How does the Amazon A-to-z Guarantee work for sellers?

What is the Amazon A-to-z Guarantee?

Amazon's A-to-z Guarantee protects buyers who purchase from third-party sellers that fulfill their own orders. It covers both timely delivery and the condition of the item. The buyer files the claim with Amazon, not with you, and Amazon decides it.

On the buyer side, Amazon says a claim is possible when the order came from a third-party seller and the last possible delivery date was 90 days ago or less. Orders fulfilled by Amazon, including FBA, go through Amazon's own customer service instead, which is one reason FBA vs FBM is an account health decision as well as a cost one.

Claims about property damage or personal injury caused by a defective product follow a separate A-to-z claims process, covered in our seller insurance guide.

When can a buyer file an A-to-z claim?

Buyers have to give you a chance first. Amazon's rules:

What happens after an A-to-z claim is filed?

Amazon lists four outcomes: you refund in full (the claim closes but still counts toward ODR), Amazon investigates, Amazon grants it automatically, or the buyer withdraws it (no ODR impact). Amazon grants the claim automatically and debits your account when:

• You did not answer a delivery message, or authorize or answer a return request, within 48 hours.
• You did not ship by the expected ship date, or did not deliver by the maximum estimated delivery date.
• You used an untracked shipping method and gave no valid tracking ID.
• Tracking shows the order is undeliverable, or it went to the wrong address.
• An item came back on a prepaid label and you did not refund within 5 days of receiving it.
• A return on your prepaid label was lost, or bounced because your return address was wrong.

Amazon can also refund the buyer without any contact with you. If tracking shows the package is returning to you, there is no ODR impact. If you had not shipped or confirmed shipment when the claim was filed, or your account was closed or deactivated with open orders, it does hit your account health.

How do A-to-z claims affect account health?

A-to-z claims are one of three parts of your Order Defect Rate, with negative feedback and chargebacks. ODR is measured over 60 days, applies only to seller-fulfilled orders, and Amazon requires it to stay under 1%. Above that, Amazon may suspend your FBM selling privileges or deactivate the affected offers.

Read the left column again: refunding after the claim is filed still counts. The time to refund is before the buyer files.

How do you respond to and appeal an A-to-z claim?

Amazon emails you and posts a notice in Seller Central when it needs information. Miss the 72-hour window and the claim is granted to the buyer and debited.

1. Open the claim. In Seller Central, go to Performance, then A-to-z Guarantee claims. Claims needing a reply sit in the Action required tab.
2. Respond to Amazon within 72 hours. Select Respond to Amazon and attach proof: tracking, proof of delivery, signature confirmation, the return label you issued, and your Buyer-Seller Messages with the buyer.
3. Appeal within 30 calendar days if you lose. Open the Option to Appeal tab, select Appeal decision, choose a reason and upload new evidence such as proof of delivery.
4. Answer follow-ups within 72 hours. Amazon may ask for more during the appeal. If it reverses the decision, it can remove the ODR impact and reimburse the refund.

How do you prevent A-to-z claims?

Amazon's own prevention list comes down to tracking, speed and accuracy:

• Use valid tracking on every order. Amazon resolves delivery claims in the buyer's favor when there is no tracking.
• Buy labels through Buy Shipping. If you ship on time with Buy Shipping and answer buyers within 48 hours, granted delivery claims do not hit your account health or ODR, though you may still have to reimburse the buyer.
• Pay for proof of delivery or signature confirmation on high-value orders, and share it in Buyer-Seller Messages when a buyer says it never arrived.
• Confirm shipment before the expected ship date, and tell buyers early if a delivery will be late.
• Describe products exactly as the detail page shows them, and cancel out-of-stock orders promptly.
• Answer every message within 48 hours, and if you cannot fulfill for any reason, pause your listings and set up automatic return authorization.