Caring for your Amazon Seller Account health should always be a priority, but not at the expense of maintaining other areas of your business. Regarding order cancellation, Amazon allows both the seller and the buyer to cancel orders before shipping arrangements are made. In this write-up, we’ll explain the details of the Amazon Cancel Order Refund Policy and how long Amazon takes to refund a canceled order. Read on to learn more!

Amazon Order Cancellation Policy

Amazon’s policies for buyers and sellers are detailed to ensure quality service and user protection. If you are an Amazon third-party seller, you probably know the site’s cancellation policy.
Amazon sellers can cancel an order anytime before the shipment, while the buyer can only cancel an order in under 30 minutes after the order was placed. Third-party sellers will be charged if they cancel orders because of the supply chain or technical issues.
Amazon sellers must maintain a low cancellation rate (CR) to keep their accounts healthy. The cancellation rate is the total number of orders the seller cancels during a given 7-day period. This rate applies only to seller-fulfilled orders but does not include cancellations initiated by the buyer or pending orders.

A seller’s Amazon account should maintain a cancellation rate of under 2.5% to sell on Amazon. Amazon closely monitored the seller canceled orders and can offer account suspension due to seller order cancellations.
To avoid this type of consequence, a seller must ensure that items listed on their Amazon account are in stock and available to deliver. High cancellation rates will affect your cancellation rate and negatively impact your sellers’ performance metrics, affecting your sales and decreasing customer satisfaction.
Always ensure that your cancelation rate is okay. To check the status of your account, you can go to the account health page under Seller Central. Then under the Delivery Performance section, select View details. After that, click on the Pre-Fulfilment cancellation rate tab. Scroll down. If need be, you can also Download Report.
How to Cancel an Amazon Order Before Shipping
If you know how to be an Amazon seller, you know you can cancel orders before the shipment either because the item ordered will not be shipped on time or because the item is out of stock. For whatever reason, the process is not that complicated if the shipment has not begun. Here is a step-by-step guide on how to do it:

• First, log in to your Seller Account.

• Navigate to the manage orders section and select view your orders. Under this section, you can browse through your orders manually or use the standard search/ advanced search option to find the specific order you want to cancel.

1. Once you have located the order in question, you will find a cancel order button. It is usually either below or next to the order on the page view.
2. Click on Cancel Selected Items once you know the order you want to cancel.
3. Then a cancel item page will pop up automatically. You will then be required to state the reason for cancellation or choose a reason from a dropdown list provided.
4. After that, you can submit the cancelation by pressing submit. Your order with automatically be canceled and a notification mail will be sent to the buyer to update them on the cancellation.

How to Cancel Multi-Channel Fulfillment Orders

As an Amazon seller, you can cancel multi-channel fulfillment orders while in the planning, processing, or pending stages. However, once an order has been moved to the shipping or shipment stage, you don’t have the cancellation option. To cancel Fulfillment by Amazon orders, here are the steps you should follow:

• Log in to your Amazon Seller Account.

• Navigate to the upload multi-channel fulfillment file page and click on cancel order.

• Under that, you will select download template. Take your time and review the definitions and instructions to avoid mistakes.

1. In the Merchant Fulfillment ID column, you will then type the order ID of the multi-channel fulfillment (MCF) order you need to be canceled.
2. After that, save the file as a test and return to the Multi-Channel Fulfillment File page.
3. Click on cancel order.
4. Then navigate to upload your cancel order file and select browse to locate the file.
5. Once you find the file, upload the file and your cancellation request.
6. After that, go to review file status and select refresh to see the upload progress. When the cancellation is made, a notification will be sent to the buyer to keep them updated

Remember, stock orders will have an unfulfillable status. For such instances, you will need to contact Amazon customer services and inform them that the item is out of stock. Failure to do this, the cancellation process will not go through.
On the same note, if your buyer wishes to continue to purchase the order, they will have the option of waiting until the product is back in stock, but they will need to place a new order.

