Browse discussions
Pinned by community managerSort by
Filters
Browse discussions
Pinned by community managerOn-Time Delivery Rate FAQ
Good Afternoon Forums!
We wanted to expand on the changes to the On-Time Delivery Rate (OTDR) policy that were previously communicated. Effective September 25, 2024, sellers are required to maintain a minimum of 90% OTDR without promise extensions on seller-fulfilled products listed on Amazon.com. An OTDR below 90% can result in restriction of your ability to have seller-fulfilled products listed.
The OTDR report will calculate based on the tracked seller-fulfilled units that were delivered on or before the seller-promised ‘Deliver-by’ date. The corresponding report will look at a time window of 14-days which will reflect a 7-day delay to account for any orders that are still being delivered. The promised ‘Deliver by’ date is calculated utilizing the set handling and transit time, prior to the addition of any promise extension.
We have designed tools to help set accurate delivery dates, reduce late deliveries, and to meet or exceed the minimum OTDR requirement. As Amazon is making calculations on your behalf that affect OTDR, you’ll get OTDR protection from late deliveries on units shipped through standard shipping if you use all 3 tools as follows:
- Shipping Settings Automation (SSA), you must choose one of the preferred ship methods in the SSA templates, which will mark the transit time on the shipping template as "Managed by Amazon".
- Automated handling time (AHT), you must ensure that automated handling time is enabled in your shipping settings.
- Amazon Buy Shipping, you can use Amazon Buy Shipping to purchase “OTDR Protected” labels through Manage Orders, Shipping API, Veeqo, or select multi-channel integrators with access to Amazon Buy Shipping. You must choose shipping labels marked as “OTDR Protected” when purchasing labels.
Note: OTDR Protection is only available for units shipped through Standard Shipping, units shipped through other shipping options such as Free Economy, Standard Prime, or Premium Shipping, are not eligible for OTDR protection.
FAQs
How do I verify the tools are enabled?
You can verify that you have enabled all of the automation tools on Seller Central by checking the following:
- Automated handling time: Go to the "Handling Time" section on your Seller Central settings page and check if the automated handling time toggle is enabled.
- Shipping Settings Automation (SSA): Go to the "Shipping Templates" tab on your Seller Central settings page, and check that under the Standard shipping section the transit time says "Managed by Amazon".
- Buy Shipping: Go to the "Manage Orders" page and click "Buy shipping," which will take you to Amazon Buy Shipping where you can purchase labels for ship methods that are marked as "OTDR Protected".
Please be aware that protection is only applicable to Professional sellers shipping from the US, as all of the required tools are currently not available on Individual selling plans or to Professional sellers that are shipping from outside of the US.
Which time should I refer to on the report when reviewing the metric?
When verifying if your order was delivered within the required window, be sure to check that the ‘Actual Delivery Date’ has occurred prior to the ‘Promised delivery date without a promise extension’. The order must be delivered prior to this listed date and time, otherwise it will not be considered OTDR compliant. You can verify the "Deliver by" date on the order confirmation page.
Please note that the time for the ‘Deliver by’ date will be measured in Pacific Time (PST/PDT). For example, if your product had a set deliver by date of Jan 1, 11:59:59 p.m., all items in the order must be delivered prior or on this specific date and time to be considered compliant.
What if the package is delivered after the ‘Deliver by’ date seen in seller central, but before the date seen by the customer?
If your shipment arrives after the promised delivery date, it will count as a late delivery and will affect your on-time delivery rate, unless you have automated handling time enabled on your account, the shipped item is assigned to a Shipping Template with Shipping Settings Automation enabled, and you shipped using an "OTDR Protected" label from Amazon Buy Shipping.
How long after the metric is below the target will I receive communication regarding my seller-fulfilled listings?
We will email you if your OTDR is below 90% and will start by addressing sellers with the lowest OTDR performance. The first email notification will be a formal warning that your seller-fulfilled listing functionality is now at risk due to the low OTDR. If your OTDR is not improved over the following 30 days, your seller-fulfilled listings will be deactivated.
If this happens, you will receive a notification outlining the steps to submit an appeal to request reinstatement of your seller-fulfilled capabilities or to submit an explanation if you believe there has been an error.
Professional sellers who ship domestically within the US will be required to utilize the fulfillment and shipping tools listed above for 180 days to ensure they meet the 90% target. Once the 180 days has passed, you will have the option to not use the tools.
Will I get penalized for a late delivery caused by disruptive events out of my control such as weather?
