Whenever you ship something to your customers, you're usually going to ask them to pay for their order before it ever leaves your warehouse. However, there is an alternative to this method of selling to your clients, and this is called C.O.D. Shipping. The catch to this is that you're going to need to find a Philadelphia courier service that is going to be willing to offer this shipping option, because you're going to need their help to make it happen.
The reason that you're going to need the help of a courier is because C.O.D. stands for collect on delivery. This means that your client doesn't pay in advance for their products, but will instead pay for it to the person that delivers the product to them. That is going to be the courier that you hire that offers. C.O.D. Service.
Some people erroneously think that C.O.D. stands for cash on delivery, but this is not the case. In fact, cash is one of the payment methods that are generally not accepted when people go to make a payment to a courier for a C.O.D. Shipment. Instead, what is accepted is a form of payment that is the same as cash. This would include
something like a certified check, or a money order. Some couriers are even set up to accept credit card payments at the point of delivery, but this is an added service that you would have to inquire about.
There is a certain amount of risk that you have to take into account if you're going to try and ship on a C.O.D. Basis. The reason for this is because any customer has the right, legally, to refuse anything that is delivered to them C.O.D. That means that if your customer changes their mind about their shipment before it reaches them, you're going to be stuck with the cost of shipping, and return shipping as well.
You'll have to have an account with credit with a courier company before they'll even entertain the idea of shipping on a C.O.D. Basis with them. This is exactly because of the reason that if your customer refuses the shipment, they need to know that the shipment is going to be covered one way or another.
The good thing about shipping C.O.D. is that it can help build trust with your customers. If you're a new company, this is a valuable startup strategy to help you build a client base.