Cash on Delivery is table stakes for Indian streetwear. Almost every customer who lands on sanki.online for the first time asks the same three questions: Do you do COD? Is it available in my pincode? Why do I have to pay ₹200 upfront?
Short answer: yes, yes, and because it's the honest way to keep small-drop inventory alive.
Here's the long answer — how COD works at SANKI, why the ₹200 advance exists, and what it actually looks like from the day you place the order to the day the mailer lands.
Yes, COD is available pan-India
SANKI ships across every serviceable Indian pincode with Cash on Delivery. We do not blacklist metros vs tier-2 vs tier-3 for COD. If your pincode is serviceable by our shipping partners (it almost certainly is), COD is on the checkout screen alongside UPI and cards.
Along with COD we also accept:
- UPI (all Indian apps — GPay, PhonePe, Paytm, BHIM)
- Credit and debit cards (Visa, Mastercard, RuPay, Amex)
- Net Banking (all major Indian banks)
- Shop Pay for repeat buyers
Prepaid orders get an automatic 10% discount at checkout. Cash on Delivery orders don't — because the ₹200 advance already carries a cost we're absorbing, and stacking a prepaid discount on top would price the drop below sustainable margins.
The ₹200 advance — why it exists
When you place a COD order for a SANKI piece, we ask for ₹200 upfront online at checkout. The balance is paid in cash on delivery. The ₹200 is deducted from your final bill — it is not a fee. If your order is ₹1,999, you pay ₹200 online and ₹1,799 to the delivery agent. Total cost: ₹1,999.
Why the advance at all? Because SANKI is a small-drop atelier, not a fast-fashion warehouse.
Here's the math: a typical drop is 25 to 60 garments per design (see The SANKI drop calendar). A single COD refusal on delivery means a piece has left our atelier, ridden a shipping partner across the country, arrived at the customer's door, and come back to us as a "Return to Origin" — the industry term for a rejected COD parcel.
Return to Origin has a real cost: forward shipping fee, reverse shipping fee, damaged packaging, and — most importantly — a piece that has been in transit for two weeks and cannot be re-listed the same way. In a small-drop model where we've cut maybe 40 pieces of a design in total, a 10% RTO rate is 4 pieces of that drop essentially destroyed. That's not sustainable for a working atelier.
The ₹200 advance solves this. It confirms genuine intent — anyone willing to pay ₹200 upfront is 20x more likely to accept the delivery than a customer who's paid nothing. Our RTO rate on ₹200-advance COD is under 3%. On zero-advance COD (which we tested for two months in 2024), it was closer to 22%.
The ₹200 advance is the reason we can offer pan-India COD at all. Without it, we would have had to make COD prepaid-only or cap it to metros. We didn't want to.
What to expect after you place a COD order
Here's the full sequence from checkout to delivery.
- Day 0 (Friday, drop day). You place the order. You pay ₹200 online. Your piece is reserved from the drop and pulled off the sellable inventory.
- Day 0 or Day 1. The piece is packed, tagged, and handed to our shipping partner. You get a tracking link on WhatsApp and email.
- Day 2–4. The piece is in transit. Metro pincodes usually see delivery in 2–4 days; tier-2 and tier-3 in 3–7 days.
- Day 3–7. Delivery agent calls or messages you to confirm before drop-off. They arrive with the mailer. You inspect the packaging (not the garment inside — that's for after, once the parcel is signed off), pay the remaining balance in cash, and sign.
- Day 3–7, after delivery. Open the mailer. Confirm the size, the piece, and the fit against the size guide. If something's wrong, you have 7 days to initiate a size exchange (see below).
What if the piece doesn't fit?
Free size exchanges within 7 days of delivery. The piece must be unworn, unwashed, and have tags intact. Email sankicatalogue@gmail.com with your order ID and the size you want instead. We arrange reverse pickup and dispatch the replacement.
No refunds — exchanges only. Refunding cash means we've absorbed the shipping cost twice and the drop-inventory hit. Exchange means the piece cycles back into the atelier and gets re-listed if it hits QC standards again. Different outcome economically; same outcome for you if the fit is what you needed.
Common COD situations, honestly answered
"Can I open the mailer before paying?" No — but you can inspect the outer packaging for damage. If the mailer is torn or the seal is broken, refuse delivery. If the packaging looks fine, pay and open. If you find a real issue after opening, contact us on WhatsApp with photos within 24 hours.
"What if I'm not home when delivery attempts?" The shipping partner attempts delivery 2–3 times over 3–5 days. You'll get a call before each attempt. If all attempts fail, the piece is Return to Origin — the ₹200 advance is refunded to your original payment method within 5–7 business days.
"Is COD available on discounted or promo pieces?" Yes. The prepaid 10% discount is the only tier that's prepaid-only. First-order code SA100 (₹100 off) works with COD too.
"What's the maximum order value for COD?" No cap. If you're placing an order above ₹9,999, we recommend prepaid because you'll also get the free belt bundle. But COD is still allowed at any order size.
Why we still offer COD in 2026
Most Indian D2C brands are quietly walking away from COD because RTO rates make it unprofitable. We understand the math — we ran it ourselves for two months without the ₹200 advance and lost money on every drop.
But we also know that COD is the reason a specific segment of our customers can buy SANKI at all. Not everyone has a working card, not everyone trusts UPI for a first-order streetwear purchase from a brand they've just heard about. Cash on Delivery is the trust bridge for a first order. Once you've bought one piece and it arrived clean, prepaid tends to follow.
The ₹200 advance is the compromise that keeps COD viable. Small enough to not price out the customer, large enough to filter out the joyriders.
The short version
- COD is available pan-India on every serviceable pincode.
- You pay ₹200 online at checkout. Balance in cash to the delivery agent.
- The ₹200 is deducted from your final bill. It's not a fee.
- Prepaid orders get 10% off automatically. COD does not.
- Delivery in 2–4 days metro, 3–7 days elsewhere.
- Free 7-day size exchange. No refunds.
- Questions: WhatsApp +91-9540-541212.
COD at SANKI is designed to work the way a customer expects — a real Cash on Delivery with a small advance that keeps the atelier honest. That's it.
— Gagan Lamba, Founder, SANKI · Delhi