If there is a major disruption event that impacts all sellers shipping to a specific region, Amazon will not count deliveries that are late as a result in your OTDR. Whether a disruption is considered to be major is a discretionary decision made by Amazon.
What if I am an international seller facing issues such as customs clearance?
The requirement is the same for all sellers; however, as an international seller, you have the ability to set longer Transit Times to account for the overseas delivery aspects.
What if I am a low-volume or seasonal seller?
We will measure your On-time delivery (OTDR), but the requirements will not apply if you ship less than 20 orders across all of your products in the 14-day period being measured.
For seasonal sellers, we will recommend enabling AHT because it will use your recent Handling Time history to adjust to your handling capabilities during the off-peak seasons. AHT will set your Order Handling Capacity for you based on your fulfillment history. Your Order Handling Capacity is the limit for how many orders you can process in a day, and once this limit is reached you will receive an extra day of Handling Time to process that order.
What should I do if I have questions?
Ask questions about the OTDR policy updates at an Ask Amazon event on October 1st
If there is still information or details you are looking to understand, we encourage you to check out our live event regarding OTDR policy updates taking place on October 1st where you can share your questions in real time.
My account has been disabled due to suspicion of counterfeit products
My account has been disabled due to suspicion of counterfeit products , But I didn't violate any policies, I didn't receive any complaints, they chose me arbitrarily. I acted honestly only in accordance with Amazon policies. I've been trained not to make mistakes
I told them many times that my buyer account was closed by Amazon and that if they opened my buyer account, I would give them the invoice. they didn't help at all My inventory and money are stuck inside
[Moderator Edit: removed inappropriate commentary]
I regret being involved with Amazon.
Reactivate
Can someone help me reactivate my account? i called recently but i don't understand what they want me to do.
Mexico Account Deactivated
Hello everyone,
My Mexico account was deactivated at my fault. I let a former business partner use my Credit Card on their Amazon Selling account. I acknowledged that was an innocent mistake. I was brand new to Amazon selling & not aware of the ToS. As a result, the Amazon. mx account was deactivated. I do not sell in Mexico. However, this deactivation negatively impacts other functions in the United States account.
I tried many ways to get it reactivated. I submitted all the documents I could think of:
- Credit card statements are to show the charges that caused the linkage.
- The contract with a Terminating Date.
- Letter from the other account owner to clarify the situation
- Notarized Letter to show I only own 1 account
- Driver's License to show my Identity
- Credit Card Statement to show that the old card was replaced by the Credit Card company
- The letter to explain the situation, acknowledge the mistake, future preventions to not let it happen again
- Business documents such as registration with the State & the IRS
I submitted everything... It is still deactivated. I asked the partner to remove everything that has my information in their account:
- Phone Number
- Address
- Email address
I also removed all information I could think of that could cause the linkage, such as the old card in the Advertising Charge Method & the general Charge Method.
I am hitting a brick wall because I am completely lost. The Account Health Specialist does not provide any useful information to me. They only give suggestions.
I do understand that it is my fault & my responsibility to do research. However, I have my limit when it comes to the knowledge of what is still causing the linkage. I need help....
17 Year account changed into NEW account on payments. Case transferred for 15 days no response. Need Admin Help
Case Numbers: 15986911041
15952352121
Long story short, Verified my account in April of this year, put account on Vacation mode for 3 months while adding thousands of skus.
Turned off vacation mode and account was forced to re verify, All went through no issues.
17 Year account seller, I have always been able to request payment every 24 hours, never have had an account reserve on payments.
After my account was verified for the second time in 6 months, amazon has now put my account with a reserve on my payments,
even though the data is there to prove other wise.
Was told by Seller support I should have never had to reverify my account twice in 6 months.
Now they have changed my payments into A new seller with an account reserve.
My case has been transferred for 15 days, with no response.
No where does it say you cant put your account on vacation mode and have to reverify or they will change your payments.
During this vacation mode the account was active daily adding thousands of skus during this time.
Need a moderator to look into this on why this occurred and why can I not get a response or who it was transferred to.
Account deactivated by mistake
Good morning,
My account is activated due to section 3 but I do not have any second account neither did I sell anything on Amazon ever. I have opened multiple cases but the case is still not resolved. In addition, I am receiving emails from Amazon that some of my some listed items are removed from the catalogue due to policy violations but they are not my products as I never sold anything on my accounts yet and do not have those products. I am lost here and I did nothing wrong. Please guide me on what should I do. Thank you
Bogus A to Z Decision by Amazon Violates Their Policy on Amazon Shipping
I got an order from Amazon. Used Amazon shipping, and the order notes that the order is protected from claims and ODR because I used Amazon shipping. I shipped on time, and the item was delivered on time.
