Amazon Seller Support

Top 5 Ways to Get Answers from Seller Support Faster

There are a few things that you can do when contacting Seller Support that will help us answer your questions more quickly.

1. Log into your seller account when contacting us.
   Seller Support verifies account security information prior to providing support. If you contact us when you are logged into your seller account we can get right to answering your question.
2. Provide details, even when asking general questions.
   Provide as much detail as possible, including links to the pages you are referencing, either in your account or on Amazon.com, exact wording of an error message you may see, and specific order IDs, ASINs, and SKUs. If you have a general question, providing an example will help us understand your desired result and allow us to share the best methods for getting to that desired result.
3. If you call us about an existing case you’ve created, please mention the case number to the Seller Support associate right after we've verified your account security information.
   If we know the existing case number, we can give you the current status of the actions taken to resolve the issue. This also helps prevent duplicating research already completed for your issue. Referring to case notes can help us shorten resolution time.
4. When using the Contact Us form, take an extra moment and choose the most fitting topic and subject.
   Based on the topics and subjects you choose, your contact is routed to a Seller Support associate who is best able to help with your particular issue. 
5. Check Help pages.
   Seller Support is continually updating and improving Help documentation. Clearly stated information, tables, and videos will help you walk through common seller issues. Check out the Getting Started Guides in seller Help if you are starting out or for a refresher if you are a seasoned seller.

Getting Paid - How It Works

A top concern for every seller is getting paid. To get paid for your Amazon sales, you need to be sure you've set up your seller account correctly and then remember to confirm your shipments.

The Basics

After you first register to sell on Amazon, the funds from your sales will accumulate in your Marketplace Payments account for 14 days. This holding period is a very important security requirement.

At the end of this time, we settle your account – that is, we subtract amounts you owe, such as for selling and subscription fees and customer refunds.  The remaining funds are then sent off to you via an Automated Clearing House (ACH) transfer to your checking account. This is your first disbursement. After this, disbursements from your Marketplace Payments account will occur automatically every 14 days.

Disbursements usually appear in your checking account within 3-5 business days. Note that for a disbursement to take place, you must have a positive balance in your Marketplace Payments account. Amazon fees and customer refunds, if any, can affect your balance.

Important Details

Enter the information for a valid U.S. bank checking account into your selling account

Amazon transfers funds from your transactions directly to the bank account you specify in your seller account. If you enter your checking account information too late (less than 24 hours before your first scheduled disbursement) it can delay  disbursement of your funds for another 14 days. We suggest entering all requested checking account information when you first set up your selling account, or before you list your first item.

Confirm shipment of each order you have fulfilled

After you receive an order and mail the item to the buyer, you must confirm shipment in order to be paid. We charge the buyer after you confirm shipment (rather than when the buyer places the order), and then we credit your Marketplace Payments account. If you do not confirm shipment of an order within 30 days, we automatically cancel it and you will not be paid for the order. Learn more about confirming orders in our online "Charge When Ship" Help pages.

Payment Hold-ups

There are several reasons why you might not have been paid as you expected:

• You have not confirmed shipment of every order you have fulfilled.
• You have not yet entered your bank account information into your selling account.
• You recently began selling on Amazon.com and your first 14-day settlement period has not concluded.
• The bank account information you entered is incorrect. Contact your bank to confirm the checking account number and ACH (Automated Clearinghouse) routing number.
• You entered debit card information instead of checking account information. A checking account with an ACH routing number is required for seller disbursements.
• Your bank does not accept ACH transfers. Contact your bank to confirm that they accept ACH transfers. If they don't, provide a checking account from a bank that accepts ACH transfers.
• Your bank is outside the United States. A checking account in a US-based bank is required for seller disbursements.
• You entered information for a bank account that is now closed. Contact your bank to obtain the checking account number and ACH routing number for your new bank account.
• You do not have a positive account balance.

If you still have questions about disbursements, please contact Seller Support via our online Contact Us form and we'll be happy to assist you.

We hope our Holiday Selling Tips have been helpful.  Happy holidays from all of us at Amazon Seller Support!

Handling Post-Order Problems

The majority of holiday sales on Amazon.com go well, but occasionally you may encounter a problem.  Let’s look at some of the most common things that could go wrong with an order and the ways to handle them.

