Every compliance chargeback Amazon applies to first-party vendors, across all seven categories Amazon uses in Vendor Central - what triggers each one, its sub-types, how to avoid it, and the ERP data that actually prevents it. 32 defect types. Search it, filter it, bookmark it.
Amazon's purchase-order rules are the most common source of chargebacks, because every one of them depends on data your ERP either has or hasn't got.
What triggers it: You shipped units that were never confirmed against a purchase order.
How to avoid it: Confirm every PO inside the acknowledgment window, and never ship against an unconfirmed line.
What your ERP needs: Your ERP needs the PO acknowledgment written back to Amazon automatically the moment a line is confirmed - not re-keyed into the portal later.
What triggers it: Amazon received more units than the purchase order asked for.
How to avoid it: Block over-picking at the warehouse and reconcile pick quantities to the PO before the shipment leaves.
What your ERP needs: Enforce the ordered quantity as a hard limit on the delivery order, so a picker physically cannot exceed it.
What triggers it: The ordered items did not arrive inside the ship or delivery window on the PO.
How to avoid it: Treat the PO window as a hard scheduling constraint, and confirm only quantities you can actually fill.
What your ERP needs: The ship and delivery windows should drive your scheduling dates directly, with an alert before the window closes rather than after.
What triggers it: Invoices were submitted by a method Amazon does not accept, rather than the official electronic route.
How to avoid it: Send every invoice electronically through the approved channel.
What your ERP needs: Invoice submission should fire from the ERP on validation - no manual uploads, no PDFs by email.
What triggers it: A chargeback based on how often you reject or backorder the units Amazon orders.
How to avoid it: Keep the catalogue and availability accurate so Amazon orders what you can actually supply.
What your ERP needs: Push real availability to Amazon from live ERP stock, not from a spreadsheet refreshed weekly.
ASN problems are usually about timing and accuracy - the virtual record of a shipment not matching the physical one.
What triggers it: The shipment information sent in the ASN does not match what actually arrives at the fulfilment centre.
How to avoid it: Send the ASN before the shipment arrives, generated from the actual pick, not typed by hand.
What your ERP needs: The ASN should be produced from the delivery order itself, carrying lot and expiry data through automatically - which is exactly where manual re-keying fails.
Preparation defects are physical - how the unit itself is made ready. They are the least ERP-dependent category, and the most dependent on documented warehouse instructions.
What triggers it: Units requiring a bag were not bagged to Amazon's specification.
How to avoid it: Follow the item's prep requirement for polybagging, including bag thickness and seal.
What triggers it: A bag large enough to require a suffocation warning did not carry one.
How to avoid it: Apply the correct suffocation warning label or print it on the bag.
What triggers it: Fragile items were not wrapped to specification.
How to avoid it: Wrap per the item's prep instruction and test-drop the pack format.
What triggers it: The unit was not stickered with the correct ASIN identifier.
How to avoid it: Sticker at pack time from the item record rather than from memory.
What your ERP needs: The label should print from the ERP against the right ASIN, so the barcode cannot drift from the item.
What triggers it: Items requiring boxing were not boxed to specification.
How to avoid it: Follow the boxing requirement for the item category.
What triggers it: Cartons were not sealed to specification.
How to avoid it: Use the specified tape and sealing pattern.
What triggers it: Multi-unit sets were not assembled or labelled as a single sellable set.
How to avoid it: Build and label sets as one sellable unit before shipping.
What your ERP needs: Sets should exist as their own product with their own barcode in the ERP, not as a loose collection of components.
What triggers it: Items requiring opaque covering were shipped without it.
How to avoid it: Apply opaque bagging where the category requires it.
What triggers it: Liquid products were shipped without the required cap seal.
How to avoid it: Seal caps to specification for all liquids.
What triggers it: Apparel was shipped with hangers still attached where they should be removed.
How to avoid it: Strip hangers at pack unless the item explicitly ships on one.
Packaging chargebacks relate to Amazon's Frustration-Free Packaging programme and its certification process.
What triggers it: The item is enrolled or expected to ship in its own certified container and did not comply.
How to avoid it: Confirm the certification status of each ASIN before shipping, and re-certify after any packaging change.
