Cash on Delivery


 * This article is about Cash on Delivery. For the Warlock curse, see Curse of Doom

Cash on Delivery (or C.O.D) can be a great way to mail an item to another player that is not able to pay for the item right away, or that might be at a great distance. However the system can also be used by some scam artists if close attention is not paid.

The C.O.D system allows the sender to specify an amount of money needed for the recipient to place the attached item into their inventory.

To send a C.O.D item, simply go to a mailbox, and select the Send Mail tab. Next, drag or right-click the item to be sent from your inventory into the message. Lastly, and most importantly, don't forget to select the C.O.D option and to set a price before sending the message.

Keep in mind that all items sent via mail will take one (1) hour to arrive at the recipient. This does not count for mail to characters on your own account; such mail will arrive instantly. This also counts for members of your guild, due to the perk Guild Mail.

C.O.D. scams
Among the features of World of Warcraft are the ability to sell items through the in game mail system using a Cash on Delivery (C.O.D) payment system, and the ability to wrap gifts. Unfortunately, there are those dishonest sorts out there who have figured out that these features, when used together, can be abused.

Wrapped C.O.D scam
Some players used send in-game mail C.O.D with a gift-wrapped item, pretending to be from an NPC. New players would sometimes confuse the C.O.D as a reward and end up paying a high price for the item. The body text of these mails varied, but the item was usually a trash gift, such as a drop or a low copper value item (examples included Skinning Knife or Blacksmith Hammer.) Blizzard advised players not to open such mail, and to report suspected C.O.D. scams to a Game Master.

C.O.D expiration scams
Some dishonest players leverage the mail system's 3-day return mechanism in order to keep competition for high-price items off of the Auction House, or to grief other players. The player will ask for the victim to C.O.D the item to them and never accept it, leaving the item inaccessible to the victim for three days while they sell a like item on the Auction House. Unfortunately there is nothing that can be done to combat this.