I:  The buyer has made a mistake with an order and wants to fix it.

Below are the most common things buyers may ask you to do to fix an order and how you can respond:

Cancel the order

• If you have not yet shipped the order, you can cancel it.  Buyers only have a 30-minute window to cancel their own orders, but you can cancel them up until the time you ship them.
• If you have already shipped the order, you can't cancel it, but you can ask the buyer to return it for a refund. It's best to wait until you have the item in hand again before you return funds to the buyer.

Upgrade the shipping

• If you have not yet shipped the order, it is up to you to decide whether to upgrade the shipping at the buyer’s request.  Sellers aren't obligated to provide a service that a buyer hasn't paid for or to accept promises of future reimbursement from buyers (sellers can't invoice buyers for extra costs, including postage).
• If you have already shipped the order, provide the buyer with information about the shipping method you used, give them a realistic timeframe for delivery, and ask them to be patient. Here's the information Amazon provides to buyers about delivery expectations: Marketplace Shipping Times.

Ship the order to a different address

• If you have not yet shipped the order, and the buyer says they cannot receive the order at the address they provided originally, you should cancel the order. The buyer can then return to Amazon.com to place a new order using the correct address.  Amazon policy requires sellers to ship only to the address provided in their Seller Account.
• If you have already shipped the order and the buyer states that they won't receive the package at the address they provided, you can’t cancel the order but it may still be possible for the buyer to get the package re-routed if they know the recipients. Packages should be routed back to you and you can then refund the buyer.

II:  The buyer hasn't received the item they ordered.

As you might expect, buyers are often anxious to receive their holiday orders and will contact you by e-mail to check on the shipment status.

• In many cases, the shipment isn't late but may not have arrived as early as the buyer hoped. It's possible that the package didn't arrive at the earliest estimated date.  In the case of "slow" packages, you will often need to explain the delivery time frames.
• If the outside delivery date has passed, the best solution is to refund the buyer. Compensating buyers for lost shipments is simply a cost of doing business.
• In the case of a "lost" item arriving in an empty box, you should contact the shipper to report the issue and ask about the options available to you. For a "late" item that may be lost, you may want to engage your carrier for assistance in locating the package and moving it along.
• For an item that never arrives and is truly lost, you may be still able to recover your costs if you purchased insurance originally. You will need to determine your own level of acceptable loss when deciding to insure packages.

III: The buyer has received the order but wants to return it.

Here are the basics on handling returns:

• As per your selling agreement, your return and refund policies must be at least as favorable as the current Amazon refund policies. You have to accept returns within the guidelines spelled out in the policy, even if the item was exactly as described and the buyer simply no longer wants it.
• Returns of new items are different from returns of damaged/defective/materially different items.
• Buyer returns should be postmarked within 30 days of the original shipment sent by the seller.
• Returns should be posted to the address included on the outside of each package. It's a good idea to also include your return address inside the package and to confirm it with the buyer before a return is shipped.
• In cases where there is nothing wrong with an item, buyers should cover the cost of return shipping.
• In cases where an item is damaged or defective, or when it is materially different than the item described on the product detail page, sellers should cover the costs of return shipping. You can do this by issuing a concession to the buyer in advance of the return.
• Sellers can charge restocking fees (up to 20%) for returned items that are not damaged, defective or materially different. These fees are meant to cover the extra handling costs to take the item back into inventory and relist it for sale.

We hope this information has been helpful.  If you have further questions about how to deal with order issues, please see our online seller Help pages.

Package Orders With Care

A great deal of orders placed in the weeks before Christmas are intended as gifts. Buyers not only expect to receive them on time, but also in excellent condition. Having to return items that got damaged in transit would not be a good buying experience any time of the year, and even less so during the holiday season.

To help protect your items and provide a world-class buying experience, follow some "best practices" when packing orders for shipment:

Package Orders Carefully

• Prepare a professional, clean package. Wipe away dust or debris that may have collected on the item while in storage. Use new shipping/packing materials. Seal all shipments tightly.
• When sending fragile items, package them using bubble wrap or polystyrene chips. Use a “Fragile” sticker or mark the package clearly.
• Put your item in its original box (if you still have it), then put it in a slightly larger box and fill out the gap with paper, polystyrene or cardboard. Shake the box and add more packaging if there's movement.
• Include a packing slip in the package. You can print one from the Manage Orders page.

