to a maximum amount. This guide explains how COD works, which carriers collect it through Zippendo in each country, and what to check before you switch it on.

What is cash on delivery and how does it work for a webshop?

Cash on delivery is a service you add to a shipment: the carrier collects a set amount from the receiver before handing over the parcel, then pays it to you. Your customer chooses to pay on delivery in your webshop, you send the parcel with the COD service and the amount, and the carrier's driver or pickup point takes the payment. Despite the name, the payment is not always cash: at GLS parcel lockers the receiver pays without cash, and at DPD Hungary's Pickup service points and lockers by card.

How and when the money reaches you is set in your contract with the carrier, not by your shipping software. Some carriers pay into a bank account you register with them. DHL eCommerce Europe, for example, pays COD amounts into the bank account you add to the carrier connection in Zippendo.

COD also carries a cost. Check your carrier's price list for the COD service, and remember that a parcel the customer refuses travels back to you. Price the shipping method so that it covers both.

Where in Europe do customers still expect cash on delivery?

Customers in Central and Eastern Europe are the ones most likely to ask for it. In Poland, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary, Romania, Croatia, Slovenia and Serbia, paying on delivery is a familiar option at checkout, and shoppers buying from a webshop they have not used before often prefer it. Searchers use local words for it: pobranie in Polish, dobírka in Czech, dobierka in Slovak, utánvét in Hungarian, ramburs in Romanian and pouzeće in Croatian.

In Western Europe and the Nordics, shoppers mostly pay by card or wallet before the parcel ships, and COD is offered less widely: DPD Belgium, for example, no longer offers it. That is why the carrier networks with the deepest COD support are the ones built around Central and Eastern Europe.

Which carriers support cash on delivery through Zippendo, by country?

The lists below show where each carrier integration in Zippendo can collect COD, in which currency and up to which amount. Your own contract with the carrier must include COD, and for COD to another country it must include that too, or the carrier refuses the shipment when you send it.

Poland

• InPost: cash on delivery on InPost Locker, InPost Locker or Service Point and InPost Courier, up to 5,000 PLN within Poland. On a courier delivery, InPost insures the parcel for at least the COD amount.
• DPD Polska: COD on DPD Classic, DPD Pickup and DPD Classic International from DPD Polska, with the amount and currency set on the shipment.
• GLS Poland: GLS Poland collects COD in PLN on GLS BusinessParcel within Poland.
• DHL eCommerce Europe: COD on DHL Parcel Connect and DHL Parcel Connect ServicePoint where DHL offers it, in PLN when the receiver is in Poland.

Czech Republic

• GLS Czech Republic: GLS Czech Republic collects up to 60,000 CZK within Czechia, at the door or at a ParcelShop or locker. GLS collects whole crowns, so Zippendo rounds 1,234.50 CZK to 1,235 CZK before sending.
• From other countries: GLS in Hungary, Slovakia, Croatia, Slovenia and Romania, and DPD Hungary, collect COD at Czech addresses in CZK.
• DHL eCommerce Europe: COD in CZK where DHL offers it.

Slovakia

• GLS Slovakia: GLS Slovakia collects up to 2,655.51 EUR within Slovakia, at the door or at a GLS point.
• From other countries: GLS from Czechia, Hungary, Croatia, Slovenia and Romania, and DPD Hungary, collect COD at Slovak addresses in EUR.

Hungary

• GLS Hungary: GLS Hungary collects up to 500,000 HUF in cash within Hungary. GLS collects forints in steps of 5, so 1,003 HUF goes to GLS as 1,005 HUF.
• DPD Hungary: DPD Hungary collects COD on DPD Classic, DPD Home and DPD Pickup, in HUF within Hungary. At a DPD Pickup service point or locker the receiver pays by card, and on a shipment with several parcels DPD collects the amount once.

Romania

• GLS Romania: GLS Romania collects up to 7,000 RON within Romania, at the door, at a ParcelShop or at a locker, where the receiver pays without cash. GLS's limit for a company receiver is 5,000 RON.
• DPD Hungary and GLS from abroad: DPD Hungary and the GLS networks in neighbouring countries collect COD in Romania in RON.

