Amazon Vendor Chargebacks: Types, Fees and How to Dispute Them

One uncertified box and missing poly bags: in one quarter, that costs KUVERNA €2,720 in deductions. In this example, the vendor supplies kitchen machines to Amazon on amazon.de. 1,200 units arrived in a 46 × 35 × 27 cm box weighing 4 kg that is not certified. Amazon deducts €1.90 per unit for this, €2,280 in total. 800 units were missing the required poly bag: according to the Vendor Central help €0.55 per unit, €440 in total.

Deductions like these are called chargebacks. Amazon sets rules for every step: confirmation, shipment preparation, delivery, invoicing. For every rule, Amazon measures a metric. A violation ends up as a deduction on your remittance.

What Are Amazon Chargebacks and How Do They Work?

As a vendor, you deliver large quantities to Amazon. The rules in the Vendor Manual apply: for example, a complete Advance Shipment Notification (ASN) must be in place before every delivery, and the goods must arrive on time. If you break a rule, Amazon charges a chargeback and deducts the amount from your payments.

A wrong ASN, a missing poly bag, wrong data, a late delivery to the fulfillment center or a paper invoice: chargebacks can follow an order from import all the way to invoicing.

Shortage claims are about missing goods instead: Amazon cuts an invoice because its receiving records show missing units. For a chargeback, a rule violation is enough. A missing poly bag will do, even if every unit arrived.

Understanding the Amazon Vendor Operational Performance Dashboard

You find your chargebacks in Vendor Central under Reports › Operational Performance. Today this menu item opens the “Operational Performance” page in Supply Chain Connect, in the “Chargebacks” section. On the left you find more sections: Inventory Health, Packaging Opportunities, In-Full Delivery, Direct Fulfilment and Receive Accuracy.

At the top, you choose the marketplace, the vendor code and the report week (“Display report for”). Below, a tile for each chargeback type shows the violation rate (“Chargeback defect rate”), the target and your status. There are tiles for Ship In Own Container (target 10%), Receiving Accuracy, Prep Issues, On-Time Shipment, Rejected Delivery and Carton Content Accuracy, among others. “View defect list” opens the individual violations.

According to notices on the page, Amazon moved the prep and Ship in Own Container chargebacks to this new chargebacks page on October 12, 2026. Since October 1, 2026, Amazon also charges Direct Imports and Domestic Long-Lead purchase orders for down confirmations and for ASN and labeling errors on pallets.

For chargebacks, start with Operational Performance. Sales, inventory and traffic are in other Vendor Central reports, such as Amazon Retail Analytics (ARA).

Complete List of Amazon Chargeback Types and Penalties

From a missing bag to a missed delivery appointment: these violations trigger chargebacks. The amounts come from the Vendor Central help on amazon.de (as of October 2026). “Non-sortable” means larger than 45.5 × 34.0 × 26.4 cm or heavier than 12.3 kg.

A new chargeback covers unstable pallets (load safety): it applies only to full truckloads (FTL), once per trailer, and costs nothing yet during its soft launch. For non-conveyable cartons, Amazon currently applies no chargeback, according to the help. The amounts can change; check the latest figures in the Vendor Central help (chargebacks overview).

Import Shipments

Direct imports by sea or air freight used to have their own chargebacks, for example for late import documents or a late booking with Amazon’s service provider CDS (Century Distribution System). In October 2026 they are no longer listed in the Vendor Central chargeback help. According to the help, the on-time shipment chargeback currently does not apply to imports. Since October 1, 2026, however, Amazon charges direct imports for down confirmations and for ASN and labeling errors on pallets.

Prep Issues

Boxes and packaging material must protect the items in transit. If the required prep is missing, Amazon does it. You pay a chargeback per unit. The following amounts are in the Vendor Central help (as of October 2026). For non-sortable items, the higher rate from the table above applies.

• Poly bag: An item that needs a bag was not bagged, or not bagged correctly, for example liquid items or loose parts of a product. €0.55 per unit.
• Bubble wrap: Items made of glass, ceramics or tableware were not protected with bubble wrap. €0.91 per unit.
• Taping: Loose lids or openings were not secured, so something could fall out. €0.60 per unit.
• Barcode label: Every unit needs exactly one visible, scannable barcode that is linked to an ASIN. A barcode must not be on more than one carton. €0.30 per unit.
• Box: The box did not protect the item well enough, and Amazon has to repack it. €1.84 per unit.