Label Packages Clearly

• Use a complete shipping address. You can cut an address label from your printed packing slip and attach it to the package.
• Use a complete return address, typewritten or printed in a neat and legible manner, on all packages.
• Orders may arrive sooner if you use the nine-digit ZIP Code associated with the buyer's shipping address. You can find the extra four digits for any U.S. shipping address at www.usps.com.
• The use of metered postage is recommended. Avoid excessive postage and the use of small-denomination postage stamps.

Preparing your packages with care and professionalism makes good sense. Happy holiday selling!

Offer Expedited Shipping for Great Customer Service

Speedy shipping is especially important to buyers during the holiday season. Offering expedited shipping on your orders shows you care about customer satisfaction.

Sellers can offer priority expedited delivery to domestic addresses for all products sold on Amazon.com. Depending on the products you are selling and features that have been enabled for your account, you may also offer additional shipping options to buyers.

New expedited shipping options for Books, Music, Video and DVD products (BMVD Products) allow sellers to provide higher levels of shipping services for those customers who want premium expedited delivery. Sellers who offer 2-day and next-day domestic shipping or expedited international shipping can increase order volume, as it provides buyers with a couple of extra days to place an order with you before Dec 25.

Here are delivery expectations for BMVD orders. All of the available options are provided for comparison.

Domestic Standard
The buyer should receive their order within 4-14 business days from the shipment date (up to 21 days in some cases).

Domestic Expedited
The buyer should receive their order within 2-6 business days after shipment.

Two Day Domestic
The buyer should receive the order within 48 hours after shipment.

One Day Domestic
The buyer should receive the order within 24 hours after shipment.

Standard International
The buyer should receive their order within 3-6 weeks, though it may take up to 8-12 weeks depending on customs delays

Expedited International
The buyer should receive their order within 3-7 business days, though it may take longer depending on customs delays.

Sellers are expected to ship all BMVD orders within two business days of the date the order notification is made available by Amazon.

When you sell a BMVD Product on Amazon.com, Amazon automatically charges the buyer a per-item fee for shipping and passes that amount on to you. The shipping rate depends on the product you are selling and the shipping service selected by the buyer. To learn more about BMVD shipping rates, enter "Ship BMVD" into the search box on our seller Help pages.

You can select any of the new shipping options on an item-by-item basis when listing or editing single BMVD items. If you are using inventory files, you can enter values for the new shipping options in the "expedited-shipping" field for each SKU in your file. The Book Loader, Music Loader, and Inventory Loader all support the new expedited shipping options. (See the Data Definitions tab of the latest version of the file for instructions on coding the "expedited-shipping" field.)

Happy holiday selling!

P.S. Seller Holiday Tip: You can use the condition note to alert buyers of your cut-off dates and ensure buyers that orders placed before your cut-off  dates will get delivered by Christmas.

Returns, A-to-z Guarantee Claims and Chargebacks

For most sellers, A-to-z Guarantee claims and service chargebacks are a rare occurrence. However, when they do occur, be sure to take action to resolve them promptly. You may also occasionally need to make refunds, accept a return, or cancel an order.

Here are some examples of when you may need to refund, accept returns, or cancel orders:

• You can't fulfill an order or part of an order.
• The customer doesn't receive your order.
• The customer returns an item.
• The customer files a credit card chargeback or an A-to-z Guarantee Claim.
• The customer requests you cancel an order.
• The buyer is unable to receive the order at the address provided.

It's a good idea to check your seller account daily during the holidays so you can proactively take action on any order issues.

For lots of information on returns, refunds, canceling orders, A-to-z Guarantee claims and chargebacks, see our Help pages, which are available to you 24 hours a day.

Be a star this holiday season - give great customer service

Sellers who give great customer service can see results in good feedback and repeat sales to buyers.

Here are some buyer-pleasing selling habits that can have buyers back for more:

• Make a point of responding to customer inquiries within 24 hours.
• It goes without saying that contact between you and a buyer must be courteous. Customers remember sellers who treat them well.
• To add a personal touch, include "thank you" notes on packing slips.

