This past April, Amazon announced that it would be pausing some account suspensions for order performance issues involving Lat Shipment Rates, Cancellation Rates, and Order Defect Rate metrics through May 15. This was largely in part to the effect the new coronavirus has had on businesses across the country and the world. Now, Amazon has recently announced that it will extend those protections until the end of May.

Many sellers met this declaration with appreciation, as the virus had made shipping their products nearly impossible in some cases, as shipping services were flooded with orders for all “essential products.” That being said, many sellers were also hoping that Amazon would extend those protections even further until other carriers, such as USPS can return to normalcy as well.

Amazon released a statement Wednesday which reads states that they are extending the protections for sellers “after hearing from many of you about supply chain and fulfillment difficulties you were having and in order to protect your account health.” The statement went on to say that, “Beginning June 1, we will restart tracking and enforcing selling accounts with high cancellation rate, late shipment rate, or order defect rate per our established order performance standards. Any order performance defects showing in your Account Health page from prior to June 1 will not be used to evaluate your account health.”

Finally, in conjunction with the statement, Amazon listed several tips to help avoid order defects. Those steps are as follows:

• Closely monitor your inventory levels and make sure your listings accurately reflect available inventory.
• Ensure your default ship settings match your current fulfillment capabilities.
• Monitor customer inquiries received via Buyer-Seller Messaging and respond quickly – at most and within 48 hours.

For any additional questions pertaining to your Amazon business, give our experienced team a call today.

If you are an Amazon seller and require the assistance of an experienced Certified Public Accountant, please contact Ebiz Accounting for an initial consultation. We provide Amazon business accounting services to clients in New York and throughout the United States. All Amazon sellers should have an accountant they can trust. If you are looking to expand your business, or even form a new one, do not hesitate to reach out to our knowledgeable team today.