COD fee
A separate per-order line on top of the standard delivery rate, the COD fee covers the cash handling at the door, the daily reconciliation at our cashier in Ras Al Khor, the cash-in-transit insurance, and the bank payout to your account. You can see the running COD balance in real time in your SamVertex account between payouts.
Why COD costs more than prepaid
Section titled “Why COD costs more than prepaid”A prepaid order is dispatched, delivered, and proven; the money has already moved. A COD order adds three operational steps that prepaid does not need: the driver collects physical cash, our cashier reconciles every collected order against every delivered order at end of shift, and we move the net into your bank account on the payout cycle. There is also a settlement risk we underwrite: if a buyer pays with counterfeit notes or a driver miscounts, that is on us until reconciled. The COD fee covers all of that as one flat per-order line.
How the COD fee is structured
Section titled “How the COD fee is structured”The COD fee is a percent of the collected order value with a per-order minimum, so the fee scales sensibly across the full AOV range.
Standard rate
Section titled “Standard rate”2.5% of order value, with a minimum of AED 5 per order. Applied per delivered COD order. Refused-at-door COD orders do not incur this fee, only the delivery rate and the returns fee.
Maximum COD per order
Section titled “Maximum COD per order”The standard ceiling per COD order: AED 5000 per order. Higher amounts need pre-approval and a buyer ID check at the door. Category-specific lower ceilings apply on jewellery, gold, and premium electronics tied to cash-in-transit insurance.
Payout timing
Section titled “Payout timing”Payouts run on a predictable schedule, typically weekly, with the previous full reconciliation window paid into your registered AED bank account. Your payout cycle is set during onboarding so the first payout date is on your account from day one. Confirm the current cycle on your quote or via request a quote. Operational mechanics in COD reconciliation.
Real-time COD balance
Section titled “Real-time COD balance”Your SamVertex account shows the real-time COD balance between payouts, updated as drivers close their shifts and reconciliation completes. Each cycle ships with a downloadable per-payout-cycle statement (CSV and PDF) that reconciles to the per-order detail in your COD reports.
What if a customer refuses to pay
Section titled “What if a customer refuses to pay”Refusal at the door means the parcel returns to us; the COD fee is not billed on a refused order, but the standard delivery rate and the returns fee still apply. Full handling logic and the operational flow are in the COD FAQ.