Are Amazon orders pending on your account?
It can be a stressful experience, leaving you unsure of when you’ll receive payment or how to get the order processed in full.
Fortunately, there are some simple steps you can take to understand why an Amazon order might be marked as pending and what you can do about it.
In this article, we’ll explain the most common causes for Amazon orders being marked as “pending” and provide solutions for getting your orders processed quickly and efficiently.
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How do I know if I have pending orders on Amazon?
To see if you have a pending order on Amazon you need to navigate to the Manage Orders page inside Seller Central.
You can either scroll through the main manage orders page looking for orders with a pending status:
Or you can click the pending tab to see a list of only pending orders:
What does a pending order mean on Amazon?
When Amazon orders are marked as pending, it usually means that Amazon has not yet received payment for the order.
This can happen when Amazon is waiting to receive payment from the customer or when Amazon is unable to process the buyer’s payment method.
As a standard, orders are placed in pending status for 30 minutes after the customer checks out to give them time to cancel their order if needed.
If an order stays in pending status after that period, there could be a number of other causes.
What are the main causes of Amazon orders pending?
Whilst the most common cause of Amazon orders being marked with pending status is simply a short payment processing delay, there are some other causes too.
Payment Declined
One of the features Amazon customers love is convenience.
Credit card details are stored on file and buyers can easily check out at the click of a button.
This can sometimes cause issues though if a payment card is out of date or has insufficient funds to cover the purchase.
If this happens, the payment can decline causing the order to stay in pending status for longer than normal.
Amazon will then usually contact the customer directly, asking them to confirm their billing information or provide Amazon with an alternate payment method.
After Amazon obtain authorization for a new payment method and has received payment in full, the order status will be updated to “Payment complete”.
Following this, Amazon sellers can expect to receive their funds according to the usual schedule – more on that in a minute.
Items Out Of Stock
Another, less common, cause for Amazon orders being marked as pending is when Amazon runs out of stock on the item the customer has ordered.
This can happen in cases where Amazon sellers are selling the same items but with different stock levels.
Amazon will only process an order once it can confirm that it has enough stock available to fulfill the order.
If Amazon notices that it doesn’t have enough stock to fulfill an order, the pending order status may continue for a longer period of time than normal whilst they resolve the situation.
Customer Ordered Multiple Items
When Amazon customers order multiple items at the same time, Amazon will sometimes place an order in pending status to give it time to prepare the order.
Customers can order different products from different sellers but still have all items shipped together with free bulk shipping.
So, whilst it picks, packs, and preps the items, the pending order status will remain.
Once Amazon confirms all products are ready to be shipped, the order will fully process and show as ‘Payment complete’.
How long will my Amazon orders be pending?
The amount of time Amazon orders stay pending varies depending on the cause of the order being marked as pending.
If Amazon just needs a few extra minutes to process payment, it’s likely that an order will only remain in pending status for up to 30 minutes.
However, if Amazon is waiting for payment verification for more than an hour or is sorting out stock issues, it’s possible pending orders can remain in pending status for longer periods of time – up to a maximum of 21 days.
In these cases, Amazon customer service will contact the customer directly to try and resolve the issue as quickly as possible, and this length of delay is very rare.
What should I do whilst an order is pending?
Unfortunately, the honest answer is to simply wait.
There’s really not much an Amazon seller can do about pending orders due to the fact it is a customer-side issue that has to be resolved between them and Amazon.
The one thing you should definitely not do is ship any products to customers that still have a pending order.
If you’re using the Fulfilment By Amazon (FBA) program then you don’t need to worry about this as Amazon will be handling all fulfilment and they will not ship orders until payment is fully processed.
However, if you’re shipping orders yourself (otherwise known as FBM – Fulfilment By Merchant) then it’s important to ensure orders are fully processed before sending products to customers.
If orders in your Amazon account have been pending verification for an unusually long period of time, you can contact Amazon seller support to see if there are any other issues that need to be resolved.
Can I cancel a pending order on Amazon?
No, Amazon doesn’t give sellers the ability to cancel pending orders.
Instead, sellers need to wait for the payment to fully process. Then, if need be you can issue a refund.
Buyers on the other hand can cancel a pending order.
To do this they need to contact Amazon customer service.
When will I get paid for Amazon pending orders?
Pending orders on Amazon are a big part of the timeline upon which Amazon sellers get paid.
Amazon only releases payments to Amazon sellers once orders have been marked as ‘shipped’, so Amazon pending orders can sometimes cause delays in getting paid.
Once an FBA order has shipped, the funds will be put in your current balance but this doesn’t mean you’ll be immediately paid.
Amazon pays sellers on a 14-day schedule, but the actual amount can be subject to deductions and temporary holds.
Read more about the ins and outs of how often Amazon pay sellers.
Amazon Orders Pending: The Bottom Line
Pending orders on Amazon can be a source of confusion and frustration for Amazon sellers, but understanding the reasons why Amazon puts an order in pending status can help you better manage your business.
The most common cause for order-related issues is a buyer’s credit card authorization failing.
Amazon will only process an order and confirm shipment once payment has fully processed, and all stock is ready to ship.
Until then, there’s not a whole lot Amazon sellers can do to speed up the process.
So, instead of worrying about every pending order, turn that attention to growing your FBA business and generating more orders.
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