The process of fulfilling an order

When a buyer adds your product to their shopping cart and checks out, Amazon processes their order following these steps:

1. Amazon places the order in Pending status. The quantity available for the listing is subtracted from your quantity in Manage Inventory. If there was a quantity of one at the time the order was placed, the listing will be removed from the Amazon offer page and appear in Manage Inventory with a quantity of zero while the order is being processed.

   Pending orders will not appear in either the Orders report or the Unshipped Orders report and will be grayed out (non-actionable) in Manage Orders. Amazon holds all orders for 30 minutes, which gives buyers an opportunity to cancel orders. Buyer-canceled orders will appear in Manage Orders as canceled, and will be grayed out. In some cases, our payment and order detail verification processes may potentially extend order processing times for as long as 21 days. For more information, see Pending Orders. If a buyer contacts you while an order is in Pending status, refer them to Amazon Customer Service for more information.

2. Amazon verifies the order. Amazon attempts to validate the buyer's payment method and order details. At this stage, you will see one of three different status types in Manage Orders:

   Unshipped

   Payment verification is successful. See step 3.

   Pending

   Payment verification is initially unsuccessful or extended. In some cases, our payment and order detail verification processes may extend order processing times, potentially for as long as 21 days. Pending orders should not be shipped, even if the buyer contacts you directly. Pending orders will not appear in either the Orders report or the Unshipped Orders report and will be "grayed out" (non-actionable) in Manage Orders.

   Canceled

   An order gets canceled if payment authorization does not succeed or in cases of fraud. Amazon will not notify you when an order is canceled, other than recording the order as canceled in Manage Orders. No further action is necessary.

   If a buyer contacts you about a canceled order and you still have available inventory, you can invite them to place a new order on Amazon.

3. When payment is verified on an order, Amazon does the following:
   • Changes the status to Unshipped
   • Sends an order confirmation to the buyer with the estimated delivery date
   • Sends an order notification to you
     Note: Do not rely solely on email notifications for order confirmation. Check your Manage Orders page or Orders reports for unshipped orders at least once a day.
     Note: If an order is delayed because of Amazon's processes, we will provide the buyer with a new delivery date based on the date the order is released from Pending status.
4. You process the order. Once an order is in Unshipped status, you must either fulfill or cancel the order. Keep in mind that buyers can leave feedback on seller-canceled orders.
   Note: Amazon expects sellers to maintain accurate inventory levels. Failure to adjust your inventory in a timely manner can lead to excessive pre-fulfillment order cancellations. For information on how we factor canceled orders into your overall performance, see Customer Metrics.
   
   
   1. Get the delivery address in one of these locations:
      • The Order Details page
      • An Orders report
      • An Unshipped Orders report
      Note: To protect confidential buyer information, Amazon does not include the buyer’s delivery address in the Sold, Ship Now email.
   2. Ship the order to the buyer using the delivery address and the requested shipping method.

      FAQ: A buyer has asked me to ship an order to a different address. What should I do?

      Note: Only ship orders that you can verify as Unshipped in Manage Orders or through the reports.
   3. Confirm shipment using one of the following methods:
      • From the Manage Orders page, click Confirm Shipment and complete the required information.
      • Upload a Shipping Confirmation file for multiple orders (only available to sellers with Professional selling accounts).
      • For more information, see Confirm Individual Shipments or Confirm Multiple Shipments with feeds.
      Notes:

      • You must confirm shipment of the order with Amazon within 30 days of the order date. Otherwise, Amazon will automatically cancel the order and you will not be paid even if you shipped the order. One week before the 30 day cutoff, you will see a warning in Manage Orders ("Confirm as shipped by [date] to avoid cancellation"), and you will receive a notification by email.
      • You may only redirect an order to an address other than the one provided in step 4(a) if the buyer or Amazon Customer Services has contacted you through the Amazon messaging system and requested the change.