What if delivery costs me more than the customer paid?

On an order you deliver yourself, you are paid the delivery amount your settings captured at checkout. If the actual cost comes in higher, the difference is yours.

This is the one genuinely uncomfortable thing about self-arranged delivery, and it is worth understanding properly rather than discovering it.

Why it works this way

The customer was quoted and paid a number at checkout, calculated from the rates you set. There is no mechanism to go back and charge them more afterwards, and they would not accept it if there were.

How to stop it happening

Check your settings monthly. Courier rates move, fuel moves, and a per km rate you set in March may not survive September.

Set the per km rate for a bad day, not a good one. Peak hours, rain, traffic. If a 15 km delivery costs you ₹300 on a bad evening and ₹200 on a quiet afternoon, price for the bad evening.

Cap your radius honestly. The long deliveries are where the losses are. A 25 km maximum is not a badge of honour if 20 km deliveries lose you money.

Watch the base area. Everything inside it pays the same flat charge, so if your base is 8 km and most deliveries land at 7, check that flat charge covers it.

The alternative

Set a Cakesify integrated partner as your default. The charge is then calculated live from real rates and goes straight to the partner, so there is no gap for you to absorb.

For a specific order

If a customer asks for a change that will push the delivery cost up, tell them the difference before you agree and record it in the order notes. See Customer asks to change their order.