Get Paid on Delivery: How USPS COD Works

Last updated 7 days ago. Our resources are updated regularly but please keep in mind that links, programs, policies, and contact information do change.

With collect on delivery (COD), a seller can mail a package before being paid and have the United States Postal Service (USPS) collect its price from the recipient. USPS releases the mail only after payment. The most it will collect is $1,000.00 for each article. The COD fee comes on top of postage, starts at $13.75 and climbs with the amount collected or insured, whichever is higher.

Neither side is fully protected. The buyer cannot examine the contents before paying. The seller may be paid by personal check, and if that check bounces, the bank can take the money back.

What the postal payment covers

Under USPS’s Domestic Mail Manual, COD lets a sender collect an unpaid article’s price and the cost of postage from the recipient or an agent, up to $1,000.00 per article. The amount collected may include fees as well as postage. Keep the entire requested collection within the $1,000.00 ceiling, including any mailing charges you want the buyer to reimburse.

The sender receives a mailing receipt, and USPS keeps a delivery record that includes the recipient’s signature. USPS cannot intervene in disputes between a COD sender and recipient after it has returned payment to the sender. A disagreement over the purchase itself is between buyer and seller.

Check the shipment before arranging COD

The recipient must have ordered the goods. Confirm the order and the amount expected at delivery before paying to ship.

Eligible mail includes Priority Mail Express, Priority Mail, First-Class Mail, USPS Ground Advantage, Parcel Select, Bound Printed Matter, Library Mail and Media Mail. COD is unavailable for Priority Mail Express items containing cremated remains.

COD is unavailable for international shipments and military or diplomatic postal destinations. It also cannot be used for articles sent from a military or diplomatic postal address. USPS allows COD to U.S. territories and possessions, but excludes the Marshall Islands and the Federated States of Micronesia.

Bills and account statements cannot be mailed alone using COD, even with the recipient’s consent. A legitimate merchandise shipment can also collect the balance due on a past or expected transaction if the recipient agrees in advance. If that package is lost or damaged, USPS pays no more than the value of the article, not the full amount to be collected.

COD also cannot be used to send merchandise back because of dissatisfaction unless the person receiving the return agrees in advance.

Set the amount, insurance and fee

The COD service fee is charged in addition to postage. Ordinary COD includes insurance up to $1,000, based on the amount to be collected or the insurance coverage desired, whichever is higher. The amount collected and the amount insured serve different purposes: one is payment from the buyer, and the other is protection for the mailed item. When the desired insurance exceeds the collection amount, the sender must show that insurance amount.

The USPS Price List, Notice 123, effective October 4, 2026, gives the following COD fees. The fee tier uses the larger of the collection amount or the insurance coverage desired.

Registered Mail COD is a separate combination available for sealed domestic mail bearing First-Class Mail or Priority Mail postage. Registered Mail is USPS’s most secure mailing service; its registry fee depends on the item’s declared value. Its collection limit remains $1,000.00, while insurance can reach the Registered Mail limit of $50,000.00 by paying the registry fee for the declared value. The total charge includes the registry fee plus the Registered Mail COD fee.

Prepare the form and keep the receipt

Depending on the mail class, COD is purchased at a Post Office or through a rural carrier, and the mailing must be presented to a postal employee. The standard paperwork is PS Form 3816, which requires the article number, domestic names and addresses of sender and recipient, the amount due to the sender and the fee for the money order needed to send that payment. Check the entries against the agreement with the buyer before handing over the package. USPS is not responsible for the sender’s errors in stating the charges to collect.

The entries must be handwritten, typed or computer generated in ink, and the sender cannot stipulate a specific payment method on the COD form or label. Do not write a cash-only instruction on the form to override the recipient’s payment choices.

Securely attach the completed form above the delivery address and to the right of the return address, or to the left of the delivery address on a parcel. An accessible clear envelope or pouch may hold the form instead. When COD is combined with Priority Mail Express or Registered Mail, both the service label and COD form must go on the front of the article.

For COD Hold For Pickup, in which the item waits at a Post Office to be picked up, a USPS-authorized shipping label can replace the form when the required additional data is supplied electronically. If the form or authorized label lacks detachable receipt copies, the sender may submit PS Form 3877 in duplicate and gets one postmarked copy back as the mailing receipt. Save the mailing receipt with the sale and value records, because those documents matter if a claim becomes necessary.

What the recipient pays at delivery

For carrier-delivered COD, the recipient pays with a single method: cash, a personal check or a money order made payable to the sender. The recipient must present an acceptable primary ID with a clear photo.

COD cannot be paid with a credit card. USPS’s accounting handbook allows PIN-based debit payments for COD at postal retail units; the payment system determines which cards it accepts. Plan to pay with cash, a personal check or a money order, and ask the delivery Post Office before counting on a debit card.

When payment is in cash, USPS collects a money-order fee from the recipient on top of the COD amount, unless the sender is authorized to be paid by electronic funds transfer. That charge is separate from the sender’s COD service fee.

For cash paid at a postal retail unit, the retail associate immediately issues a money order payable to the sender for the COD amount. USPS forwards a check or money order to the sender.

If a deposited check is returned unpaid for insufficient funds, the bank can reverse the credit and the payee must pursue the check’s maker for reimbursement, according to the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency. Collecting a personal check therefore does not eliminate the seller’s risk of a bounced payment.

Refusal, returns and stopping a shipment

A recipient may refuse the package when USPS offers delivery. After delivery, COD mail cannot be marked refused and returned postage-free.

When a COD item cannot be delivered, USPS leaves a notice and returns an unclaimed item after 10 days if pickup or redelivery is not requested, unless the sender specifies fewer days. Priority Mail Express has a five-day return period.

For Hold For Pickup, USPS makes a second notification attempt after five days and returns the item if it is not picked up within 15 days. For Priority Mail Express Hold For Pickup, those periods are three days for another notification and five days for return.

The sender guarantees any return postage unless otherwise specified on the form. The COD service fee is not refundable after USPS accepts the article, even if it is later withdrawn from the mail. A refused delivery can therefore leave mailing costs with the sender even though the sale did not finish.

For eligible domestic mail with a tracking or extra-services barcode, a retail sender can use Package Intercept, a USPS service that redirects a shipment to the sender or to a Post Office as Hold For Pickup. The request can be made only online with a USPS.com account. COD Hold For Pickup mailpieces are excluded from Package Intercept.

Missing payments, lost mail and claims

USPS treats a COD payment that is due but never reaches the sender as a payable claim, subject to COD service limits and the coverage purchased. A sender who has waited more than 60 days for payment on a domestic mailing may report the delay to the Postal Inspection Service, providing the necessary details. That threshold is not a promised payment date.

The sender or recipient may file an insurance claim for mail that is lost, damaged or missing contents. The filer must have the original mailing receipt and provide proof of insurance, value and damage. The mailing receipt goes to the sender, so a recipient who wants to file needs to get it from the sender.

A claim for lost COD mail, including Priority Mail Express COD and Registered COD, must be filed no sooner than 15 days and no later than 60 days after the mailing date. For damage or missing contents, a claim can be filed immediately but no later than 60 days after mailing.

Keep the original packaging and all contents until the claim is settled, including undamaged items, and be prepared to take the entire package to a Post Office for inspection.

An online claim requires a USPS.com account. If online filing is unavailable, request a paper Domestic Claim Form from USPS National Materials Customer Service at 1-800-332-0317 and mail it with proof of value and insurance to the address on the form.

A partial payment or denial can be appealed within 30 days of receiving the decision, using the same method as the original claim and addressing the reasons for denial. A second appeal is available within 30 days of receiving the first appeal’s denial.