Amazon Order Processing and Payment

Overview

Amazon pays you on a bi-weekly basis, based on the delivery date. Seven days after an item is

delivered, funds will be available for transfer to your bank account on your next payment date,

minus the Unavailable Balance. The Unavailable Balance is the amount Amazon holds in

reserve in your Payments accounts to cover buyer disputes, chargebacks, or other claims. It

also includes funds that have not cleared the 7 day hold time period in the current statement.

Common Order Timeline Example

Below is an example of the most common timeline for getting paid for an order:

In this example, the order is placed in the 31-13 statement period. However, due to the 7-day

reserve time, the funds become available and are deposited at the end of the 14-27 statement.

In this case, on the 13th the funds from this order will be part of the Unavailable Balance and

will start at the beginning balance on the 14th. If no buyer disputes, chargebacks, or other claims

arise for this order it will be deposited on the 27th disbursement.

Common Dealer Setup

  • Most dealerships establish a credit/vendor account for Amazon.
  • Parts sold on Amazon are invoiced to that credit account.
  • They subtract any fees and shipping costs from the invoice to get to the amount Amazon will actually deposit to them.
  • They then apply the Amazon disbursements to that credit account.
  • This reduces the overall balance owed by Amazon instead of zeroing out invoices individually.

FAQ

  • Will a pay period ever have a 100% unavailable balance?
    • This can happen if you are just starting and the orders you shipped were at the end of the pay period OR if your seller metrics have been struggling recently.
  • Will I ever get charged instead of getting a deposit?
    • This usually only happens at the beginning when you need to pay the Amazon monthly fee or if your sales are less than the monthly Amazon fee such as when you go on vacation for a substantial amount of time and stop selling.
  • Will I ever get less than the beginning balance?
    • It is possible to get less than the beginning balance if items do not clear the 7-day hold before the next pay-out date or if your seller metrics have been struggling recently. Items part of a return may also be part of the unavailable balance.
  • Whom do the deposits come from?
    • The deposits come directly from Amazon.
  • How do I match up Amazon disbursements to specific order invoices?
    • Due to the varying factors that go into when you receive payment for an order, we do not recommend matching up payments to order invoices. Instead, we recommend the above Common Dealer Setup for best results.