How to Cancel a Fulfillment by Amazon (FBA) Order

As we have stated, when making money through Fulfillment by Amazon/ FBA, orders can be canceled anytime during the pending or unshipped status. Here is a step by steps directory on how you can cancel a fulfillment Amazon order:

1. Log in to your Amazon account
2. Contact Amazon Seller Support or call 1 800 419 7355 to talk to them directly.
3. Provide the Amazon representative with the specific order details, the order IDs
4. Then provide them with the Amazon Standard Identification Number (ASIN) of the order and the quantity of the item in the ASIN.
5. After that, provide them with the specific reason for the cancellation.
6. The Amazon seller agent will give you a cancellation confirmation and directly send an email to the buyer notifying them of the cancelation.

It is necessary to note that if you accidentally cancel the wrong order, it can not be reinstated. Therefore you need to be very careful while conducting this process.
Nevertheless, the Amazon seller can contact the buyer and inform them of the mistake. If the buyer is still interested, you can request them to place the order again.

How to Cancel an Amazon Order After Shipping

Amazon sellers are required by law to issue Amazon refunds for canceled orders, even after they have been shipped. This is because of the Consumer Contracts Regulations, which give the buyer the right to cancel a purchase for up to 14 days after the order is delivered.
This policy does not only apply to Amazon sellers only but to other e-commerce retailers too. You can cancel Amazon orders for free if the shipping process has not begun. However, Amazon will not charge you a cancellation fee if the order has already shipped.
As we have stated before, customers have approximately 30 minutes to cancel an order once they have placed an order. Orders that have already been shipped can not be canceled.
However, if a buyer submits a cancellation request after thirty minutes, you should contact them and inform them that the shipment process has begun. However, a buyer will have the option to return the items purchased.
If you want to communicate with the buyer, you can find their contact information under the Order ID or in the seller’s orders list. It’s important to note that if an item is returned in perfect condition, the order will be, it will be instantly canceled, and an Amazon refund will be issued to your customers’ original payment method.
The refund process will vary depending on the item purchased and its refund state. When a canceled order goes through, it takes minutes for a refund to be applied to the buyer’s credit card or bank account.
Amazon will reimburse the total original purchase price within three to thirty days, depending on the customers’ payment method. It might also take 3-5 days for the relevant sum to appear on their credit card statement or ten business days for debit cards. The refund time can be up to 30 days for purchases made with a prepaid credit card.

Amazon Cancel Order Refund Policy

Amazon sellers are obliged to refund money on canceled orders, regardless of who canceled them. However, this is if the purchased orders are canceled before the shipping process has begun. There are other situations in which the seller can honor a refund request, including:
Customers received defective items.
A bought product did not fit the description in the listing.
A seller’s product is no longer available,
Amazon offers full refunds only if the item returned is in
good condition and unopened. Again, if you buy something fulfilled by Amazon, you are not charged until
the item ships.

How to Manage the Amazon Order Cancellation Rate

Amazon’s cancellation process is pretty easy, but as we mentioned, you could easily lose your seller rights if you have more than a 2.5% cancellation rate. To avoid this, you must monitor your seller performance regularly and ensure that the orders on your Amazon listing are available.
Again you need to constantly communicate with your customers and Amazon’s support to notify them in case of any delays or cancellations. You also need open communication and a great relationship with your suppliers to ensure you have the orders whenever needed.
For order fulfillment, it’s right to invest in reliable and advanced inventory management technology. Additionally, you need to know your inventory turnover and always ensure your products are in stock and in the Amazon warehouse if you use fulfillment programs.
Suppose your eCommerce brand or Amazon business has difficulty managing returns and cancellation rates; you can try using an Amazon management agency. The agencies provide the necessary tools and strategies for inventory and supply chain management.
Some other tips you can use to manage your cancelation rate include:

• After setting up your Amazon Seller Account, remember to put it in vacation status if you cannot fulfill orders.
• Use buyer-seller messaging to update your customers on cancellations.
• Explain the cancellation reason to the buyer and request them to request cancellation.
• Always follow the standard Amazons cancellation process
• If you cant, fulfill the order in time, cancel the order as soon as possible. This will help reduce the chances of getting negative feedback from your buyers.