Half the time, more like the majority of the time – the issue with Amazon is understanding the metrics used and how they exactly calculate these metrics. Two very important sections to pay attention to for all sellers, big or small, is the “Your Orders” section and the “Payment Summary” section. Below is a breakdown of the text in each of these sections:
*Actual numbers have been removed to maintain the anonymity of the account.
Alrighty then, let’s start this off looking top to bottom.
“You have ___ unshipped orders. You must confirm shipment in order to be paid.”
If you’re fulfilling our inventory yourself, Merchant Fulfilled Inventory (non-FBA), each order will need to be confirmed. You will need to click “View Unshipped Orders” and upload a tracking number to the order. Amazon will then send this information to the customer and you will receive a payment for the order. Key Takeaway: If you are fulfilling inventory yourself, Non-FBA, you must confirm each order. A big plus of utilizing Fulfillment by Amazon would be not needing to confirm orders each day.
Pending – A sale is processing! An order has been placed and Amazon is checking if their form of payment will be accepted. If an order is in pending status for a long amount of time, Amazon may need the customer to update their billing information or the card may have been declined.
Premium Unshipped – An order was placed that requires two-day delivery. The customer would’ve paid extra to have the item delivered quicker than normal.
Prime Unshipped – Not everyone can fulfill via Merchant Fulfilled Prime. If you’re able to ship quickly and accurately, you can apply for Seller Fulfilled Prime. Your listing will display the Prime badge and you can offer Prime shipping to customers.
Unshipped – A standard shipping option was selected by the customer which is usually 3-5 business day delivery.
Seller Fulfilled and Fulfilled by Amazon – You’re able to have Merchant Fulfilled Inventory and Fulfilled by Amazon inventory at the same time which is very useful. Typically, if the inventory is fulfilled by Amazon it will offer Prime shipping.
Seller Forums – Here is where rumors are spread, Jeff Bezos meets new up and coming hot sellers and hang with his disciples. When readings these forums, take with an extra grain of salt. It’s mostly people having bad days.
Paperboy, paperboy, all about that paper boy.
You can keep track of all of your sales on a rolling window for a 7, 15, or 30 day period. For example, if today January 15th, the past 30 days sales would be looking at December 16th to January 15th. The next day, January 16th would be looking at December 17th to January 16th.
Super small pretty self-explanatory details, but just something to keep in mind if sales don’t look as expected.
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