How to fix pending orders on Amazon
We receive many posts on the Seller Forums from sellers stating they have a pending order on Amazon and asking how to fix it. The answer is simple and also, not quite an answer—as you can’t “fix” a pending order. But I do have some next steps for how to proceed with Amazon orders pending.
First, the basics—why would an order be in pending status?
Some of the most common reasons include:
- Amazon has been unable to obtain authorization for the buyer's credit card.
- The buyer selected convenience store payment but hasn't completed the payment.
- For an FBA order, the buyer has qualified for free shipping and the order is waiting for all of the order items to be gathered.
- For an FBA order, if the order is for multiple items but one item is out of stock. Even if Amazon chooses to divide the order and send the in-stock FBA Units, the order will still show Pending status.
Can I cancel a pending 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 canceled, if necessary).
How long will my order remain pending?
An order in pending status might indicate an issue with the buyer's payment method or a convenience store payment method. In some cases, our payment and order detail verification processes can potentially extend order processing times for as long as 21 days.
After 21 days, the order is canceled and the product is released back into inventory.
To learn more, please see the Pending Orders help page.
How to fix pending orders on Amazon
We receive many posts on the Seller Forums from sellers stating they have a pending order on Amazon and asking how to fix it. The answer is simple and also, not quite an answer—as you can’t “fix” a pending order. But I do have some next steps for how to proceed with Amazon orders pending.
First, the basics—why would an order be in pending status?
Some of the most common reasons include:
- Amazon has been unable to obtain authorization for the buyer's credit card.
- The buyer selected convenience store payment but hasn't completed the payment.
- For an FBA order, the buyer has qualified for free shipping and the order is waiting for all of the order items to be gathered.
- For an FBA order, if the order is for multiple items but one item is out of stock. Even if Amazon chooses to divide the order and send the in-stock FBA Units, the order will still show Pending status.
Can I cancel a pending 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 canceled, if necessary).
How long will my order remain pending?
An order in pending status might indicate an issue with the buyer's payment method or a convenience store payment method. In some cases, our payment and order detail verification processes can potentially extend order processing times for as long as 21 days.
After 21 days, the order is canceled and the product is released back into inventory.
To learn more, please see the Pending Orders help page.
6 replies
Seller_F10lIWPIoTu7v
21 days is too long. The order should be canceled in 7 days if no FBA involved. We sold a textbook, the only copy we had to list, that has now been pending for 3 days. By the time 21 days passes, students will already have bought their books for the semester and we will unlikely be able to resell the book.
Seller_J4xdAQedDDg8G
This is complete BS Danika_Amazon! I am both SF and FBA. More than 50% of my orders are SF, so that means less than 50% are FBA. At this moment I have 1 pending SF order that is 5 days old. However, I have 102 orders that are pending FBA, some are 3 weeks old. This is typical on a daily basis for as long as I can remember and I have been selling on Amazon for about 7 years. We ship over 30,000 orders a year. There is definitely a problem with FBA pending orders. This is an FBA problem. I DO NOT BELIEVE THEY ARE STILL AWAITING PAYMENT VERIFICATION! I am just surprised that more customers are not complaining to me about this.