Ships in Own Container (SIPP / SIOC)

If an ASIN’s packaging is larger than 45.5 × 34 × 26.5 cm or heavier than 12.3 kg, it must be certified as SIOC or FFP. Otherwise, since January 1, 2025, Amazon has charged €1.40 to €5.00 per unit, depending on the shipping weight; a PFP certification does not avoid the deduction. Our guide to Amazon SIOC certification explains the weight bands, tests and enrollment.

Non-Compliant Carton Content Information

Scan the label, match the contents: receiving in the fulfillment center runs as automatically as possible. For that, every carton needs a carton content label. If it is missing, an associate has to receive the carton by hand. The carton content also belongs in the ASN.

Incomplete carton content details in the ASN trigger this chargeback. If a scannable carton label is missing, appears more than once or is reused, Amazon charges €0.14 per unit, according to the help.

Put a label on every carton. It carries a GS1-128 SSCC (Serial Shipping Container Code) or an AMZNCC (Amazon Container Code) as plain text and as a barcode. If you send the ASN via EDI, you need an SSCC. If you create the ASN in Vendor Central, you need an AMZNCC. The Vendor Central help describes the requirements for shipping labels.

Overage

Ten units confirmed, twelve delivered: the two extra units count as overage. What matters is the quantity you confirmed in the purchase order (PO). If Amazon receives more, it charges a chargeback with the reason “overage”: 15% of the cost of goods. Amazon started this chargeback as a soft launch on July 14, 2026 and deducts nothing until January 6, 2027. The opposite costs money too: for confirmed units that are not delivered, Amazon charges 5% of the cost of goods per unit. If your defect rate over the last 12 weeks averages 5% or less, this deduction does not apply in that week.

Amazon orders based on expected sales. Extra units need storage space and can lead to overstock.

Only deliver the confirmed quantity. For multipacks, check how many units were ordered. Also check whether an order was sent twice by mistake.

Non-Compliant or Inaccurate ASN

The ASN (Advance Shipment Notification), also called a delivery notice, lists the contents of a shipment: which products in which quantity. You send it through the EDI interface (EDI help) or create it in Vendor Central.

The ASN must be in place before the carrier requests the delivery appointment in Carrier Central. Carrier Central is the portal carriers use to book appointments at Amazon fulfillment centers. At receiving, Amazon automatically matches the ASN against the carton labels. Shipping documents and delivery must match exactly.

If the ASN is missing when the delivery arrives, the chargeback follows. The same applies to wrong or missing details in the ASN.

Send a complete ASN for every delivery and give the carrier the bill of lading or PRO number from the ASN so it can book the appointment. For a missing, late, duplicate or mismatched ASN, Amazon charges €0.30 per unit. A missing expiry date in the ASN costs €0.07; a short remaining shelf life costs more (see the table). Details are in the Vendor Central help on ASN accuracy.

Invoice Not Submitted Electronically (Paper Invoice)

Paper and PDF cost extra here. After shipping, you submit the invoice through “Create Invoice” in Vendor Central or through the EDI interface. If you send it on paper or as a PDF through “Contact us” instead, it creates extra work for Amazon. A PDF counts as a paper invoice here too. Amazon charges €5 per invoice for that.

With the Amazon Vendor API, invoices can also be created automatically.

Late Delivery

If you use your own carrier (“prepaid” delivery), you are responsible for the transport to Amazon. The carrier requests a delivery window in CARP (Carrier Appointment Request Portal) in Carrier Central and must deliver within that window.

Amazon measures on-time performance and charges 3% of the cost of goods for the ASN quantity for a late shipment or a missing or wrong shipment ID. If your rate over the last 12 weeks averages 95%, Amazon waives the deduction automatically each week. This chargeback currently does not apply to imports.

If the carrier cannot make the appointment, it should contact the ROC (Relay Operation Center) and reschedule. This also applies if it can no longer make it on the same day. For receiving, the driver brings the Amazon appointment number (ISA number) and the freight documents.

Rejected Delivery

If a delivery does not follow Amazon’s rules, Amazon can refuse to accept it. This happens, for example, with non-compliant pallets or when a vehicle cannot be unloaded safely. Amazon can also reject a delivery for a canceled order. For a rejected delivery, Amazon charges €290.

