Payment Transfers are the Most Exciting Part of Being an Amazon Seller! With rare exceptions, getting paid is the whole reason we do what we do. For professional sellers, Amazon will in general initiate payment very two weeks per their settlement period. However, there are times in which there will be an unavailable balance on your settlement report.
To find your Settlement Report Follow the Steps Below:
- Go to your Seller Central Home Page.
- Under the Payments Summary Block: Click on your Balance Number
3. On your statement view, scroll down to the bottom under closing balance. You will see your closing balance after all fees and deductions, minus your unavailable balance.
4. To find out the reason for the unavailable balance, click on View Details.
5. Once you click View Details, Amazon will let you know the reason for the unavailable balance.
Reasons for Unavailable Balance – From Amazon
- Awaiting Order Delivery: Amazon may reserve money from an order until we know the buyer received the order in the promised condition. This ensures that you have enough funds to fulfill any claims or chargebacks. This is especially common for new sellers or sellers on the individual selling plan.
- A-to-Z Guarantee Claims: When an A-to-z Guarantee claim is filed, the claim amount will be reserved until the claim is resolved. Buyers must try to work issues out with the seller, before a claim can be filed. While most of the time the process is fast, some claims can take up to 14 days or longer to resolve. If the claim is decided in your favor the funds will be returned to you on the next payment period. Otherwise, the funds in question will be refunded to the account.
- Chargebacks: Money might be reserved if your account has any chargebacks from recent orders/transactions. The reserve will be released after the chargebacks are resolved. A chargeback occurs when a buyer files a claim on their credit/debit card against your transaction. Amazon acts as an intermediary until the case is resolved.
- Seller Performance: Money might be reserved if performance metrics fall below Amazon’s Metrics. All sellers must maintain an Order Defect Rate (ODR) of below 1% of total sales. Lower metrics frequently indicate a higher likelihood of claims, chargebacks, and returns, and the buyer may be less likely to buy from Amazon in the future. Amazon will send a performance notification to your account if this is the case.
- Account Review: We might reserve funds if we notice an unexpected change in your sales or account activity (commonly called a velocity review), or if you are a new seller with estimated delivery times that are longer than your settlement period. This can happen for a variety of reasons, but Amazon will send a performance notification to the account.
Source: https://sellercentral.amazon.com/gp/help/help-folder.html?itemID=200136810
How to Resolve Unavailable Balance Issues
In general, Amazon will give a time frame in which the funds will be released. You generally have to wait until the time frame has past. However, a seller can always contact Seller Support with any questions or concerns.
If Amazon unavailable balances are holding your business back, Payability can help. Payability Instant Access pays Amazon sellers the next-day, every day for their sales. So no matter what you’ll get your money upfront. If you have unavailable balances already being held back, sign up for Instant Access to get access to those funds. Instant Access is both a temporary and long term solution to unavailable balances. For more on fees and how Instant Access works to help sellers get around unavailable balances, check out this post.