What your ERP needs: Hold the packaging certification status on the product record so it is visible at pack time, not buried in an email thread.
Transportation defects cover collect shipping and import routing - missed pickups, late bookings and late documents.
What triggers it: The shipment was not ready or not correct when the carrier arrived.
How to avoid it: Have the freight staged and accurate before the booked pickup window.
What your ERP needs: The ERP's planned shipping date should drive the pickup booking, so the two cannot drift apart.
What triggers it: A booked pickup did not happen.
How to avoid it: Cancel or rebook before the window rather than letting the slot lapse.
What triggers it: An import shipment was booked after its deadline.
How to avoid it: Book import shipments against the PO window, not against the production date.
What triggers it: An import purchase order missed its window.
How to avoid it: Treat import lead time as part of the confirmable window before you confirm the PO.
What triggers it: Required import documents arrived after the deadline.
How to avoid it: Attach and submit documents as part of the shipment process, not afterwards.
What your ERP needs: Documents belong on the shipment record in the ERP with their own deadline, so nothing waits on one person's inbox.
Receive defects happen when Amazon's automated intake cannot process your shipment - and most of them come down to a label or a number that did not match.
What triggers it: The virtual record of what is in the carton does not match what was physically in it.
How to avoid it: Pack to the ASN and verify carton contents by scan before sealing.
What your ERP needs: Carton content should be generated from the actual pick in the ERP, so the ASN and the box are the same record rather than two.
What triggers it: The carton had no acceptable label, the label could not be scanned, or the label data never reached the ASN.
How to avoid it: Print scannable labels, keep them off seams and corners, and make sure the label data is carried on the ASN.
What your ERP needs: The licence plate must be generated by the system that also builds the ASN, otherwise the two will disagree.
What triggers it: The product has no item barcode, or the barcode could not be scanned.
How to avoid it: Every unit needs a scannable identifier - UPC, EAN, ASIN or ISBN - printed on the exterior.
What your ERP needs: Barcodes should print from the product record, so a catalogue change updates the label automatically.
What triggers it: The carton arrived without the purchase-order label.
How to avoid it: Label every carton against its PO before it leaves.
What triggers it: Void fill or protective material did not meet requirements.
How to avoid it: Use compliant dunnage for the item and carton size.
What triggers it: Product arrived at or beyond its expiry threshold.
How to avoid it: Ship by earliest-expiry-first and check remaining shelf life against Amazon's requirement.
What your ERP needs: Expiry-driven picking has to be enforced by the ERP - FEFO, not FIFO - and the expiry must travel on the ASN.
What triggers it: A carton exceeded the maximum permitted weight.
How to avoid it: Check carton weight limits at pack, including for heavy single items.
What triggers it: A carton exceeded permitted dimensions.
How to avoid it: Check carton dimension limits at pack.
Direct fulfilment is when you ship to the customer yourself rather than through an Amazon fulfilment centre.
What triggers it: Orders you accepted were subsequently cancelled because they could not be filled.
How to avoid it: Only expose stock you can genuinely ship today.
What your ERP needs: Direct fulfilment availability should come from live ERP stock with a buffer, because an over-promise here is a chargeback rather than a backorder.
What triggers it: The order shipped by a different method from the one Amazon specified.
How to avoid it: Ship by the method on the order, and reflect any change back to Amazon.
What your ERP needs: The required carrier and service should be carried onto the delivery order automatically so the warehouse cannot substitute it.
Read the list again and the pattern is hard to miss. Late acknowledgments, unit-count mismatches, missing expiry dates, licence plates that never reached the ASN, availability you could not actually fill - none of those are solved by working harder in the warehouse. They are solved by the purchase order, the pick, the label and the invoice being the same record instead of four.
That is what our Amazon Vendor Central connector for Odoo exists to do: receive the PO, acknowledge it inside the window, build the ASN from the actual pick, carry lot and expiry through to the label, and send the invoice electronically - inside the ERP, not in a portal.
Book a demo of the Amazon Vendor Central Odoo Connector — purchase orders to invoices, end to end — and get a scoped onboarding plan for your vendor agreement.
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