Nova Poshta cash on delivery: how to reduce uncollected parcels and returns

Cash on delivery (in Ukraine “nakladenyi platizh”, or simply “nalozhka” among sellers) is a payment method where the buyer pays for the goods not when ordering but at the Nova Poshta branch or parcel locker when collecting the parcel. The money is transferred to the shop via NovaPay, and a fee is charged for the transfer. Exact tariffs change, so check the current terms in your Nova Poshta account. A short definition is in the glossary.

For the buyer, a COD parcel means trust: they see the goods before paying and do not risk prepaying an unfamiliar shop. For the shop it means higher order conversion, but also a risk: if the buyer does not collect the parcel, the shop gets no money but pays for shipping, and often for the return.

Payment control

Payment control is a Nova Poshta service for businesses: the buyer still pays on receipt, but the money goes to the account of your sole proprietorship (FOP) or company. Terms and fees depend on your contract with Nova Poshta. More in the article Nova Poshta payment control.

For the pickup rate there is no difference: with both cash on delivery and payment control the buyer decides whether to pay at the branch. That is why Rampo counts both methods together as pay-on-receipt parcels.

Under Nova Poshta’s official terms, free storage at a branch is 5 days, not counting the delivery day (3 days for pallets). After that storage becomes paid. If the recipient refuses the parcel, it is automatically returned to the sender.

What this means for a COD shop:

• the buyer has about a week to collect the order, and in that time they may simply forget about it;
• an uncollected parcel goes back, and the goods spend 2–3 weeks travelling instead of being sold;
• whether the sender pays for a Nova Poshta parcel return depends on your contract and NP tariffs. In 2024 the media reported that the return fee had been cancelled, but the official service page says returns are charged “according to standard tariffs”. Check your terms in the business account: the shipment export has a “Return cost, UAH” column.

Either way, you have already paid for outbound shipping, plus packaging and warehouse work. So even with a free return, every refusal costs money. More in the articles Nova Poshta paid storage and the cost of a parcel return.

Official service description: Nova Poshta — Automatic return.

Nova Poshta returns statuses as codes via the API and as text in the business account export. Three groups matter for the pickup rate. This is how Rampo classifies them:

Group	API codes	Example texts in the account (Ukrainian)
Waiting at branch / parcel locker	7, 8	“Prybuv u viddilennia” (arrived at branch)
Picked up	9, 10, 11, 106	“Otrymano” (received)
Not picked up	102, 103, 105, 108 + return to sender	“Vidmova vid otrymannia” (refused), “Povernennia: vidpravleno” (return sent)
Undetermined	all others	“In transit to recipient city”, “Address changed”

An important rule: parcels with an “undetermined” status are never counted as a loss. A parcel still in transit is not a refusal. That is why the audit only counts shipments sent 20–60 days ago, whose outcome is already known.

A detailed breakdown of all statuses is in the article Nova Poshta statuses. We check the codes against Nova Poshta’s official reference and real exports.

Typically 8–20% of COD parcels are never collected. The reasons sellers name most often:

1. Forgot. The arrival notice got lost among others, and after 5 days the parcel is already on its way back.
2. Bought elsewhere. While the parcel was travelling, the buyer found it cheaper or closer.
3. Impulse order. Ordered on impulse from an ad and never made it to the branch.
4. Ordered several options from different shops and collected only one.
5. Inconvenient branch or no time — kept putting it off until the last day.
6. Expectations didn’t match the description or price, and the buyer refused right at the branch.

A shop cannot control some of these reasons. But “forgot” and “put it off” are the most common, and that is exactly where a timely reminder helps. More on the reasons in the article uncollected parcels: causes and solutions.

What non-pickup costs

Example calculation: a shop sends 1,200 COD parcels a month with an 86% pickup rate — 168 refusals. With UAH 80 shipping and UAH 20 packaging, losses on shipping alone are at least UAH 16,800 per month, and up to UAH 30,240 if returns are paid. Lost margin comes on top: with an average order of UAH 850 and a 30% margin, that is another UAH 42,840. Calculate your own numbers in the loss calculator or the free audit.

How Rampo helps

Rampo checks the statuses of your COD parcels via the Nova Poshta API twice a day, builds a call list of buyers who have not collected yet and (on the Auto plan) sends Viber reminders with SMS fallback itself. We do not promise an effect — we measure it: some buyers form a control group we never message, and the pickup-rate difference between the groups shows the real result. The pilot is free.