The order process

When a buyer places an order on Amazon, the order goes through a series of steps for processing. Here's an overview of those steps:

1. **Order Placement:**

- The buyer adds your product to their shopping cart and proceeds to checkout.

- Amazon places the order in "Pending" status.

- The quantity available for the listing is subtracted from your quantity in Manage Inventory.

- If there was only one quantity available at the time the order was placed, the listing will be temporarily removed from the Amazon offer page and will appear in Manage Inventory with a quantity of zero while the order is processed.

2. **Pending Status:**

- Pending orders will not appear in the Orders report or the Undispatched Orders report.

- These orders are held by Amazon for a 30-minute period, allowing buyers an opportunity to cancel orders.

- Buyer-cancelled orders will appear in Manage Orders as "cancelled" and will be greyed out.

- In some cases, payment and order detail verification processes may extend order processing times for up to 21 days.

3. **Amazon Verifies the Order:**

- Amazon attempts to validate the buyer's payment method and order details.

- The order will have one of the following status types in Manage Orders:

- Undispatched (payment verification is successful).

- Pending (payment verification initially unsuccessful or extended).

- Cancelled (order gets cancelled due to payment authorization failure or fraud).

4. **Payment Verification:**

- When payment is successfully verified, the order status changes to "Undispatched."

- Amazon sends an order confirmation to the buyer with the estimated delivery date.

- An order notification is sent to you as the seller.

- It's important not to rely solely on email notifications; check your Manage Orders page or Orders reports for Undispatched orders regularly.

5. **You Process the Order:**

- Once an order is in "Undispatched" status, you must either fulfill or cancel the order.

- Buyers can leave feedback on seller-cancelled orders.

- Amazon expects sellers to maintain accurate inventory levels to avoid excessive pre-fulfilment order cancellations.

6. **Delivery Address:**

- Get the delivery address from one of the following sources:

- Order Details page

- Orders report

- Undispatched Orders report

- Amazon does not include the buyer's delivery address in the "Sold, dispatch now" email to protect buyer information.

7. **Dispatch the Order:**

- Use the provided delivery address and the requested dispatch method to send the order to the buyer.

- Only dispatch orders that you can verify as "Undispatched" in Manage Orders or through reports.

8. **Confirm Dispatch:**

- You can confirm dispatch using one of the following methods:

- On the Manage Orders page, click "Confirm dispatch" and provide the required information.

- Upload a Dispatch confirmation file for multiple orders (available to sellers with Professional selling accounts).

9. **Order Cancellation Deadline:**

- If you do not confirm dispatch of an order within seven working days of the "delivery availability date," Amazon will automatically cancel the order.

- The buyer will not be charged for the order even if you have already delivered it.

It's essential to monitor your orders regularly and take prompt action to confirm dispatch to ensure a smooth order fulfillment process and maintain a good seller performance record.