Carrier No-Show

The appointment is confirmed, the delivery does not arrive, and nobody canceled in time: Amazon charges €290 for this as well. When planned goods are missing, inventory planning gets thrown off and Amazon cannot keep its delivery promises to customers. Agree the appointment with your transport provider. If it cannot be kept, cancel it in CARP in time.

Overweight and Oversized Cartons

Amazon limits the weight and size of a single shipping carton. A carton with more than one sellable unit that weighs over 23 kg costs €1.25 per carton. If one side is longer than 63.5 cm, it is €2.73 per carton. The help names the size chargeback for Germany, the UK, Italy and Spain, not for Fresh, Vendor Flex and Advantage. Check the limits before you pack the cartons.

How to Dispute Amazon Chargebacks Successfully

If you think a chargeback is wrong, you can dispute it. To do so, open Operational Performance in Vendor Central and then the list of violations with “View defect list”. According to the Vendor Central help, you select one or more chargebacks and click “Dispute”. On the page of a single chargeback, the button is called “Dispute this chargeback”.

Without evidence, your dispute will not succeed. Depending on the reason, provide:

• Late delivery: screenshots or data from the carrier that show it was on site in time.
• Prep: photos that show the items were correctly packed in poly bags or bubble wrap.
• ASN: proof of when the ASN was sent, such as the log of your EDI transmission.

You have up to 30 days from the notification. If Amazon refuses, you can dispute a second time within 30 days. There are no more than two disputes; after that, only a case through “Contact us” remains. Amazon no longer reviews chargebacks older than its 24-month data retention period (Vendor Central help on disputes).

Track chargebacks by reason with AMALYTIX

At KUVERNA, €2,280 goes to the uncertified box and €440 to missing poly bags. That makes it clear which reason costs the most. To see this across several months, though, you have to go through Vendor Central violation by violation and add up the deductions from your remittances yourself.

In AMALYTIX, open the “Chargebacks” tab under Vendor Finance. There, the deductions from your remittances are grouped by the reason Amazon gives. The feature is part of Shortage Claims. For each reason, you see the count, the amount and the change against the previous period. Click a reason to open the single events with date and description.

The reasons keep the wording of Amazon’s remittance: “Ship In Own Container” is the SIPP chargeback, “Carton Content Accuracy” the carton content and “Prep Bagging” the missing poly bag. For KUVERNA, “Ship In Own Container” would be at the top. The comparison with the previous period shows whether this deduction is growing.

The analysis shows the costs. You decide which chargeback to dispute and which cause to fix in your process. You still file the dispute in Vendor Central.

Conclusion

A box without certification, an item without the required bag: rule violations like these cost money and eat into your margin. How much the deductions weigh is clear when you look at your profitability as a vendor.

Check Operational Performance regularly and tackle recurring causes first. For KUVERNA, that means getting the packaging certified and using the required poly bags. If a chargeback is unjustified, dispute it with evidence and within 30 days.

All rules for ordering, prep and delivery are in the Vendor Manual. You find it in Vendor Central under Support › Shipping › Vendor Manual.

Frequently asked questions about Amazon vendor chargebacks

How can vendors avoid Amazon chargebacks?

Follow the rules in the Vendor Manual: a complete ASN before every delivery, correct carton labels, the required prep, on-time delivery and electronic invoices. Have large and heavy packaging certified as SIOC or FFP. Check Operational Performance regularly and fix recurring causes first.

How long do I have to dispute a chargeback?

Usually 30 days from the notification. If Amazon rejects the dispute, you can dispute a second time within another 30 days.

Chargebacks vs. shortage claims: what is the difference?

A chargeback is a deduction for a rule violation, such as a missing ASN or a late delivery. A shortage claim cuts an invoice because Amazon’s receiving records show missing units.

What does a SIOC chargeback cost?

For non-sortable ASINs without SIOC or FFP certification, Amazon has charged €1.40 to €5.00 per unit since January 1, 2025, depending on the shipping weight. Non-sortable means larger than 45.5 × 34 × 26.5 cm or heavier than 12.3 kg.

What is an ASN accuracy chargeback?

Amazon charges it when the Advance Shipment Notification (ASN) is not in place before the delivery arrives, or when it contains wrong or missing details. Send a complete ASN for every delivery before the carrier books the appointment.