Amazon Vendor Chargeback Fees (Updated December 2021)

November 17th, 2021

amazon vendor chargeback feesAmazon Vendor Chargeback Fees

*Updated December 2021. Intended to be used for informational purposes only. Fees may be changed by Amazon at any time.

Amazon may be able to expand your sales volume considerably, and it should certainly be a part of your sales and distribution plans. Be careful though, if you do not follow Amazon's guidelines when using their sales platforms your profits will quickly erode. 

Amazon can impose fees, which they call “chargebacks”, against your sales by penalizing you with “non-compliance.” These Amazon Vendor chargeback fees aren’t the only way Amazon can impact your progress toward your revenue goals.

If the Amazon Vendor chargeback fees aren’t enough to align you with Amazon’s rules, Amazon can take actions which will result in delays such as:

  • Refusal of your inventory
  • Return or disposal of your inventory
  • Blocking of your future shipments to the Amazon fulfillment center
  • Getting involved in resolving problems related to your preparation.


There are understandable reasons for the Amazon Vendor chargeback fees. Amazon is highly systematized for efficiency and profit. When sellers don’t follow Amazon’s rules, it breaks the efficiency and impacts Amazon’s operations. Such impacts can sometimes result in Amazon incurring unexpected costs. The chargebacks are intended to cover those costs.

How to Find Info on Your Amazon Vendor Chargeback Fees

Lots of processes on Vendor Central seem mysterious but, when confronted with Amazon Vendor chargeback fees, details can be accessed via the “Payments” tab of your Vendor Central account in one of two ways:

  1. Go to “Remittance” to view the itemized deductions listed under the description. Look for the check mark that includes the Amazon chargeback.
  2. Go to “Reports” > “Operational Performance" to view all charges for your account over the past year, especially operational errors. Choose an Amazon chargeback type from the list to learn about the details.

    Accessing the details, status and type will also come in handy when disputing the chargeback.

 

Amazon Vendor Chargeback Fees as of December 2021

The current list of specific chargeback fees pertain to Amazon having problems with your Advance Shipping Notifications (ASNs), Direct Fulfillment, Drop Shipping, Package Preparation, Purchase Orders, the Receive Process at Amazon, and Transportation issues.

Amazon has a help section dedicated to Vendor Operational Performance (Chargebacks). You will need to log into your Vendor account to access this information. 

Advance Advance Shipment Notification (ASN) Chargebacks
Direct Fulfillment Chargebacks
Drop Shipment Chargebacks
Packaging/Preparation Chargebacks
Purchase Order (PO) Chargebacks
Receive Process Chargebacks
Transportation Chargebacks

Advance Shipment Notification (ASN) Chargebacks

In Vendor Central, Amazon must schedule and prioritize freight shipments of your goods to their warehouse(s), so they require Vendors to complete an accurate ASN before the shipment arrives at their fulfillment center. Amazon reviews all ASN files and alerts the shipping Vendor in Vendor Central and via email if they detect an error.

Amazon will review your performance based on trailing four weeks and issue Amazon Vendor chargeback fees based on the following criteria:

  • 2% cost of product: ASNs you submit have less than 100% compliance but greater than 95% from the trailing six weeks.
  • 4% cost of product: ASNs you submit have between 70% - 95% compliance from the prior six weeks.
  • 6% cost of product: ASNs you submit have less than 70% compliance from the prior six weeks.

Note: This chargeback applies to both small parcel and TL/LTL shipments.

How to Avoid These Amazon Vendor Chargeback Fees

Send Advance Shipment Notifications (ASNs) for each shipment within 30 minutes of truck departure or six hours prior to delivery to a fulfillment center, whichever is sooner.

You can verify whether you have submitted an ASN for a recent shipment in Vendor Central. To review your recent shipments in Vendor Central, go to Orders > Shipments, and click one of the “View shipments created in the last…” links. If there is no ASN listed for your shipment, you will need to submit one before Amazon receives your shipment in order to avoid a chargeback.