Watch our video to learn more about providing great customer service.

Keep Safety and Security in Mind

Amazon wants to be the safest place to buy and sell online. Here are some things you can do to help us in that goal:

• Only accept payment through Marketplace Payments by Amazon for your orders. Transactions that are conducted outside of the Marketplace Payments by Amazon system are not protected by the Amazon.com A-to-z Guarantee.
• Ship orders only to addresses provided to you by Amazon. If you are asked to ship to a different address, cancel the order and ask the buyer to place a new order with the preferred address selected.
• Learn about “spoof” emails and how to report them to us immediately.
• Change your password regularly.
• Consider setting up a separate bank account for disbursements from your Marketplace Payments account.
• Amazon.com never asks you to verify sensitive information via e-mail. Submit such information only when completing an order on our website, registering for Marketplace Payments by Amazon, or contacting us directly through our online forms.
• Review the terms of our online Privacy Notice and our other Privacy & Security resources.

Getting Paid - How It Works

The item has been received, the buyer is totally happy and the only thing left is to get paid!  How does this work?

Have you entered the information for a valid U.S. bank checking account into your seller account?

Amazon transfers funds from your sales directly to the bank account you specify in your seller account. If you enter your checking account information too late (less than 24 hours before your first scheduled disbursement) it can delay getting your funds for another 14 days. We suggest entering it in when you first set up your account, or before you list your first item.

How and when do I get paid?

After you first register to sell on Amazon, we let the funds from your sales accumulate for the first 14 days. At the end of this time, we settle your account – i.e., subtract our fees and shuffle the rest of the funds off to you via an Automated Clearing House (ACH) transfer to your checking account. This is your first disbursement. After this, disbursements will occur automatically every 14 days.

Disbursements usually appear in your checking account within 3-5 business days. Note that for a disbursement to take place, you must have a positive balance. Amazon fees and customer refunds, if any, can affect your balance.

How do I know I have been paid?

Your settlements can viewed in the Payments account section of your seller account at any time.

Why didn't I get paid?

There are several reasons why you might not have been paid:

• You recently began selling on Amazon.com and your first 14-day settlement period has not concluded.
• Your first settlement period has concluded but you do not have a positive account balance.
• You have not yet entered your bank account information.
• The bank account information you entered is incorrect. Contact your bank to confirm the checking account number and ACH (Automated Clearinghouse) routing number.
• You entered debit card information instead of checking account information.  A checking account with an ACH routing number is required for seller disbursements.
• Your bank does not accept ACH transfers.  Contact your bank to confirm that they accept ACH transfers. If they don't, provide a checking account from a bank that accepts ACH transfers.
• Your bank is outside the United States.  A checking account in a US-based bank is required for seller disbursements.
• The bank account is now closed. Contact your bank to obtain the checking account number and ACH routing number for your new bank account.

Dealing with negative feedback

When you sell at Amazon.com, you should work with buyers to resolve any differences. Communication is usually the key--simply explaining a delay or reassuring a buyer puts most issues to rest. But sometimes an order results in the seller receiving negative feedback from the buyer.

If you receive a feedback comment that you are not happy with, we encourage you to contact your buyer, and work with them to resolve any order issues. Your buyer could then remove the feedback if they feel it would be appropriate.

If the buyer has indicated that they're willing to remove the feedback, here are simple instructions to give them. They are also available on our buyer Help page, Leaving Feedback.

1. Go to http://www.amazon.com/your-account
2. Under "Personalization," in the "Community" column, click "Seller Feedback Submitted By You."
3. A list of all of the feedback left by you will display. Click the "Remove" link next to the feedback would like to remove.

(If there is no "Remove" option next to a comment, this means the 60-day removal period has expired.)

Amazon will remove feedback only in the following cases:

• The feedback includes obscene language.
• The feedback includes personally identifiable information.
• The entire feedback comment is a product review.
• The entire feedback comment is regarding fulfillment or customer service for an order fulfilled by Amazon.

When you receive negative feedback, put it in perspective. A 0-2% negative feedback rate is great! If your negative feedback rate is greater than 5%, you may want to review your business practices. Remember that you can do a lot to avoid receiving negative feedback by providing great customer service!