Why cash on delivery costs extra
Stores do not publish a cost breakdown for cash on delivery. They charge it as a separate service fee on top of the item price and delivery. noon, for example, lists its COD fee as "carrier charges" on its cash on delivery help page, and Max and Centrepoint call it a "service charge".
The store rules show what stores worry about: unpaid or refused parcels. noon may temporarily block new COD orders if you already have several pending COD orders. SHEIN says COD may not be offered if you have frequently cancelled orders or refused deliveries. Amazon.ae stops COD once your open orders pass AED 1,000. Several stores, including Amazon.ae and Ounass, also ask you to confirm a COD order by SMS or one-time code before it ships.
COD fees by store (October 2026)
These fees come from each store's official help or policy pages, read on 14 October 2026. Fees change, so check the payment step at checkout before you order.
| Store | UAE | Saudi Arabia |
|---|---|---|
| noon | AED 12, orders up to AED 6,500 | SAR 18, orders up to SAR 6,500 |
| Amazon | AED 10, non-refundable; not if open orders exceed AED 1,000 | SAR 17 when offered; temporarily unavailable |
| Namshi | AED 15 | SAR 34 |
| Trendyol | AED 11, non-refundable; orders AED 100 to 1,800 | SAR 22.5, non-refundable; orders SAR 100 to 1,875 |
| SHEIN | USD 3; order value 75 to 1,800 | USD 6; card payment only at the door |
| Carrefour | AED 5 | SAR 5 |
| Max | AED 5 | SAR 9 |
| Centrepoint | AED 10 | SAR 17 |
| Styli | AED 12 (equal to the shipping fee) | SAR 12 (equal to the shipping fee) |
| Mumzworld | AED 10; orders from AED 30, Dubai, Sharjah and Abu Dhabi only | SAR 30; orders from SAR 100 (another Mumzworld page says SAR 10) |
| Bath & Body Works | AED 15 | SAR 20 |
| AIVI | AED 20 | SAR 30 |
| Ounass | AED 25 | SAR 25 |
| Golden Scent | AED 40 | SAR 40 |
| Nice One | Not available outside Saudi Arabia | SAR 28 |
| Jarir | - | SAR 17.25 when offered; not available at the moment |
Main sources: noon, Amazon.ae, Trendyol UAE, Trendyol Saudi, Nice One. The full list is at the end of this guide.
Order limits and who can use COD
COD is not open to every order. The main limits at the time of writing:
- noon: orders up to AED 6,500 or SAR 6,500. Not available for locker deliveries, gift addresses, some doorstep deliveries or items marked for prepaid payment only.
- Amazon.ae: not available once your open orders exceed AED 1,000, or for most third-party seller and Global Store items. The whole order must be paid in cash; you cannot split it with a card or gift card balance.
- Trendyol: orders of AED 100 to 1,800 in the UAE and SAR 100 to 1,875 in Saudi Arabia.
- SHEIN: order value between 75 and 1,800 in the UAE and 75 to 1,875 in Saudi Arabia, and a mobile number is required.
- Mumzworld: in the UAE only in Dubai, Sharjah and Abu Dhabi, from AED 30; in Saudi Arabia from SAR 100.
- Ounass: COD up to AED 30,000 in the UAE; not for pre-orders or food items.
Refunds on COD orders: fee kept, money often as credit
Two things surprise people when they return a COD order. First, the COD fee itself is usually kept: Amazon.ae and Trendyol state their fees are non-refundable. Second, the refund rarely comes back as cash.
- noon: COD refunds go to noon Credits, which you can transfer to a bank account. noon's transfer page sets a minimum of 50 and a maximum of 3,000 AED/SAR, once every 15 days, arriving within up to 5 days. Coupon cashback credits cannot be transferred.
- Amazon.ae: refunds for returned COD orders go to your Amazon gift card balance, or to a local bank account in your own name if you add one. If a COD order is cancelled, refused or undeliverable, there is nothing to refund because you paid nothing.
- Namshi: COD refunds go straight to your Namshi Wallet once the return is approved. To move the money to a bank, you have to contact Namshi. Namshi credit does not expire.
- SHEIN: COD refunds go to the SHEIN wallet. SHEIN's pages disagree on whether that balance can be withdrawn, so check your wallet before you rely on it.
- Ounass and Mumzworld: COD refunds come as store credit at Ounass and to the Mumzworld Wallet at Mumzworld.
Card on delivery in Saudi Arabia
"Cash on delivery" in Saudi Arabia does not always mean cash. SHEIN's cash on delivery page says that, under local rules, its Saudi COD service currently takes card payment only through the courier's card machine, so have a mada or other bank card ready. Samsung's Saudi store lists "Card on Delivery" as its own payment option next to cash on delivery.
We could not find an official noon, Namshi or Amazon page that says their couriers take cards at the door. Amazon.ae's help page describes COD as payment in cash. If you want to pay by card at the door, check the payment options at checkout or ask the store first.
When the COD fee cancels your promo code
A promo code saves a percentage; the COD fee is a fixed amount. On a small basket the fee can be bigger than the saving. Take a SAR 150 order at Namshi in Saudi Arabia with a 10% code:
- The code saves SAR 15, so the items cost SAR 135.
- Choose cash on delivery and you add SAR 34.
- You pay SAR 19 more than the full price paid online without any code. Paid by card, the same order costs SAR 135 (delivery fees apply either way).
noon works differently: its codes pay cashback into noon Credits after delivery instead of cutting the price. A 10% code on an AED 100 order returns AED 10 in credits, while COD adds AED 12 in cash at the door. You end up AED 2 behind, and the cashback credits cannot be withdrawn to a bank.
A quick rule: if the code saves less than the COD fee, pay online or skip the code.
How to avoid the fee
- Pay online. The fees in the table apply only when you choose cash on delivery. Nice One says paying by card or Apple Pay avoids its SAR 28 fee.
- Use store credit first. noon lets you combine noon Credits with COD or a card; Amazon.ae does not allow COD with a gift card balance.
- Check the total at checkout. Fees, limits and availability change; Amazon.sa and Jarir have paused COD at the time of writing.
- Don't refuse parcels casually. Repeated refusals or cancellations can lose you the COD option at stores such as SHEIN.