To dispute these Amazon Vendor chargeback fees, provide the following support documentation:

    1. If the note accompanying your chargeback says you didn't submit an ASN with a tracking (PRO) number, then provide a screenshot of the ASN in Vendor Central containing the PO and PRO for this chargeback, or a text copy/XML of the EDI 856 transmission that shows the carrier tracking/PRO number and PO for this chargeback.
    2. If the note accompanying your chargeback says you didn't submit an ASN for the shipment, then provide a screenshot of the ASN in Vendor Central, or a text copy/XML of the EDI 856 transmission that shows the ASN was submitted before the shipment was received.
    3. If the note accompanying your chargeback says you didn't submit an ASN for the PO number and product number, then provide a screenshot of the ASN in Vendor Central showing the PO number and item level details of the ASIN in question. For EDI, provide a text copy/XML of the EDI 856 transmission that shows you confirmed via EDI 856 and showing the PO number and item level details of the ASIN in question.


Direct Fulfillment Amazon Vendor Chargeback Fees

 

If you fulfill orders yourself, beware of these chargebacks:

  1. A “Cancellation Rate” chargeback of $10 per issue occurs when you cancel an order, either because you denied an order that Amazon submitted, or because you began to fulfill an order Amazon submitted but could not complete it.

    These chargebacks occur when you don't have any inventory at the time Amazon placed the order, or of you not having enough to complete the order. Additionally, a high cancellation rate can negatively impact your performance metrics and can lead to the suspension of your warehouse or account.

    How to Avoid These Amazon Vendor Chargeback Fees
    Ensure that your warehouse inventories are accurate and that updated inventory feeds are submitted in a timely manner. To reduce the chance of receiving an order you can't fulfill, update your available inventory at least once every 24 hours (per warehouse).

    To dispute this chargeback: follow the “dispute a chargeback” steps and provide the following support documentation:
    Justification, along with supporting documents (for example, case number) for rejecting the customer's order.

  2. A “Ship Method Mismatch” chargeback of $10 per issue means that you shipped an Amazon order using a different carrier or a different ship method from the one Amazon specified in the order.

    How to Avoid These Amazon Vendor Chargeback Fees
    1. During integration, your business indicated it could ship using a specific carrier, but your warehouse is not actually set up for Amazon’s drop shipments through that carrier. Switching to another carrier, even if it is a comparable method, is not allowed. You must start using the carrier as soon as possible or your metrics will continue to be affected and your website availability will be at risk.
    2. Always follow Amazon’s instructions regarding the assigned ship method for an order.
    3. Approval to change the ship method was not requested or received by Amazon from your Vendor Manager. You cannot change the shipment priority (for example, change from standard shipping to priority shipping, or vice versa) without Amazon’s approval.
    4. Contact your Vendor Manager immediately if any products affected by this chargeback do not correctly reflect the ship method and provide the products' complete package dimensions (L x W x H) and weight.
    5. If you are using EDI to send your Advanced Shipment Notification (ASN), make sure that you are using the ship method name provided by Amazon. For example, if the ship method in the order is UPS_2ND, referencing any other ship method in the ASN will be considered a ship method mismatch.

 

Drop Shipment Amazon Vendor Chargeback Fees

Sending an order directly from the manufacturer may be a convenient option at time, but beware of these Amazon Vendor chargeback fees:
  1. A “Cancellation Rate” chargeback of $10 per issue is charged when a drop-shipping vendor denies an order that Amazon submitted to them. Dropshippers ship products on behalf of Amazon.com. Dropship vendors are required to provide the same quality and service that would be provided if the product were shipped by Amazon. More specifically, dropship chargebacks occur when a drop ship vendor fails to provide accurate inventory levels or ships damaged/defective products to customers. If your inventory system inaccurately showed a product as "in-stock" at the time Amazon placed the order, but you later had to cancel that order because the product was actually "out of stock", you will receive a chargeback.

    How to Avoid These Amazon Vendor Chargeback Fees
    Ensure that your warehouse inventories are accurate and that updated inventory feeds are submitted in a timely manner.

    To dispute these Amazon Vendor chargeback fees, follow the “dispute a chargeback” steps and provide the following support documentation:

    Justification, along with supporting documents (e.g., case number) for rejecting the customer's order.

