₹70 to every pin code in India. A metro, a district town, a hill station. Same number, on every order, for every format.
That is not how most Indian e-commerce prices delivery, and the difference is worth explaining.
What distance-based pricing actually does
Charging by distance sounds fair — it costs more to get a parcel to a remote pin code, so the customer there pays more.
The effect is that the places with the fewest local options pay the most to order from elsewhere. Someone in a small town already has fewer shops, fewer choices and a longer wait. Distance-based delivery adds a surcharge on top of that.
Zone pricing does the same thing with fewer steps.
What it costs us
Genuinely more for some orders than others. A parcel to a far pin code costs more to move than one across Delhi NCR, and the flat rate means the near orders subsidise the far ones.
That is the trade, and it is deliberate: the alternative is a price that punishes distance, and distance is not something the customer chose.
| Distance-based | Flat | |
|---|---|---|
| Metro customer | Pays least | ₹70 |
| Small town customer | Pays most | ₹70 |
| Who is penalised | The remote | Nobody |
| Cost to the seller | Fully recovered | Averaged |
| Cost predictability | None until checkout | Known before you start |
Why prepaid makes it possible
Flat delivery works partly because there are no refused parcels to absorb. A cash-on-delivery business has to price returns into everything, and those costs land on the customers who do take delivery.
Prepaid removes that, and the saving shows up here. Why we are prepaid only →
What it does not buy you
⚠️ Flat pricing is not flat speed. Transit still varies: 5 to 14 days from order to doorstep nationally, 5 to 12 to Delhi NCR, because NCR is where it is made and packed.
The rate does not vary. The clock does, slightly.
And the larger variable is neither — it is which day you order, because dispatch runs weekly on Mondays. Do you deliver to my pin code? →
What it means for what you buy
One useful consequence: adding a second item costs nothing extra to deliver. A print pack and a magazine ordered together ship on one ₹70, which makes the pairing far better value than it looks.
At ₹270 plus ₹499 plus ₹70, that is ₹839 for a wall and a shelf. What ₹500 buys →
Frequently asked
How much is delivery? A flat ₹70 to every pin code in India, on every order, whatever the format or size.
Is it more to a small town? No. That is the point — distance-based pricing charges the places with the fewest options the most.
Does flat delivery mean flat delivery times? No. 5 to 14 days nationally, 5 to 12 to Delhi NCR. The rate is fixed; transit varies.
Do I pay ₹70 per item? No, per order. Two items ship together on one ₹70, which makes pairing good value.
Do you deliver outside India? No, within India only.
Part of our guide to what a photo magazine costs. See also: hidden costs in personalised gifting and realistic delivery timelines.
₹70, anywhere: Photo magazines from ₹499 · Shipping policy