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VTR exemptions
Our VTR is currently 77.8% calculated on 2 invalid shipments over 9 orders. We ship roughly 1500 orders per month through Amazon Buy Shipping linked to our Royal Mail account (Large Letter and Small Parcel format). We occasionally use a shipping service outside of Amazon if its a larger order or international.
RM24 and RM48 services purchased through Amazon Buy Shipping used to be included in the VTR rate which was fine as any small problem we had with a shipment was still only a small percentage of the total number of shipments.
It now seems harsh that if 1 or 2 mistakes are made per month over 1500 shipments then these have a huge impact on our VTR just because most of our orders are now exempt from the VTR calculations?
We will aim to reduce any human errors this side but 77.8 isn't a fair representation of the total number of orders we ship without issue.
As a theoretical example of how current VTR is calculated:
If we had 100,000 orders per month and 99,999 were exempt but we had 1 invalid order because shipping was purchased outside of Amazon and the tracking wasn't accepted, this would be picked up on the VTR and give us a score of 0% (0/1) rather than the old system which would be 99,999/100,000 = 99.99%
Surely this is some sort of oversight?
I've tried calling seller support but I've only been able to get scripted website based responses so far!..
0 replies
Seller_19xPhE8YgkmxW
Hi iCaseDesigner,
You're correct... If you mix Buy Amazon shipments with other carriers there are two problems:
1/ However many you send using Buy Shipping, if you send 10 more parcels by non-Buy Shipping methods and 8 are scanned and 2 are not, your VTR will be 80% until these parcels move out of the VTR 'window'...
2/ If the last parcel in the VTR window is scanned you will get 100% VTR for a time , but if it is unscanned you will get 0% as 1/1 will not have been scanned!
All Best
Brian
Seller_FR0RYjm1PpXls
This isn’t advice, and maybe I’ll end up eating my hat, but we just use Click and Drop. I haven’t heard of any sellers being suspended for low VTR with Click and Drop, and it’s been an ongoing issue for years. While they haven’t explicitly mentioned validation, I suspect it’s still in place. In my opinion, it’s not worth overhauling your entire business and losing money. You could end up paying more in postage or dealing with errors over the course of a year than being suspended for just a week. That’s how I see it anyway.
Seller_ZJhFeE3tNKzfh
What shipping method are you using outside of the Royal Mail linked Buy Shipping ones?
Again, if there is a risk these orders don't receive one single scan through the network they are in - I'd just mark Self Delivery.
Its not right - but its what you need to do to 'currentl'y appease amazon.
Seller_7jwrjtU66gmxk
They changed the policy recently without any notification. The ONLY changes they told us about was that international postage was now no longer exempt and non integrated carriers are now counted towards vtr and not exempt as they were previously
Without ANY notification they are now counting certain shipping from amazon as exempt and they are no longer validating unscanned deliveries.
(not sure which one is the correct tag) said she would create a thread with the new vtr updates along with FAQs , but we are still waiting even though the policy changed on 15th January and implemented on 25th February
I know it's not her fault but quite frankly it's an absolute {inappropriate content removed, moderator edit} show.
People's livelihoods, income, mortgages , staff , mouths to feed are relying on this policy update confirmation
Seller_7jwrjtU66gmxk
Why has my post just been updated by a moderator ?!
The part that has been removed was my Tagging of Julia ... ?!?!
Please explain why I cannot tag the forum mod who said they would update the VTR policy a week ago !!!!
@Julia_Amazon @Julia_Amzn @Spencer_Amazon @Ezra_Amazon
Seller_40ozsHlGqPuEL
It feels like we’re just spinning our wheels here—wasting time, pouring money into this process, holding back on stock purchases, and ultimately losing faith in whether there’s even a future for us on Amazon. All of this because of one single policy: VTR.
The concerns surrounding VTR are now scattered across countless discussions. It’s becoming increasingly apparent that Amazon may either be failing to address the issue, intentionally ignoring it, or simply doesn’t know how to respond to the legitimate questions posed by merchants.
The phrase "making a rod for their own back" couldn’t be more fitting.
As you mentioned, it’s been about seven, maybe eight days now, and we’re still waiting for straightforward answers. Yet nothing has been provided. This silence is eroding trust and causing uncertainty across the seller community.
@Julia_Amazon she would reply and never has. :0(
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