  2. A “Floor Denial” chargeback of $10 per issue is levied if you began to fulfill an order Amazon submitted, but could not complete the order because you did not have enough of the product in stock

    How to Avoid These Amazon Vendor Chargeback Fees
    Ensure that your warehouse inventories are accurate and that updated inventory feeds are submitted in a timely manner.

    To dispute these Amazon Vendor chargeback fees: follow the “dispute a chargeback” steps and provide the following support documentation:
    Justification, along with supporting documents (e.g., case number) for rejecting the customer's order.

  3. A “Ship Method Mismatch” of $10 per issue is imposed if you shipped an Amazon order using the right carrier but chose a different ship method (e.g. priority shipping, overnight shipping, etc.) from the one Amazon instructed.

    How to Avoid These Amazon Vendor Chargeback Fees
  • During integration, your business indicated it could ship using a specific carrier, but your warehouse is not actually set up for Amazon’s drop shipments through that carrier. Switching to another carrier, even if it is a comparable method, is not allowed. You must start using the carrier Amazon prefers as soon as possible or your metrics will continue to be affected and your website availability will be at risk.
  • Always follow Amazon’s instructions regarding the assigned ship method for an order.
  • Approval to change the ship method was not requested or received from your Vendor Manager. You cannot change the shipment priority (e.g. change from standard shipping to priority shipping, or vice versa) without Amazon’s approval.
  • Contact your Vendor Manager immediately if any products affected by this chargeback do not correctly reflect the LTL or UPS ship method and provide the products' complete package dimensions (L x W x H) and weight.

    To dispute these Amazon Vendor chargeback fees: follow the “dispute a chargeback” steps and provide the following support documentation:
    Justification, along with supporting documents (e.g., ASIN's actual dimension and weight or product restrictions) for the change of ship method.


Packaging/Preparation Amazon Vendor Chargeback Fees

If Amazon has to fix problems with your preparation to ensure that the product will reach the customer’s doorstep safely and without damage, they will issue a chargeback. Specifically, if, in Amazon’s judgment, your packaging fails to protect fragile products, fails to contain potential spillage, fails to shield the product from dust, or fails to safeguard customers and associates, they will repackage it and charge you.
 
  1. A “Bagging” chargeback of $0.85 per unit is charged if you shipped Amazon a product that requires a bag to contain it or protect it, or protect others from it, but you did not properly bag it.
  2. A “Boxing” chargeback of $1.64 per unit is charged in order to keep product parts together, to replace a damaged box, and to protect the product if the original packaging does not provide enough protection. 
  3. An “Bubble Wrap” chargeback of $1.14 per unit is levied if you did not properly bubble wrap your products that are fragile, sharp, or have loose pieces that cannot be secured with tape alone.
  4. A “Taping”“ chargeback of $0.66 per unit is charged if your products were not properly secured (i.e., taped) for shipment.
  5. A “Set Creation” chargeback of $1.03 per unit is levied if the pack size that is described in the title of your product does not match what arrives in the box at the Amazon Fulfillment Center. Products that contain two or more units of a single product must be packaged as a set before they arrive.
  6. A “Suffocation Warning” chargeback of $0.72 per unit is imposed if Amazon receives a product that requires a bag with suffocation warning either printed on the bag or attached as a label, missing the suffocation warning.
  7. An “Opaque Covering” chargeback of $1.05 per unit is charged if you are selling adult products displaying nudity, provocative positions, or vulgar language, requiring an opaque cover, and not bagged using an opaque plastic bag.
  8. An “Apparel - Remove Hanger” chargeback is $0.80 per unit is levied if hangers are not removed from the individual sellable units of certain products.
  9. A “ASIN Stickering” chargeback of $0.69 per unit is charged when the product does not have an ASIN barcode, it does not physically scan, or it links to an incorrect, inactive ASIN.

Additional potentially impacting packaging restrictions apply within these specific product categories:

  • Small Products
  • Pellets, Powders, and Granular Products
  • Batteries
  • Plush Units
  • Baby Products
  • Apparel, Fabric and Textiles
  • Glass, Ceramic, Breakable and Fragile Units
  • Sharp Units
  • Jewelry
  • Small Products
  • Adult Products
  • Plexiglass

 

Purchase Order (PO) Amazon Vendor Chargeback Fees

 

An “Unconfirmed PO Units” chargeback means that you sent Amazon products that you never confirmed on a purchase order. This confirmation must be made via EDI or Vendor Central. Discrepancies between the products listed in the PO and the products that you actually ship to Amazon could result in chargebacks.

