Both cancellations and returns are a normal part of most sales operations.
Depending on the stage for processing the order, the following options may help you to determine next steps:
For more information, see Cancel an order or multiple orders.
The official process by which a buyer can request an order cancellation is by finding the order they want to cancel in their Amazon account > Your Account > Your Orders > Request Cancellation
To cancel an order as requested by a buyer, follow these steps:
The image below shows an example of Steps 2 and 3. On your Manage orders page, select the order you want to cancel and click Cancel order.
Example of Step 4: Select the reason for cancellation as Buyer cancelled from the drop-down menu.
Unofficial cancellation process that might count against your metrics:
A buyer requesting a cancellation solely via the Buyer-Seller Messaging tool without following the official cancellation process is considered an unofficial channel for buyers to cancel orders. Accordingly, if you cancel an order in response to a request from a buyer via the Buyer-Seller Messaging tool, this unofficial cancellation will affect your Cancellation Rate metric.To avoid cancelling an order in a manner that affects your metrics, you can respond to the buyer’s message and request that the buyer submits an official cancellation.
Use the following instructions in your response: “You can find the order in your Amazon account by clicking Your Account > Your Orders > Request Cancellation”
To review your Cancellation Rate metrics and policy requirements, go to Cancellation Rate
You can see officially-requested buyer-initiated cancellations on:
No. If you don’t use order reports, you will be notified of buyer-initiated cancellations through email, the Manage Orders page on Seller Central, and via APIs. The advantage of downloading order reports is that you are able to see all buyer-initiated cancellations in a single report. You have to switch the toggle option to enable the field called Buyer Requested Cancel.
Cancellation initiated by | Cancellation scenario | Negatively affects Cancellation Rate? |
Buyer | 1. I am cancelling because the buyer submitted an official cancellation request | No |
2. I am cancelling because the customer asked me to through the Buyer-Seller Messaging tool (unofficial cancellation processes) | Yes | |
Seller | 1. I am cancelling because my item went out of stock | Yes |
2. I am cancelling because the address was undeliverable | Yes | |
3. I am cancelling because the buyer was unresponsive | Yes | |
Amazon | 1. The order was automatically cancelled by Amazon because the seller did not confirm shipment within 7 days of the ship-by-date | Yes |
2. The order was automatically cancelled by Amazon because we detected the buyer as fraudulent | No | |
3. Payment verification failed so the order was cancelled by Amazon | No |
If the buyer reaches out to you saying they still want the product, ask them to place a new order.
Orders are listed as “Pending” while Amazon is verifying the payment method provided by the buyer. Pending orders do not include the buyer's shipping address or contact information and should not be shipped, 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 shipment 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 shipped (or cancelled, if necessary).
To learn more, go to Pending Orders .
Amazon can automatically cancel orders if 7 days have passed after the expected shipping availability date and you have not yet shipped and confirmed the shipment.
In some cases, payment and order detail verification processes may potentially extend order processing times for up to 21 days.
You can issue full and partial refunds for each item in an order by using either the Refund Orders tool or the Order Adjustments Feed.
Occasionally, you may need to cancel part of an order with multiple items and refund the items that are cancelled.
For more information, go to Cancel an order or multiple orders .
If you have not yet shipped the order and the buyer says they cannot receive the order at the address they provided originally, ask the buyer to 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 ship only to the address provided in their seller account.
If you have not yet shipped 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 the order is shipped, you can contact the carrier service asking them to return the product and when the product is returned, you can deduct the restocking fee from the order and refund the buyer.
If you have shipped the order, you can contact the carrier service and ask them to return the product because the buyer is unresponsive. When you receive the product, you can deduct the restocking fee from the order and refund the buyer.