![Three products from three of the Indian D2C brands compared on this page, in their own brand photographs, used to illustrate a page about those brands' published delivery and cash-on-delivery charges]()
A Rs. 199 face wash can arrive as a Rs. 298 order, and nothing on the product page tells you so. We read the published delivery and cash-on-delivery policies of eight Indian direct-to-consumer brands on 17 October 2026 — Beardo, Mamaearth, Dot & Key, Libas, Minimalist, Plum, Bombay Shaving Company and mCaffeine — logged out, from India, with nothing bought.
The free-shipping threshold runs from Rs. 399 to Rs. 999, a 2.5x spread across brands selling similar baskets. Three of the eight publish no usable threshold at all; one says free shipping applies above "a minimum order amount, which is notified from time to time". COD is charged everywhere it is priced — Rs. 45, Rs. 69, Rs. 70, Rs. 99 — and at one brand it also removes the refund right.
And one brand's site carried three different COD fee schedules simultaneously. Everything below is quoted verbatim from the brands' own pages. This describes published documents on one date. It is not legal advice, and your own cart total is the figure that binds.
Free-shipping thresholds, eight D2C brands
Read 17 October 2026 from each brand's own published policy page
Rs. 399 at Mamaearth and Beardo · Rs. 999 at Dot & Key · no minimum on Libas prepaid orders · and no number published at all at three of the eight
📅 Update log:
17 October 2026 — First publication. The published shipping, delivery and cash-on-delivery wording of eight Indian D2C brands read in full from beardo.in/policies/shipping-policy and /policies/terms-of-service, mamaearth.in/policies/terms-of-service, dotandkey.com/policies/shipping-policy, libas.in/policies/shipping-policy, beminimalist.co/policies/shipping-policy, plumgoodness.com/policies/shipping-policy, bombayshavingcompany.com/policies/shipping-policy and mcaffeine.com/policies/shipping-policy — all logged out, from India, with nothing bought, no order placed, no cart completed and no brand contacted. Recorded this read: Mamaearth's Rs. 49 charge below Rs. 399 and free delivery above it; Dot & Key's Rs. 50 charge below Rs. 999 and free shipping at or above it; Libas's free prepaid shipping and Rs. 69 COD charge, and its terms clause stating no refunds on COD orders; Minimalist's Rs. 70 additional COD fee and its 48-hour refund window on orders cancelled for unserviceable pin codes; Plum's threshold stated only as "a minimum order amount, which is notified from time to time"; Bombay Shaving Company's two published lines, Rs. 99 below Rs. 399 and Rs. 199 below Rs. 10, reproduced exactly as printed; mCaffeine's shipping-policy page rendering no fee schedule to a logged-out plain read, and its storefront's 5% prepaid discount; and the three simultaneous Beardo COD schedules (Rs. 45 in its terms, and two cart tables with different band boundaries). No checkout was completed, so no figure on this page is asserted to be what any brand actually charges at checkout.
What eight Indian D2C brands actually charge to deliver an order
The product price on a D2C site is rarely the whole price. A delivery charge, a cash on delivery fee, or a free-shipping threshold you did not clear can add Rs. 45 to Rs. 199 to the total, and every brand sets its own rules. We read the published policy pages of eight Indian direct-to-consumer brands on 17 October 2026 — logged out, from India, with nothing bought — and put their own words side by side.
Two things stood out. The free-shipping threshold runs from Rs. 399 to Rs. 999, a 2.5x spread across brands selling broadly similar baskets. And three of the eight publish no usable threshold number at all.
The third finding needed checking twice: one brand publishes three different cash-on-delivery schedules on its own site, at the same time. That section is below, quoted verbatim, with the care it deserves — it is a discrepancy in published pages, not an accusation.
Verbatim, from Mamaearth's terms of service, read 17 October 2026: "For all orders under INR 399 (Indian Rupees Three Hundred and Ninety-Nine only), delivery charge of INR 49 (Indian Rupees Forty Nine only) shall be levied. All orders above INR 399 ... shall be delivered without any delivery charges."