This includes instances wherein you ship products that:

Amazon does not expect, are unconfirmed or canceled, exceed the number of confirmed products OR have inaccurate acknowledgment or confirmation information (availability, quantities, or expected ship/delivery dates).

Specific percentages (of cost-of-product) for PO-related Chargebacks

  1. “Unconfirmed PO Units” (products that you never confirmed on a purchase order) - 10% cost of product

How to avoid these Amazon Vendor chargeback fees: Confirm purchase orders within one (1) day of the purchase order submission. This can be done through either Vendor Central or EDI. For instructions on managing POs in Vendor Central, see  Manage Purchase Orders. For instructions on managing POs through EDI, see About EDI 855.

Note: Exchanging other information, such as an EDI 997 or 856 document or submitting an Advanced Shipment Notification (ASN) or Load Notification in Vendor Central are not adequate forms of confirming a purchase order.

To dispute these Amazon Vendor chargeback fees, follow Amazon’s “dispute a chargeback” steps and provide the following support  documentation:

Screenshot of Vendor Central or the text copy/XML of the EDI 855 transmission that shows that the ASIN was confirmed on the PO in question.

  • For “Overage PO Units” if Amazon receives more products than you confirmed in the purchase order:
  • 100% cost of product for Fresh (in US only)
  • 30% cost of product for Apparel, Baby, Beauty, Lux Beauty, Grocery, HPC, Luggage, Pantry and Shoes
  • 10% cost of product (COGS) for all other categories


How to Avoid These Amazon Vendor Chargeback Fees
Review some of the most common causes of overage non-compliance:

  • Amazon may not have correct information about which products should be ordered for case quantities and how many individual units make up a case.
  • Your system may allow for multiple POs to be combined. Amazon cannot accept combined or consolidated POs. Units for multiple POs may be physically combined into the same box or same shipment (see the North American Vendor Shipment Prep and Transportation Manual in the Operations section of the Resource Center in Vendor Central for more information). However, all order information, such as the PO confirmation, the ASN, and the invoice, must correctly reference the PO numbers originally submitted.
  • The order may have been filled more than once by mistake.
  • You may have confirmed fewer units than Amazon ordered. Amazon considers a PO to be valid for the number of units you confirmed, not the number Amazon originally ordered.

To dispute these Amazon Vendor chargeback fees, follow the “dispute a chargeback” steps and provide the following support  documentation:

  • Screenshot of Vendor Central or copy of the EDI 856 transmission that shows that the correct quantity of the ASIN (as confirmed in the PO) was shipped.
  • Screenshot of Vendor Central or copy of the EDI 855 showing that the correct quantity of the ASIN was confirmed in the PO.

“PO On-Time Accuracy” chargeback applies if more than 10% of your confirmed products don’t arrive during the purchase order window. This will also include any items placed on backorder. However, Amazon will cancel the charges if your on-time rate average was better than 90% for the four weeks prior. If your prior four-week rate is below 90% the chargebacks can be:

  • 3% of cost of goods (COGS) for all units received outside the delivery window in a given week
  • 3% of the cost of the product for the difference in confirmed units if that number is reduced after 5 days into the ship/delivery window. For example, if you confirmed 15 units but reduced that to 10 units after 5 days into the PO window, we deduct 3% from the unit cost of the missing 5 units (Down-confirmed).
  • 10% of COGS for all units canceled in a given week

Note: Back ordered items will be included as confirmed units, so to avoid errant cancellations or changes to orders, be sure to provide accurate updates. If Amazon’s shipping and delivery windows are proving difficult to meet, Amazon advises that you take advantage of the 10% grace for back ordering or shipping confirmed units later. Alternatively, you can simply reject the PO.

