Should my online shop offer cash on delivery or card payments?
If your Instagram buyers already pay the courier, you can offer that familiar option at checkout once you have a collection agreement with your courier. If people often ask to pay by card, ask your bank or payment provider what it needs to activate your account. The checkout should offer payment methods you can actually fulfil.
One 1,350 MKD order, two ways to collect it
Suppose the item costs 1,200 MKD and delivery adds 150 MKD. These are example amounts. The buyer sees the same total either way, but the person packing the order needs different instructions.
| Check | Cash on delivery | Paid by card |
|---|---|---|
| What does the buyer see? | 1,350 MKD due on delivery. | 1,350 MKD paid. |
| What should the courier collect? | 1,350 MKD for this order. | 0 MKD if the whole total was paid online. |
| What do you reconcile? | The courier collection report and its payout. | The successful transaction and the provider’s payout. |
What should I check before the first shipment?
Ask the courier about its collection fee, payout schedule and the charge for a refused parcel. For cards, ask the provider about fees, settlement and refunds. Record the order number beside the parcel or transaction reference. That gives you a way to match an incoming payout to the sale that generated it.
Before sending a prepaid order, open the transaction in your provider account and check its amount and status. If payment is still pending, wait for confirmation before booking a zero-collection parcel. A customer who already paid should be able to take the package at the door without paying a second time.
Follow one order from confirmation to payout
Your buyer chooses cash on delivery on Monday. You have an order to prepare, but the money is still with the buyer. On Tuesday you hand over a box labelled with a collection amount. On Wednesday the courier reports delivery. If your agreement settles on Friday, that is when there is a transfer to match to the order. Record the order number, parcel reference and expected collection while the box is still on your bench.
With a card payment, the buyer can close the bank window before returning to your confirmation page. If they message to say they paid, ask for the order reference and check the transaction inside the provider account. Compare both currency and amount. A message or screenshot alone will not tell you whether a transaction succeeded, is pending or has already been reversed.
Where did the missing 40 MKD go?
In the 1,350 MKD example, suppose the courier transfers 1,310 MKD and its statement shows a 40 MKD collection fee. The buyer paid in full. Record the 1,350 MKD collection, the 40 MKD fee and the 1,310 MKD received. Recording only 1,310 MKD as the order value leaves you with a sale that no longer agrees with the customer receipt. The 40 MKD fee is illustrative. Use the figures from your own agreement and statement.
If a transfer covers ten parcels, match the parcel references before closing ten orders. One may be from yesterday, one may have come back with an address problem, and another may settle in the next period. Total only the entries on the actual statement. Use the same approach for a batched card payout, matching the transaction references supplied by the provider.
Which method should I introduce first?
Review your last twenty confirmed orders. How many buyers asked for a card, how many chose collection at the door, and how much time did you spend checking payments? Record refused or uncollected parcels separately with their actual costs. A second method may be valuable because buyers can finish paying after you close. At low volumes, compare that benefit with the provider’s monthly costs and the work involved in matching payouts.
Write one packing instruction for each method. On the first put “Check the amount the courier must collect.” On the second put “Verify successful payment and check the label shows nothing due.” If following both instructions produces the same amount due at the door, you know exactly what to fix before the first shipment. Assign one person to review unsuccessful payments so the buyer gets a single, consistent answer.
A customer tried twice. Which payment should I look for?
Suppose the first attempt at 1,350 MKD was interrupted and the second succeeded. Before creating a new order in response to the buyer’s message, locate both attempts and compare their references, amounts and statuses inside the provider account. With one successful payment, issue one confirmation for one parcel. A buyer may see a temporary authorisation, and their account display and your list of captured orders can update at different times.
If you see two successful collections, hold the second shipment and use the provider’s procedure for investigating and refunding the duplicate. Give the buyer the order reference and the next step. The transaction references are enough to investigate the payment. The buyer need not send a card photo or type card details into an Instagram message.