The free-shipping thresholds, brand by brand
Each row below quotes the brand's own policy wording. Where a brand states no figure, the row says so rather than filling the gap with a guess.
| Brand | Free shipping above | What the page actually says | Source read |
|---|
| Mamaearth | Free above Rs. 399 | "For all orders under INR 399 ..., delivery charge of INR 49 ... shall be levied"; "All orders above INR 399 ... shall be delivered without any delivery charges" | Terms of service, 17 Oct 2026 |
| Beardo | Free above Rs. 399 (prepaid) | Cart table: prepaid "Rs. 79-Rs. 398.99 → Shipping Rs. 49", "Rs. 399 & above → Free Shipping". But its terms say Rs. 45 on prepaid under Rs. 200. See below. | Shipping policy + terms, 17 Oct 2026 |
| Dot & Key | Free at or above Rs. 999 | "There are no shipping charges for the orders equal and above the billing value of INR 999"; "if your order is less than INR 999, there will be a shipping charge of INR 50" | Shipping policy, 17 Oct 2026 |
| Libas | Free on every prepaid order | "Shipping on prepaid order are free and cod will be chargeable 69" — no minimum order value stated for the prepaid case | Shipping policy, 17 Oct 2026 |
| Bombay Shaving Company | Not stated as free above any value | "Shipping charges of Rs. 199 to be applied on order value below Rs. 10."; "Shipping charges of Rs. 99 to be applied on order value below Rs. 399." Both lines reproduced exactly as published. | Shipping policy, 17 Oct 2026 |
| Minimalist | No prepaid threshold published on the page | The page prices COD only: "An additional Rs. 70 shipping fee applies for Cash on Delivery orders." Its cart strip separately advertises a free sunscreen above Rs. 799, which is a gift, not shipping. | Shipping policy, 17 Oct 2026 |
| Plum | No number published | "We offer FREE Shipping on all orders above a minimum order amount, which is notified from time to time." The policy page states no figure. | Shipping policy, 17 Oct 2026 |
| mCaffeine | No schedule rendered | Its shipping-policy page returned no fee schedule to a logged-out plain read on this date. The only payment-related figure its storefront published was "Get 5% Discount on Prepaid orders". | Shipping policy, 17 Oct 2026 |
Read down the middle column and the range is the story: Rs. 399 at Mamaearth and in Beardo's prepaid table, Rs. 999 at Dot & Key, no minimum at all on Libas prepaid orders, and no published figure at three brands. A shopper who assumes 'free over Rs. 500' as a rule of thumb will be wrong at five of these eight sites.
It is worth saying what this does not show. None of these arrangements is unusual or improper — charging for delivery below a threshold is ordinary retail practice, and a brand that ships a Rs. 199 lip balm across the country has real costs to recover. The reason to read the numbers is simply that they differ more than most people expect, and that the cheapest-looking product does not always produce the cheapest total.
Cash on delivery: what it costs where it is priced at all
COD is charged separately almost everywhere it is mentioned, and the figures cluster tightly — Rs. 45, Rs. 49, Rs. 69, Rs. 70, Rs. 99. The table below is every COD statement found in this read, in each brand's own wording.
| Brand | What the page says | Note |
|---|
| Beardo — version A | "Delivery charges Rs. 45 is applicable on All COD orders and Prepaid orders (Less than Rs. 200 Order Value)" | Published in its terms of service |
| Beardo — version B | "Cash on Delivery (COD) Rs. 399–Rs. 698.99 → Shipping Rs. 99; Rs. 699–Rs. 1,990 → Shipping Rs. 49" | Published in the cart fee table on its policy pages |
| Beardo — version C | "Delivery on Cash on Delivery (COD) Rs. 299–Rs. 598.99 → Shipping Rs. 99; Rs. 599–Rs. 1,990 → Shipping Rs. 49" | Published in the same markup as version B, with different bands |
| Libas | "cod will be chargeable 69" | One figure, no bands — and its terms add that COD orders get no refunds |
| Minimalist | "An additional Rs. 70 shipping fee applies for Cash on Delivery orders" | Stated as an addition, on top of whatever else applies |
| Mamaearth | No separate COD charge stated in the terms read | The Rs. 49 under-Rs. 399 delivery charge is stated without reference to payment method |
| Dot & Key | No separate COD charge stated in the policy read | COD appears only as "an order confirmation email will be sent to you" |
| Plum / Bombay Shaving / mCaffeine | No COD fee published on the pages read | Absence of a figure is not a promise there is no fee |
One consequence goes beyond the fee. Libas's terms of service state, twice: "No refunds shall be applicable on the orders made by the User under the Cash on Delivery (COD) option." That is a materially different thing from a Rs. 69 charge, and it is in the terms rather than on the shipping page. We report the clause as published; this page takes no view on whether it is valid or enforceable, which is a question for a lawyer and not for us.