How to Avoid These Amazon Vendor Chargeback Fees

  1. Go to your Operational performance dashboard to glean the current number of units that were either early or outside of the order window.
  2. If the item is immediately available for fulfillment:
    • Accept only orders for products that will be available to ship “collect” in the ship window or deliver them “prepaid” to Amazon’s fulfillment center in the delivery window.
    • Complete a routing request the same day that you confirm your PO. Submit the Freight Ready Date (FRD) within your ship window.
  3. If the item is not immediately available for fulfillment:
    • If the PO allows back orders, confirm the line item as back order with the number of units you are able to fill.
    • Provide either an Estimated Ship Date (ESD, collect freight) or an Estimated Delivery Date (EDD, prepaid freight) for the line item.
    • Do not change the PO status code from a back ordered code to an accepted code when you ship back ordered items.
  4. If the PO does not allow back orders, reject the line item.
  5. If the item’s fulfillment availability is not known, reject the PO.

To dispute these Amazon Vendor chargeback fees, follow the “dispute a chargeback” steps and provide the following support  documentation:

For delayed units:

  • Prepaid TL/LTL shipments: CARP appointment request indicating Requested Delivery Date within delivery window.
  • Prepaid small parcel shipments: Proof of delivery that includes a tracking number, PO, and delivery date within the assigned delivery window.
  • Collect shipments: Carrier request submitted by 11:59pm (Pacific time) on the business day prior to the last date of the ship window indicating Freight Ready Date within the ship window.

For canceled units:

  • Complete list of products IDs shipped on the PO including total shipping weight.
  • Collect shipments: Proof of shipment routing email that contains an email date stamp and the Amazon Reference Number.
  • For prepaid vendors: Proof of delivery (PRO, BOL, or tracking number) that contains a delivery date, indicates that the products shipped, and is signed/stamped by Amazon.

How to Avoid These Amazon Vendor Chargeback Fees
Submit your PO item acknowledgments within one day of the order date. This can be done through either Vendor Central or EDI.

  1. For instructions on managing POs in Vendor Central, see Manage Purchase Orders.
  2. For instructions on managing POs through EDI, see About EDI 855.
  3. For the EDI 855 Specifications document that details these required fields, go to the Technical section of the Resource Center and download EDI Specification for 855 Purchase Order Acknowledgment.

To dispute these Amazon Vendor chargeback fees, follow the “dispute a chargeback” steps and provide the following support  documentation:

  • If you tried to confirm your PO via Vendor Central, provide an explanation of the system error that would not allow you to confirm the PO on time and the case number of the contact that you submitted about the error.
  • If you confirm via EDI, provide the EDI feed submitted for the line item in question that includes the PO acknowledgment submission date to show that the acknowledgment was submitted within one day of the order date.

 

Receive Process Amazon Vendor Chargeback Fees

Amazon fulfillment centers are set up to receive shipments in a certain way. Deviations from that uniformity require Amazon to use stop gap measures when vendors don’t adhere to the system shipping requirements. That break in efficiency has a cost to Amazon that you will cover with these chargeback fees:

  • 3% of the cost of product for “Non-Compliant Barcode” if you either did not include barcodes on the products you shipped or the barcode that you provided could not be scanned. All merchandise that you send Amazon must include a product identification number (UPC, ASIN, EAN, ISBN, etc.) that is barcoded and printed numerically on the exterior so that they can identify and scan the product.

How to Avoid These Amazon Vendor Chargeback Fees
Put a barcode on an easily-visible and scannable part of each product or its point of sale packaging. Ensure that this barcode is affixed properly and is not at risk for damage during the packaging and shipping processes. For more information go to Amazon’s Vendor Central Resource Center, in the Operations section, select North American Vendor Shipment Guidelines, and review NA_Vendor_Prep_and Trans_Manual.pdf

To dispute these Amazon Vendor chargeback fees: follow the “dispute a chargeback” steps and provide the following support  documentation:

  • Image(s) of a valid PO label on a carton that shows that the carton had correctly displayed barcode information.
  • $10 per carton for “No PO Label on Carton” if you forget to include the purchase order number on the shipping container.

How to Avoid These Amazon Vendor Chargeback Fees
Comply with Amazon’s carton label requirements as outlined in the North American Vendor Shipment Prep and Transportation Manual located in the Operations section of the Resource Center in Vendor Central.

