Cancellations FAQ

A buyer wants to cancel an order. What should I do?

Both cancellations and returns are a normal part of most sales operations.

Your options will depend on the order status.

You have not yet shipped and confirmed the shipment.

You can cancel the order in Manage Orders or using Order Cancellation feeds. When you cancel an order, Amazon automatically updates the order status in the buyer's Amazon account and sends an email notification to the buyer.

You have shipped the order.

You can let the buyer know that the order is already on its way and ask the buyer to return it to you for a refund. When you receive the return, issue a refund if you had confirmed the shipment, or simply cancel the order if you had not yet confirmed the shipment.

See also Cancel an order or multiple orders.

I mistakenly cancelled an order. What should I do?

If the buyer contacts you saying that they still want the product, ask them to place a new order.

An order is in ‘Pending’ status. Can I cancel it?

Orders are listed as ‘Pending’ while Amazon is verifying the payment method provided by the buyer. Pending orders do not include the buyer's delivery address or contact information and should not be dispatched, even if the buyer contacts you directly. If buyers contact you while their order is in "Pending" status, refer them to Amazon Customer Service.

Once the payment method has been verified, the Confirm delivery and Cancel order buttons will become available in Manage Orders. In addition, the order will appear in both the Orders Report and the Unshipped Orders Report. At this point, the order should be delivered (or cancelled, if necessary).

To learn more, go to the Pending orders help page.

Buyer and seller did not cancel this order. Then who cancelled the order?

Amazon can automatically cancel orders if seven days have passed after the expected dispatch availability date and you have not yet dispatched and confirmed the dispatch.

How long can an order be in Pending status before it gets cancelled?

In some cases, payment and order detail verification processes may potentially extend order processing times for as long as 21 days.

What kind of cancellations negatively impact Cancellation Rate metric?

Cancellation requested by	Cancellation scenario	Negatively impact Cancellation Rate?
Buyer raised	1. Standard cancellation request 2. Non-standard cancellation request	No Yes
Seller raised	1. Cancellation due to item went out of stock 2. Cancellation due to undeliverable address 3. Cancellation due to unresponsive buyer	Yes Yes Yes
Amazon raised	1. Auto cancellation when Seller did not confirm shipment within seven days of ship-by-date 2. Amazon detected buyer to be fraudulent, cancels order 3. Payment verification failure cancellation	Yes No No

What is the process of cancellation that will not affect the Cancellation Rate metric negatively?

You receive the cancellation request through the Buyer-Seller messaging service that contains the specific subject line: "Order cancellation request from Amazon customer…"

To cancel an order requested by a buyer, follow these steps:

1. From the Orders drop-down, select Manage Orders.
2. Find the order referenced in the email notification and click on Cancel order in the Action column.
   Note: The Cancel order button is only available for Unshipped orders.
3. On the Cancel order page, select the reason for cancellation as Buyer cancelled.
4. Click on Submit.
5. After you cancel the order, you and the buyer will receive separate email confirmations that the order has been cancelled.

Non-standard cancellation process that might count against your metrics:

You receive the cancellation request that does not include the standard subject line ‘Order cancellation request from Amazon customer…’

To avoid cancelling an order in a manner that affects your metrics, use the Buyer-Seller Messaging Service and request the buyer to submit an official cancellation using the standard process. Use the following instructions in your response: You can find the order in your Amazon account by clicking on Your Account > Your Orders > Request cancellation.

How to cancel partial order? Can all sellers partially cancel orders?

The Refund Orders tool on the Order detail page and the Order Adjustments feed both enable you to issue full and partial refunds for each item in an order.

Occasionally, you may need to cancel part of an order with multiple items and refund the items that have been cancelled. For a partial cancellation, upload an Order Adjustment Feed.

For details, go to Cancel an order or multiple orders.

What do I do if buyers get in contact to update the address in the order?

If you have not yet dispatched the order and the buyer says that they cannot receive the order at the address they provided originally, you should cancel the order. The buyer can then return to Amazon to place a new order using the correct address. Amazon's policy requires sellers to dispatch only to the address provided in their seller account.

I cannot fulfil this order as address is undeliverable? What should I do?

If you have not yet dispatched the order you can reach out to the buyer by contacting them through the Buyer-Seller Messages to cancel this order and place new order for correct address.

If order is dispatched you can contact the carrier service and ask them to return back the product and when the product will get back, you can deduct the restocking fee from the order and can refund the buyer.

Need more details from buyer to fulfil this order, buyer is unresponsive? What should I do?

If you have not yet dispatched the order, you may cancel the order as the buyer is not responding, and contact the Amazon Selling Partner Support team explaining why the order was cancelled.

If the order has been dispatched, you can contact the carrier service and ask them to return the product as the buyer is unresponsive, and when the product is returned, you can deduct the restocking fee from the order and can refund the buyer.