The three COD schedules on one brand's site
This needs to be set out carefully, because the finding is about published pages and nothing else. On 17 October 2026, Beardo's own site carried three different answers to the question 'what does cash on delivery cost', simultaneously:
In its terms of service: "Delivery charges Rs. 45 is applicable on All COD orders and Prepaid orders (Less than Rs. 200 Order Value)."
In a cart fee table on its policy pages: "Cash on Delivery (COD) Rs. 399–Rs. 698.99 → Shipping Rs. 99 Rs. 699–Rs. 1,990 → Shipping Rs. 49."
And in a second table within the same markup, with different bands: "Delivery on Cash on Delivery (COD) Rs. 299–Rs. 598.99 → Shipping Rs. 99 Rs. 599–Rs. 1,990 → Shipping Rs. 49."
What this page is saying: a reader trying to work out what a Rs. 450 COD order would cost to deliver could get Rs. 45, Rs. 99, or Rs. 99 under a different band boundary, depending on which page they happened to read. What this page is not saying: that any figure is false, that Beardo charges anything other than what its checkout shows, that anyone has been overcharged, or that any obligation has been breached. Legal terms and cart widgets are maintained by different teams and updated at different times, and that alone explains most discrepancies of this kind. The practical advice is the same one that applies to every site on this page: read the delivery line on your own cart total before you pay, because that is the figure that binds.
Reproduced exactly as published, from Bombay Shaving Company's shipping policy, 17 October 2026: "- Shipping charges of Rs. 199 to be applied on order value below Rs. 10." and "- Shipping charges of Rs. 99 to be applied on order value below Rs. 399." We have not altered either line and do not speculate about what the first was intended to say.
What to actually do about it
First, check the threshold before you build the basket, not after. On a site with a Rs. 999 threshold, adding a Rs. 149 item to a Rs. 900 cart can be cheaper than not adding it, because it removes a Rs. 50 charge. On a site with a Rs. 399 threshold the same move does nothing.
Second, price COD as part of the order. Where it is stated, it runs Rs. 45 to Rs. 99, and at one brand in this read it also removes your refund right. Prepaid is frequently the cheaper option on these sites — mCaffeine's storefront went further and advertised a 5% prepaid discount.
Third, treat a missing number as a missing number. Three of these eight brands do not publish a threshold you can act on. That is not evidence of anything improper, but it does mean the only reliable figure is the one on your own cart.
Fourth, remember these pages change. Everything above describes what eight published policy pages said on one morning. Brands revise thresholds for promotions and festive periods constantly, and the live page and your checkout prevail over anything here. This is a description of published documents, not legal or consumer-rights advice.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the free delivery limit on Mamaearth?
Its terms of service put a number on it, in words as well as figures: "For all orders under INR 399 (Indian Rupees Three Hundred and Ninety-Nine only), delivery charge of INR 49 (Indian Rupees Forty Nine only) shall be levied" and "All orders above INR 399 ... shall be delivered without any delivery charges." The same document notes that displayed prices are "inclusive of goods and sales tax (GST), but do not include a delivery charge". Read on 17 October 2026, logged out, from India, nothing bought. Brands change these pages without notice, so check the live page and your own cart; what your checkout shows prevails over anything here.
How much does cash on delivery cost on Indian D2C sites?
Where it is priced at all in this read, it is Rs. 45 to Rs. 99. Libas states "cod will be chargeable 69"; Minimalist states "An additional Rs. 70 shipping fee applies for Cash on Delivery orders"; Beardo's terms state Rs. 45 on all COD orders while its own cart tables state Rs. 99 below a threshold and Rs. 49 above it. Three of the eight brands read published no COD figure at all — and an absent figure is not a promise that there is no fee. One more consequence is worth knowing: Libas's terms state "No refunds shall be applicable on the orders made by the User under the Cash on Delivery (COD) option."
Why does Beardo show different COD charges in different places?