To dispute these Amazon Vendor chargeback fees, follow the “dispute a chargeback” steps and provide the following support  documentation:

  • Image(s) of a valid PO label on a carton that shows that the carton had correctly displayed barcode information.
  • $25 per carton for “Dunnage Not Compliant” if you used unacceptable packaging materials to ship your products to Amazon’s fulfillment center. Packing peanuts, crinkle wrap, shredded paper, or loose fill of any kind as packaging material (dunnage) to ship your products to Amazon fulfillment centers is a common and costly mistake.

How to Avoid These Amazon Vendor Chargeback Fees
Use accepted packing materials including foam, air pillows, bubble wrap, or full sheets of paper.

To dispute these Amazon Vendor chargeback fees, follow the “dispute a chargeback” steps and provide the following support  documentation:

  • Image(s) of the PO label and dunnage (packaging materials) with one ASIN from the shipment that shows that the box was shipped with Amazon-compliant packaging material.
  • A $2 per unit charge plus 100% of cost of product is charged for “Expired Product” if you send the Amazon Fulfillment Center a product that has either reached its shelf life (expired) or will expire within 90 days of being received at an Amazon Fulfillment Center.

How to Avoid These Amazon Vendor Chargeback Fees
Ensure that the products shipped to Amazon have an expiry date of more than 90 days from the estimated date of delivery to Amazon's fulfillment center. Also, use a globally unambiguous format for the expiry date on the product, for example "2018-Mar-1" rather than "3/1/18."

To dispute these Amazon Vendor chargeback fees follow the “dispute a chargeback” steps and provide the following support  documentation:

  • Image(s) of the PO label AND expiration date on the ASIN that shows that the product was shipped with more than 90 days until the expiration date.
  • “No Carton Content Label” fees are charged if Amazon can’t recognize what is in those cartons. Fees are now assessed based on the trailing one-week labeling defect rate:
    • >= 90% defect rate, <= 10% auto-receive rate is $15/carton, or
    • 65%–89% defect rate, 11–35% auto-receive rate is  $10/carton, or
    • < 65% defect rate, 35%+ auto-receive rate is $5/carton. 

There are three possible notes that can accompany your ‘No Carton Content Label’ chargeback:

  • ‘We were unable to recognize any Carton Content Labels on your carton’: This means that your carton (package) did not have any of the approved Carton Content Labels or they were unable to be read by Amazon’s imaging system. Review the images supplied in the Chargeback Details page and verify that they meet the labeling requirements.
  • ‘The LP label that you used does not appear in any ASN’: This means that Amazon recognized your LP label, but that it did not appear or it was incorrectly identified as "pallet" instead of "carton" in any Advanced Shipment Notification. If you do not include the LP information in your ASN or do not send your ASN, Amazon is unable to auto receive your carton (package).
  • ‘A GTIN-14 was recognized on your carton, but does not have a usable mapping’: This means that Amazon did not find an LP label or a 2D Barcode Packing Slip on your carton (package), but they did recognize a GTIN-14 barcode.

How to Avoid These Amazon Vendor Chargeback Fees
Affix a label with the required information to each carton (package) in your shipment.

How to dispute these Amazon Vendor chargeback fees: follow the “dispute a chargeback” steps and provide the following support  documentation:

  • If the note accompanying your chargeback indicates “We were unable to recognize any Carton Content Labels on your carton”, you must provide an example of the type of carton content label that you are using. It does not have to be the exact label from the chargeback, but it must be representative of what you are supplying on a regular basis.
  • If the note accompanying your chargeback indicates “The LP label that you used does not appear in any ASN”, you must supply the ASN containing the LP barcode information (either the SSCC or the AMZNCC).
  • If the note accompanying your chargeback is “A GTIN-14 was recognized on your carton, but does not have a usable mapping” you must supply the GTIN-14 Gold List that contains the mapping between the GTIN-14, the ASIN, and Quantity. You must also provide the email confirmation that you received from your contact at Amazon stating that the GTIN-14 Gold List was approved.
  1. $25 per “Overweight Carton” if you send a carton to an Amazon fulfillment center containing more than one sellable unit and weighing over 50 pounds.

