Why are COD's marked as PAID?

Payments + Shipping & Fulfilment

Topic summary

A merchant questions why Shopify marks Cash on Delivery (COD) orders as PAID before fulfillment and delivery, noting this changed from the previous PENDING PAYMENT status used in 2023.

Core Issue:

  • COD orders show PAID status immediately upon creation, despite payment not being collected until delivery
  • This contradicts the literal meaning of “cash ON delivery”

Shopify’s Logic (per community response):

  • System treats COD payment as “guaranteed upon delivery” and therefore secured
  • Status reflects anticipated payment rather than actual collection

Merchant’s Concern:

  • High refusal rates: up to 40% of COD orders are rejected at delivery
  • Current status doesn’t reflect real customer behavior or actual cash flow
  • Requests recommendations for third-party apps to implement PENDING PAYMENT status for COD orders

Status: Unresolved - merchant seeks workarounds while questioning the platform’s approach to COD payment tracking.

Summarized with AI on October 31. AI used: claude-sonnet-4-5-20250929.
1

Just as the title says, CODs marked as PAID??? Makes no sense. I manually created an order and used COD as its payment method. Shopify then marked this order as PAID even if it’s not fulfilled yet.

I remember back in 2023, it used to be tagged as PENDING PAYMENT. This makes more sense because you don’t receive payment before it’s actually fulfilled.
COD means “cash ON DELIVERY” soooo why mark it as PAID if it’s not delivered yet?

2

COD orders are marked as PAID in Shopify because the payment is guaranteed upon delivery, even if not yet collected. This reflects Shopify’s logic that the payment is secured. If you prefer PENDING PAYMENT, consider using custom statuses, third-party apps, or contacting Shopify Support for assistance.

3

“COD orders are marked as PAID in Shopify because the payment is guaranteed upon delivery” - not a very customer-centric mindset.
“This reflects Shopify’s logic that the payment is secured” - What about the logic that is actually happening with your customers?

Have you ever asked any merchant about this? Do you know how many parcels are refused to be accepted by buyers during delivery? It goes up to 40% of total orders! 4 out of 10 buyers refuse packages every day.

“If you prefer PENDING PAYMENT, consider using custom statuses, third-party apps” - Can you share any 3rd party apps that can fix this for Shopify?