We can only report that on 17 October 2026 it did. Its terms of service read "Delivery charges Rs. 45 is applicable on All COD orders and Prepaid orders (Less than Rs. 200 Order Value)". A fee table on its policy pages read "Cash on Delivery (COD) Rs. 399–Rs. 698.99 → Shipping Rs. 99; Rs. 699–Rs. 1,990 → Shipping Rs. 49". A second table in the same markup used different bands: "Rs. 299–Rs. 598.99 → Shipping Rs. 99; Rs. 599–Rs. 1,990 → Shipping Rs. 49". This page does not say which figure is charged at checkout, that any of them is wrong, or that anyone is misled — pages get updated at different times and cart widgets and legal terms are maintained separately. What it reports is that a shopper reading the site on that morning could not tell. Check your own cart total before paying.
Which D2C brand has the highest free-shipping threshold?
Of the eight read on 17 October 2026, Dot & Key at Rs. 999: "There are no shipping charges for the orders equal and above the billing value of INR 999", and "if your order is less than INR 999, there will be a shipping charge of INR 50." The lowest stated threshold was Rs. 399, at Mamaearth and in Beardo's prepaid table — a 2.5x spread across one small set of comparable brands. Libas goes further and states no threshold at all for prepaid orders: "Shipping on prepaid order are free." Thresholds move with promotions, so treat these as what the policy pages said on one date.
Do all D2C brands publish a free-shipping threshold?
No, and that is the quieter finding here. Three of the eight did not publish a usable number. Plum's policy page says "We offer FREE Shipping on all orders above a minimum order amount, which is notified from time to time" — a threshold exists, but the page does not say what it is. Minimalist's shipping policy prices COD at Rs. 70 but states no prepaid threshold. mCaffeine's shipping-policy page rendered no fee schedule at all to a logged-out plain read on this date, though its storefront advertised a 5% prepaid discount. None of this is an allegation against any brand; a policy page may be rendered differently for other readers, and a figure can live in a checkout flow rather than a policy document.
Prices & codes last verified: October 17, 2026
Zoutons may earn a commission when you buy through links on this page. Every quotation here is the relevant brand's own published wording, copied verbatim from its own policy pages as those pages stood on 17 October 2026, each read logged out, from India, with nothing purchased, no order placed, no cart completed, no payment method selected and no brand contacted; emphasis within quotations is ours and is marked, and the rupee symbol as published has been rendered as "Rs." throughout. These pages are revised by their owners without notice, frequently for promotions and festive periods, so the live wording may already differ from what is quoted here; the brand's own live page, and the delivery line on your own cart, prevail over anything on this page. No checkout was completed in this read, so nothing here is a statement of what any brand actually charges at checkout, what any individual customer was or would be charged, or how any fee is applied in practice. Where a brand's pages carried more than one fee schedule at the same time, every version found is reproduced and none is presented as the correct or operative one; no allegation of misleading advertising, unfair trade practice, dark pattern, overcharging, deficiency in service or breach of any obligation is made or implied against Beardo, Marico Limited, Mamaearth, Honasa Consumer Limited, Dot & Key Wellness Limited, Libas, Minimalist, Plum, Pureplay Skin Sciences, Bombay Shaving Company, mCaffeine, PEP Technologies Private Limited or any affiliate of any of them, and legal terms and cart widgets being maintained separately and updated at different times is an ordinary and sufficient explanation for a discrepancy between published pages. Charging for delivery below a threshold, charging a fee for cash on delivery, setting different thresholds from a competitor and revising those thresholds are all ordinary and lawful commercial practices. Where a brand published no figure, this page records only that no figure was found on the page read on that date; a figure may exist in a checkout flow, an app, a logged-in session or a page that renders differently for another reader, and absence here is not asserted to be absence everywhere. Bombay Shaving Company's line regarding order values below Rs. 10 is reproduced exactly as published and this page offers no interpretation of it. This page is a description of what published documents said on one date. It is not legal advice, not consumer-rights advice, not financial advice and not a recommendation, it does not state what any reader's rights, obligations or remedies are in any particular case, and no lawyer-client relationship arises from reading it; nothing here assesses whether any clause quoted — including any clause restricting refunds on cash-on-delivery orders — is valid, binding, enforceable or compliant with the Consumer Protection Act, the Indian Contract Act, the Legal Metrology (Packaged Commodities) Rules or any other law, rule or regulation. Readers with a billing or delivery dispute should raise it with the brand directly and take independent advice. We did not buy, open, use or test any product from any brand named here, and no claim is made about any product's quality, ingredients, efficacy or suitability.
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