How to Avoid This Chargeback
Ensure that all of the cartons you send to Amazon with more than one sellable unit do not weigh more than 50.0 pounds. Apply warning labels ("Team Lift" or "Mechanical Lift") to all of the cartons that contain one sellable unit and weigh more than 50.0 pounds.

To dispute these Amazon Vendor chargeback fees, follow the “dispute a chargeback” steps and provide the following support  documentation:

Summary of the contents of the carton(s) you shipped to Amazon along with the weight of each individual item as proof that the total carton weight is less than 50.0 pounds; or

Proof that the carton(s) you shipped to Amazon contained one sellable unit.

  • $25 per “Oversized Carton” if you send a carton to an Amazon fulfillment center that measures over 25 inches on any side (length, width, or height), unless the sellable unit(s) are larger than 25 inches. If any side of the carton is over 25 inches and weighs more than 35.0 pounds, then you must attach a "Team Lift" warning label to avoid the chargeback. If your carton weighs more than 50.0 pounds, you may be subject to the Overweight Cartons chargeback.

How to Avoid These Amazon Vendor Chargeback Fees
Ensure that all of the cartons you send to Amazon do not exceed 25 inches on any side (unless your sellable units are larger than 25 inches). Apply warning labels (“Team Lift”) to all of the cartons that weigh more than 35.0 pounds and measure more than 25 inches on any side.

To dispute these Amazon Vendor chargeback fees, follow the “dispute a chargeback” steps and provide the following support  documentation:

Summary of the contents of the carton(s) you shipped to Amazon along with the dimensions of each individual item as proof that all of the items can fit in a carton not measuring more than 25 inches on any side; or

Proof that the sellable unit(s) within the carton(s) measured over 25 inches, which made an oversized carton necessary.

  • $2.60 per unit for errant Carton Content Accuracy. This chargeback means that the products or the product quantities in a carton Amazon received do not match the information in the Advance Shipment Notification (ASN). For example, if an ASN indicates that 10 units of an item should be in a carton but the actual received carton contains just 4 accurate units and 4 units of a different item, the discrepancy is calculated as 10. This is because Amazon is still missing 6 units of the expected 10, which is added to the number of unexpected units (4), therefore the defect count is 6+4 = 10. If this shipment contains 10 cartons and each contains the same number of defects, Amazon multiplies the defects (10) by the number of cartons (10) to calculate 100 defects. Therefore, the chargeback fee for this shipment with 100 defects is $100 (100 x $1).

How to Avoid These Amazon Vendor Chargeback Fees
Provide accurate information in your ASNs for each shipment, ensuring no unexpected products are packaged and sent to Amazon. If sending case packs (inner cartons), don't place barcode labels on top of the case pack. This leads to the inner pack barcode being scanned instead of the sellable units, causing a discrepancy between received units and stow units.

  • To dispute these Amazon Vendor chargeback fees, follow the “dispute a chargeback” steps and provide the following support  documentation:
  • For the barcode label being placed incorrectly on a case pack/master pack, provide images showing the case pack/master pack and inner cartons were labeled correctly.
  • For wrong items and/or wrong quantity received compared to the information in the ASN, provide a clear image of the item barcode for the missing item. 

 

Transportation-Related Amazon Vendor Chargeback Fees

 

If you ship your items collect (i.e. Amazon pays for the shipping) and you don’t send a routing request (AKA “carrier request”) you could incur these Amazon Vendor chargeback fees:

  1. “No Show” Chargeback - $250 for Truckload (TL) and $90 for Less Than Truckload (LTL)

A No Show chargeback occurs when the carrier does not show up for the confirmed delivery slot and the vendor or carrier does not cancel or reschedule the confirmed appointment in advance.

How to Avoid These Amazon Vendor Chargeback Fees
You can help to avoid No Show problems by ensuring that your carrier keeps the scheduled appointment time and informs Amazon via CARP if they are not able to meet the timeline.

Note: to avoid duplicate appointments being created, align with your carrier when creating the appointment booking in CARP. Duplicate appointments will be subject to chargebacks.

This chargeback only applies for TL/LTL Prepaid shipments. If you are using Amazon’s Collect/Preferred Carrier Program, you will not be impacted by the No Show chargeback.

