Anyone is welcome to Sell through the post office - CODs

The post office offers a service where entrepreneurs, SMEs and big companies can sell to customers anywhere there is a postal outlet in Africa. This excellent service is called 'Cash on Delivery' (COD) and it is one of the traditional mail services from the post office. The model works exactly as the phrase suggest, 'you pay cash when you get the item delivered to you'. You pay for the item, that is, the purchase price and the shipment service as well. If you any reason the sender wants to pay for shipment, the price of the item should be adjusted to cater only for the unit bought.

The seller receives an order from a customer from wherever his marketing initiatives reached and got a lead, let the buyer agree to pay for the item upon receipt and then the item is sent. The buyer would give delivery address, which is normally his or her nearest post office. Those postal administrations that provide door-to-door delivery are always ready to offer the service even with COD parcels, as long as the item has been fully paid for. Items should comply to the post office rule, that is, items should fall within the acceptable volume and non prohibited items. 

The sender should then package the item and send it through the post office. Normally, the post office will use normal mail delivery service to get the item to the recipient. At the receiving end, a notice slip is sent to the post box and the recipient should present himself / herself in person. The owner should prove with the help of an ID that he is the rightful owner and should pay for the item. 

The post office is really unhappy when customers disown COD parcels. However, if for any reason the recipient is not happy with the item, they are free to reject it. The post office then sends it back to origin and yes somebody must pay for this. 

These items are allocated bar codes at the sending / origin office. This means that once posted, they can be traceable until they reach the delivery / destination office.

The Message

If you have anything to sell that can be posted through the post office, should you be an entrepreneur, SMEs or a big company, you are welcome to use this service. This service is good and even more relevant in today's world of e-commerce.

If you are a buyer but have no means of collecting your item, simply inform the seller that such a service exists in the post office. If you are in Swaziland, you can call 00268 3405 2000 to talk to a manager that will engage your chosen shop to assure them of the COD delivery service.

Note: This post will be updated continuously as more information is gathered about this service

How to track a postal item

Postal items allocated with bar codes will be traceable. This you will know at the time you post your item. You may as well inquire about this service at the time of posting.

Most postal administrations are empowered to track items internally, and a few have an extended web based facility that the customer can use at will. Postal administrations that track internally will do so if you provide the correct particulars of your item, whether over the phone or when you present yourself in person at the post office.

Postal administrations that provide self service tracking normally provide it through their corporate website(s). You normally don't have to be a registered user, as long as you have the bar code of your item ready.

This you must know? Even if the postal administration of origin, where you sent the letter from, does not have the external tracking service, the destination office may have. In such a case, use the same bar code to track through the destination post office website. This is because the post office is a global network. When they receive the item at their end, they will use the same bar code to capture it into their system. Most European, American, Asian and some African countries provide the self service track and trace facility. I suggest that you try the destination country website before you make a call to the origin office.

I have help many customers through track and trace services of the America post office, the Royal Mail and the South African Post Office in the past. It simple works and all the customer needs is an update. Sometimes the system would inform me that the item was delivered but no one collected it. It would the inform me if the item has been returned to the sender or not.

Don't stress but use the post office with knowledge. 

Thank you for reading.