Increase Your Valid Tracking Rate for a Successful Amazon Suspension Appeal Service

February 3, 2023
Written by Ken Zhou
amazon suspension appeal service - hands holding a mobile phone with delivery tracking page

How often do you send packages to Amazon customers with valid tracking numbers? That's what your account's valid tracking rate will tell you. Remember that buyers rely on tracking numbers to monitor their orders. 

As an Amazon seller, this is one of the performance metrics required to maintain a healthy seller account. Failure to do so can result in various negative consequences, including a suspension.

How are you going to solve that? First, optimize your valid tracking rate and seek an Amazon suspension appeal service for a successful reinstatement. Here's a quick guide for you.

All About Amazon's Valid Tracking Rate (VTR)

Basic Criteria and Calculation

Amazon validates your tracking information based on the shipment's origin country. If the packages are shipped from the US, it considers your tracking data valid when the tracking ID records at least one carrier scan

If the packages are shipped from China, they evaluate a tracking ID based on a few things: 

  • Packages with a value of less than 5 USD (shipping fee included) must use an Amazon-integrated carrier and a trackable shipping method showing at least one carrier scan.
  • Packages with a value above or equal to 5 USD (shipping fee included) must use an integrated carrier and a trackable shipping method showing at least two carrier scans. One would be a carrier's delivery scan, and the other a delivery attempt.
  • Tracked items should follow the promised delivery date to be valid.

Amazon sellers must keep their account's VTR greater than 95% over a rolling 30-day period

To calculate your VTR, the Amazon marketplace divides the number of delivered orders with a valid tracking ID by the total number of delivered and confirmed packages by the seller. 

What a Tracking Number Consists Of

An accurate, valid tracking number must have the following:

  1. The correct name of the delivery provider,
  2. The specific service you used in all seller-fulfilled orders, and
  3. A tracking ID for orders shipped with a tracking system.

Where to Find It

Go to your account's Performance menu and select Account Health. Next, view the Shipping Performance section and find View

This is where you'll find more details about the VTR defect report, which contains orders without a valid tracking number. If you don't find any orders on the report, you're doing it right. 

You may also download the defect report. Go to the Valid Tracking Rate section and click Download Report. Filter the data by product category or carrier when necessary. Note that Amazon needs 72 hours before the report reflects the updates on your VTR.

Why It Matters

Ecommerce businesses without valid tracking systems frequently experience abandoned purchases. This shows that buyers want transparency throughout their buying experience, from the shipping to the delivery phase. They want to ensure that their orders arrive on time. 

In other words, the VTR is an indicator of your service quality. 

With a high VTR, you'll have more opportunities to thrive in the platform, such as getting featured in the Buy Box spot. This gets you higher feedback ratings, strong brand loyalty, and an account safe from suspensions.

What Happens If You Fail to Comply?

If you fail to maintain a VTR of 95% or greater, here's what could happen:

  • Lose Amazon selling privileges. These include selling seller-fulfilled items in one or more product categories where you failed to comply with the VTR requirements.
  • Lose eligibility in premium shipping and guaranteed delivery programs.
  • Get your Amazon seller central account suspended.
amazon appeal services - closeup of amazon delivery man holding a package and a mobile phone

3 Tips to Optimize Your Valid Tracking Rate for Successful Amazon Account Reinstatement

Always Confirm and Update Tracking Details Beforehand

Double-checking is key to validate the tracking information of your packages. You should do this before or within 24 hours of handing them over to the carrier. Check and confirm whether the carrier name, tracking ID, and shipping service are entered correctly. 

Here are other things to watch out for:

  • Special characters that Amazon can't recognize may result in a misspelled tracking ID.
  • Manually adding an Amazon-integrated carrier's name in the free-form text field labelled "Other" is marked invalid.
  • Adding Chinese characters to your tracking data is also invalid because Amazon doesn't support them.
  • The tracking number of the package should match the carrier. 

Doing all these checks after delivery will be marked as a defect and negatively impact your VTR.

Choose Amazon-Integrated Carriers

Amazon encourages sellers to ship their packages using Amazon-integrated carriers. These carriers provide real-time tracking, minimizing customer contacts and improving your feedback ratings.

Here are some examples of integrated carriers for shipments from the US:

  • FedEx
  • UPS
  • DHL
  • USPS
  • Raben Group
  • UPS Freight
  • AAA Cooper

And here are integrated carriers for shipments from China:

  • China Post
  • Yanwen
  • JCEX
  • DHL eCommerce
  • SF Express
  • UBI
  • 4PX

Use Amazon's Buy Shipping Labels

Amazon's Buy Shipping services are another great option for verifying tracking information. If you choose a non-integrated carrier, buying shipping labels from Amazon allows you to monitor orders better. But there's more: this shipping service also protects you from A-to-Z guarantee claims.

The Next Step: Send an Amazon Account Suspension Appeal

If your listing or account is suspended, you must send an Amazon suspension appeal letter to reinstate it. Once you successfully increase your VTR and other important performance metrics, this is what you'll do next.

  1. Go to your Account Health page and look for the Appeal button.
  2. Draft your Plan of Action (POA), entailing all your plans to resolve this account issue.
  3. Send your Amazon Vendor Central suspension appeal, including other requirements (if any) Amazon wants from you.
  4. Wait for Amazon's response. 

5 Other Amazon Seller Performance Metrics

VTR isn't the only metric you must maintain to reinstate or prevent a suspended Amazon account. Other arguably important performance indicators include:

  • Order Defect Rate - Customers with a negative buying experience.
  • Late Shipment Rate - Frequency of delayed shipments
  • Pre-Fulfillment Cancelation Rate - Out-of-stock orders you cancel after a customer places an order.
  • Conversion Rate - Sales your Amazon business is getting. You won't get suspended for this, but lower your ranking. It's still an important metric.
  • Inventory Performance Index (IPI) - Your FBA inventory performance over time.

Suspended Account for Low VTR? Consider Seller Interactive's Amazon Appeal Services

VTR directly affects your service quality as an Amazon seller. Customers trust a company that provides them with a valid tracking system and ensures their orders arrive on time. But despite this high demand for transparency, many sellers still try to cut corners when verifying tracking information.

If you think tracking isn't important, now's a good time to change your mind. It is a direct indicator of the health of your Amazon account, and if it falls below 95%, your account will be suspended. Always keep an eye on it to avoid the consequences.

Contact Us Today!

Seller Interactive offers an Amazon account reinstatement service that solves various account issues. These include account creation failure, IP complaints, damage recovery, poor account performance, Amazon policy violations, and brand protection.

Schedule a call today to reinstate your account and get back to thriving!

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