  1. “Pickup Accuracy” Chargeback - $500 TL, $200 for LTL

This chargeback is triggered when a Collect Truckload (TL) or Less-Than-Truckload (LTL) shipment is rescheduled by the vendor after 5:00pm PT the day prior to the scheduled pickup date, or the carrier arrives at the vendor’s location and is unable to be loaded due to vendor-caused issue resulting in a missed pickup. 

How to Avoid These Amazon Vendor Chargeback Fees
Always confirm the planned pickup time given after routing to ensure you can accommodate the pickup date and time. If you aren’t able to accommodate, reschedule the pickup before 5:00pm PT on the day before the scheduled pickup. It is also advised to ensure your operating hours are up-to-date, and that your freight is ready when the driver arrives. Note that TL drivers must be loaded within 90 minutes of their scheduled arrival time. LTL drivers must be loaded within 30 minutes of the scheduled arrival time.

How to dispute these Amazon Vendor chargeback fees: follow the “dispute a chargeback” steps and provide the following support  documentation:

Carrier request ID for the purchase order and, if you contacted Amazon about a technical issue related to submitting a carrier request, contact ID.

  1. “Import Shipment Late Booking” chargeback - 3% cost of product (COGS)

This means that you did not submit a booking to Amazon’s origin service provider, Century Distribution Systems, Inc. (CDS), 13 days prior to the Earliest Vendor Ship Date designated on the purchase order (PO) for your import shipment.

How to Avoid These Amazon Vendor Chargeback Fees
Submit your import shipment booking at least 13 days prior to the Earliest Vendor Ship Date in the PO. If you began to create your booking 13 days prior to the Earliest Vendor Ship Date, but failed to complete the booking (click Submit) within that time frame, you are subject to a chargeback.

How to dispute these Amazon Vendor chargeback fees: follow the “dispute a chargeback” steps and provide the following support  documentation:

  • Screenshot of origin service providers booking system (VMS) with the confirmed PO's Earliest Vendor Ship Date.
  • Screenshot of origin service providers booking system (VMS) with submitted booking.
  1. “Import PO On-Time Non-Compliance” chargeback - 3% cost of product (COGS)

This means that the Estimated Cargo Delivery Date entered into the online booking system of Amazon's origin service provider, Century Distribution Systems, Inc. (CDS), was not within the ship window designated in the purchase order (PO) for your import shipment.

How to Avoid These Amazon Vendor Chargeback Fees
Provide an Estimated Cargo Delivery Date that is within the ship window designated on your PO.

How to dispute these Amazon Vendor chargeback fees: follow the “dispute a chargeback” steps and provide the following support  documentation:

  • Screenshot of origin service providers booking system (VMS) showing the confirmed PO Earliest Vendor Ship Date and Latest Vendor Ship Date.
  • Screenshot of VMS with Estimated Cargo Delivery Date.
  1. “Import Documents Late Delivery” chargeback - $150 per document set if the documents are one to three days late. An additional $50 are charged per document set for each day thereafter.

This means that you did not deliver the trade documents required for shipment to Amazon’s origin service provider, Century Distribution Systems, Inc. (CDS), by the Estimated Vessel Departure Date for your import shipment.

How to Avoid These Amazon Vendor Chargeback Fees
Submit your required import shipment documents prior to the designated Estimated Vessel Departure Date.

How to dispute these Amazon Vendor chargeback fees: follow the “dispute a chargeback” steps and provide the following support  documentation:

  • Copy of the email to the origin service provider showing the 'sent' date.
  • Copy of fax or courier receipt showing the delivery date to origin services provider.
  • Screenshot of origin service provider's booking system (VMS) showing Document Receive Date.

 

To Protect Your Margins, Keep Up to Speed on Amazon Vendor Chargeback Fees

 

Although the number of Amazon Vendor chargeback fees (as well as their amounts) changes frequently, there are hundreds of potential impacts to your profit margins due to non-compliance with Amazon’s requirements. The good news is: knowledge of Amazon’s policies will help you navigate the chargeback minefield.

If you want additional information about Vendor Chargeback Fees or have questions about selling on Amazon, contact the Awesome Dynamic Amazon Consulting team at 800.238.1811.