Croatia and Slovenia

• GLS Croatia: GLS Croatia collects up to 1,659.04 EUR within Croatia. At a GLS Paketomat the receiver cannot pay in cash.
• GLS Slovenia: GLS Slovenia collects up to 2,000 EUR per parcel within Slovenia, and the same limit applies to Croatia and Slovakia.
• DPD Hungary: collects COD in Croatia and Slovenia in EUR.

Serbia

• GLS Serbia: GLS Serbia collects up to 200,000 RSD on shipments within Serbia. It ships from and to Serbian addresses only, and every shipment carries your company's PIB.

Germany, Austria and Ireland

• GLS Germany and GLS Austria: GLS Germany and GLS Austria collect up to 2,500 EUR on GLS BusinessParcel and GLS ExpressParcel within the country, and on GLS EuroBusinessParcel between Germany and Austria.
• GLS Ireland: collects up to 1,000 EUR on GLS BusinessParcel and up to 2,500 EUR on GLS ExpressParcel.

Norway and beyond

• PostNord: PostNord offers COD on MyPack Collect, to a service point, with a Norwegian agreement.
• DHL Express: DHL Express has a Cash on delivery service, with the amount and currency set on the shipment, where DHL offers it.
• Freight and express: DSV Road (DB Schenker) offers COD on every product, DSV XPress on Air Express, Economy and Parcels, and DSV Road in the countries where DSV offers it.

Some carriers do not offer COD in Zippendo, among them DPD Belgium and DPD Latvia. Your shipping rules can send COD orders with a carrier that collects it and everything else with the carrier you prefer.

How do you set up cash on delivery in Zippendo?

You add cash on delivery as a service on the shipment or in a shipping rule, and enter the COD amount on the shipment. For GLS, Zippendo checks the amount against the carrier's limit and the destination before the shipment reaches GLS, so a parcel GLS would refuse is stopped with a clear reason.

1. Confirm COD on your contract. Ask your carrier to switch on COD, including COD to other countries if you sell abroad, and to tell you how and when it pays the amounts to you.
2. Connect the carrier. Add your own agreement in Zippendo. For DHL eCommerce Europe, also add the bank account DHL pays COD amounts into.
3. Create a shipping rule for COD orders. Use a carrier product that supports COD to the destination, add the cash on delivery service, and match the rule to the shipping method or orders it should handle.
4. Enter the amount on each shipment. Set the COD amount, usually the order total including shipping. GLS through MyGLS and DPD Hungary pick the destination's currency for you.
5. Send and track. The carrier collects the payment on delivery, and the shipment's tracking shows every step in one timeline.

What should you watch out for when offering COD?

The most common problems are a wrong currency, an amount above the carrier's limit, a parcel the customer refuses, and a payment method the pickup point does not accept. A few habits avoid most of them.

• Use the destination's currency. Carriers collect COD in the receiver's local currency: CZK in the Czech Republic, HUF in Hungary, RON in Romania, PLN in Poland and EUR in Slovakia, Croatia and Slovenia. Price your shop in that currency too, so the amount on the parcel matches what the customer saw.
• Know the limits. Check the maximum per parcel for each carrier and country, and send high-value orders with prepayment or a carrier with a higher limit.
• Keep COD shipments to one parcel where the carrier needs it. GLS Germany, Austria and Ireland take COD only on a shipment with one parcel, so split larger orders first.
• Tell customers how they can pay. At GLS parcel lockers the receiver cannot pay in cash, and at DPD Hungary's Pickup points the receiver pays by card, so say so in your checkout and confirmation email.
• Collect a phone number. Drivers and pickup points use it to reach your customer, which matters when the customer has to have the money ready.
• Follow refused parcels. When a carrier sends a parcel back to you, Zippendo's tracking timeline shows it as Returned. An automation started from a tracking update can post a message in Slack, so your team can cancel or refund the order.
• Set COD rules per country. Your shipping rules can offer COD only in the countries where your customers expect it, and send every other order with your usual carrier and product.

Offer cash on delivery where your customers expect it

Connect the carriers you already have agreements with, add cash on delivery to the shipping rules for the countries that want it, and ship your first COD parcel today. See pricing to start free, or browse all integrations for every carrier, plus Shopify and WooCommerce.