After delivery, the customer messaged to say they never got the package. I responded within 5 hours with additional information for the customer.
Then, last night, Amazon opens and closes an A to Z, finds in favor of the customer, debits my account, says I never responded to the customer (which they can see that I did).
I file an appeal. I remind Amazon I shipped using Amazon shipping, shipped on time, delivered on time, and messaged the customer when they messaged me.
Amazon DENIES MY APPEAL and states : We have reviewed all available information and determined you have not provided sufficient evidence to prove delivery.
The person who responded to this from Amazon should be reviewed by a supervisor. Amazon, you're violating the very premise of the A to Z protection for sellers for using Amazon Shipping/Postage.
100% garbage, and Amazon is violating their whole seller protection which is guaranteed when you follow each of the steps I did.
Why is Amazon making this so difficult? And, how come this only seems to happen on BIGGER orders?
Order 112-9429411-8646664
TRO has been settled and the proof has been sent to Amazon, but the funds are still on hold , please help. Thank you so much
Hello, we have contacted the and reached a settlement. The record is as follows
Full Case No.: 1:24-cv-04123
2024.06.05 - Received TRO from the seller performance team
2024.08.08 - I have signed the settlement agreement with the right owner
2024.08.08 - The plaintiff withdrew the lawsuit, and he notified Amazon that he withdrew the complaint
At the same time, we also submitted a settlement agreement signed with the right owner and the court's withdrawal documents to Amazon. Please review them. Up to now, I have saw the other sellers unfrozen the funds in about 1-2 weeks. Why hasn’t i unfrozen the funds even though i actively solved the problem? It's been 6 weeks. I have contacted the seller support team for many times, no one responded me, the cases are on "transferred" status and show: Answered cases cannot be reopened after 5 days with no activity. Really don't know what to do, Companies and families are facing great economic difficultiesplease help me! thank you so much.
Kind regards
@Nano_Amazon @LeviDylan_Amazon @Atlas_Amazon @Micah_Amazon @CR_Amazon @Steve_Amazon @Quincy_Amazon
Case ID: 16046608721; 16033276681 15955574611
Additionally, this is a screenshot of the withdrawal lawsuit notification email submitted by the Rights Owner to Amazon
Hello, the marketplace in Saudi Arabia is not accepting previously accepted invoices, and other invoices are also being rejected. My product is purchased from the brand's original website, but the invoices for products purchased from the original website are not being accepted. Due to the issues in the Saudi Arabian market, all my stores have been suspended. My products located in the United States have been pending for a long time, and our products are on the verge of being destroyed. We are also not sure if we have the invoices for the requested products as they are over a year old and may be in our archives. I kindly request your assistance
Change of business structure , i would like to close my selller account and open fresh new seller with new comoany set up , if this recommened?
My current account is activated, however wasn’t in good health. It is sole trader business. I have closed that business under that name. And now i have a new company set up as pty ltd.
Can i closed or terminate my current seller account and restart a new fresh seller account?
Amazon section 3 violation
Hello everyone,
I've received an email from Amazon that my account is being deactivated due to violation of Amazon section 3 on the product which I just listed and never sold a single unit.
What happened is that I've found a product and listed it and later try to source it, I've found the supplier and I bought that product but when I seen the product invoice from the supplier, I doubt about the product authenticity, I quickly canceled the shipment and told my supplier that not to ship it, but because I've already sent the SKU's of the units and shipment, my supplier sent the shipment which (I feel with dishonest intentions) after that the shipment reached to Amazon fulfillment center but never go live to sell to the customers.
I my supplier for refund, he repeatedly said that I'll refund if the inventory would return to me, I created a case with Amazon and tried to get that shipment return to my supplier but Amazon said that you've cancelled the shipment and we don't have any record and let you know if we found it later.
Recently my account got deactivated and Amazon is asking for the invoice of that same product which never went live on my account to sale but only listed on my account, I've submitted the invoice that is provided by my supplier but Amazon is not accepting it, I know that invoice would not be accepted that is why I take those precautionary measures and bear the lose of that inventory, I've explained all my situation in my appeal to Amazon but they're still not accepting it, account expert stating that it doesn't matter that the product went live or not but you've to provide the invoice because you've listed the product on your seller account.
If anyone knows how I can solve this issue, Please help !
- © 1999-2024, Amazon.com, Inc. or its affiliates
