Amazon sellers face a problem when their buyers complain about receiving their packages past their promised date. Most untoward incidents are out of the seller’s control such as weather or logistics company issues. These situations can delay products from reaching your customers on time.

What is the Amazon Late Shipment Policy?

Amazon has an Amazon shipment late policy which states that Amazon seller accounts are not allowed to have more than 4% of their orders confirmed to be shipped late. But what actually happens if Amazon shipment is late? It would be recorded and computed if it reaches or passes the given 4% rate.

What happens if an Amazon seller has exceeded the allowed rate of Amazon shipment late?

This gets the seller’s Amazon account suspended for late shipment. It will be deactivated when the rate of your products that are confirmed as Amazon late shipment reaches more than 4%. Amazon’s policy is that the late shipment rate should not pass the given percentage which is calculated within 10 and 30 days. The late shipment rate Amazon policy implies that sellers should keep their rate below 4%.

What to do when Amazon account is suspended late shipment?

As an Amazon seller, you would want to avoid this from happening at all costs. When this happens, the company temporarily ceases to sell your products as your listings will be removed from the site. Current ongoing transactions will be temporarily held and not transferred into your account until the matter is addressed. As your account is suspended for passing the 4% late shipment rate, it causes a major inconvenience to you and your business.

To reactivate their account, sellers have to file an Amazon late shipment appeal which contains an Amazon Plan of Action. Your letter should include the following parts:

» The reason(s) of your Amazon shipment late processing and arrival. Basically why you have incurred more than 4% of the late shipment rate.

» The steps you’ve taken to solve this problem.

» What you have done to prevent it from happening again and what will you do in the upcoming and future transactions?

This information is to be sent to https://sellercentral.amazon. com/performance/notifications in order for Amazon to process your appeal. Failure to send the required information can keep your account deactivated for 90 days.

Before sending your appeal letter to reinstate your account, you must review as to why you have exceeded the given limit of late shipments. Assess what departments or factors in your business are lacking or having caused these delays. Being aware of what is happening in the process of your business can help you pinpoint as to why these have happened and aid in writing your plan of action letter. You may find a pattern or a common factor to be the reason for these occurrences.

5 Tips How to Write an Amazon Seller Late Shipment Appeal Letter

Writing an appeal letter will help reinstate your Amazon late shipment suspension. You may ask yourself, “what do I write in an appeal letter?”. Amazon is strict with its process of reinstating a deactivated Amazon seller account. Amazon requires sellers to provide a detailed plan of action to rectify the problem of Amazon report late shipment. They are looking for a plan of actions that make you own up to your Amazon account at risk late shipment and how to avoid it again.

1

Make it concise

Avoid a lengthy plan of action because Amazon reviews these types of appeals with a preference for being direct and straight to the point. Answer with steps that focus on how you can improve as a seller and not putting blame on other things. Tell them why you had late shipments and how you can remedy these mistakes.

2

Define the preventive measures

Focus on how to improve your late shipment rate and the preventative measures you would take. Another take that you can propose is an orderly process from taking orders, processing orders, packing, and lastly shipping, most especially if these are the weak spots that caused the delays.

3

Don’t blame your customers

One thing to avoid saying in your letter is blaming your buyers; it can come off as you being unprofessional and unwilling to commit and own up to your shortcomings. The buyers are important to Amazon, and blaming them can put you in a bad light. It is ideal to write proactive steps in your plan of action to show Amazon that you are responsible. You may enumerate these or write in short sentences for faster communication.

4

Check the details

It is possible that the letter Amazon sent you will contain Amazon Standard Identification Numbers or ASINs of the products that were counted in the late shipment rate. Check your records, history, or feedback to see what products were delayed; if possible, look for a pattern. If a pattern is visible, look at the root causes of these delayed items.

5

Stick to the requirements

The company always looks for appeal letters that present complete and feasible steps towards rectifying the prior error. Failure to comply with their requirement of a complete and concise appeal letter can lead to your account remaining deactivated.

What to do after sending your appeal letter

Once you have finished with your appeal, submit it by hitting the “Appeal Decision” button. It will take a while before your account will be reinstated.

Foregoing your plan of action due to your Amazon account at risk late shipment, follow through with meeting the steps you have presented and preventing your account from passing the 4% rate again. If you are really serious about getting your account back, embody the steps you have presented.

Conclusion

To conclude, let us have a run through on what you should do when your Amazon account is suspended for late shipment.

Firstly, organize and collect data which may have caused the accumulation of late shipments. Present what you have found, and take full responsibility while avoiding putting the blame on the customers.

Create detailed steps as to how to avoid these in future transactions as your plan of action. Be direct and concise; do not say things that are not essential to your appeal. Be extensive by covering all feasible things you will do in order to prevent surpassing the limit again in the future. Make use of the plans you have given them to avoid late shipments and your seller account being deactivated.

Writing an Amazon appeal letter can be a time consuming and tricky process. And you do not need to do it yourself, especially when your Amazon business is at stake. Our lawyers have extensive experience in these cases and we’ll be happy to help you return to sales. Just fill out the form below and we’ll respond to you within 24 hours.