Amazon’s Order Defect Rate, or ODR, is the percentage of your seller-fulfilled orders that received negative feedback, an A-to-z Guarantee claim or a credit card chargeback during a 60-day period. Amazon requires sellers to keep it under 1 percent. Above 1 percent, Amazon may suspend your Fulfilled by Merchant selling privileges or deactivate seller-fulfilled offers, and getting them back requires an appeal through the Account Health page. To fix it, you need the order-level breakdown showing which of the three defect types drove the rate, on which orders, and what in your operation produced them. Appeals that describe general service improvements without that breakdown are the most common failure we see. An Amazon ODR that is too high is fixed in the operation first and in the appeal second, and the fastest way to lower the Amazon order defect rate is to stop new A-to-z claims from opening while old defects age out of the 60-day window.

What Amazon Means by Order Defect Rate

Amazon describes ODR as a measure of a seller’s customer service quality. It is the percentage of orders with one or more of three indicators of poor customer service during a given 60-day period.

• Negative feedback, meaning 1-star and 2-star seller feedback.
• A-to-z Guarantee claims.
• Credit card chargebacks.

Amazon states that ODR applies only to seller-fulfilled orders. Orders fulfilled by Amazon do not count toward it.

The rule and the consequence

Amazon’s Order Defect Rate page states the policy plainly. Sellers must maintain an ODR under 1 percent to sell in the Amazon store. An ODR above 1 percent may result in suspension of Fulfilled by Merchant selling privileges, or deactivation of seller-fulfilled offers with high rates of negative feedback, A-to-z Guarantee claims or chargebacks. If your seller-fulfilled offers are deactivated for not meeting the ODR requirement, Amazon directs you to the Account Health page, where you select Submit appeal and follow the online instructions for reinstatement.

Amazon also monitors listings with high defect rates individually. Its ODR page states that it may remove an offer with a history of negative feedback, claims or chargebacks in a compressed period, and that you can reactivate those offers by following the instructions under the Other policy violations section of the Account Health dashboard. So an ODR problem can show up at two levels, the account metric and the individual offer.

How sellers usually find out

The Customer Service Performance section of Account Health shows the rate climbing toward or past 1 percent. It usually follows a run of A-to-z claims, chargebacks or negative feedback tied to one SKU, a carrier problem or a slow inbox. The first thing most owners see is a performance notice that seller-fulfilled offers are at risk. If you are not there yet and the rate is rising, our guide to an Amazon ODR approaching 1 percent covers the warning stage in detail.

ODR rarely moves alone. A climbing cancellation rate warning or a late shipment rate warning in the same weeks usually points to the same fulfillment gap that is producing the claims.

How the 60 Day ODR Window Is Calculated

Each defect type is calculated as a percentage of orders in the period. For negative feedback, Amazon divides the number of orders that received 1-star or 2-star feedback by the number of orders in the period. For A-to-z claims, it divides the number of orders with a relevant claim by the number of orders in the 60-day period. For chargebacks, it divides the number of orders that received a chargeback by the number of orders in the period. The ODR is the share of orders with one or more of those defects.

The order date decides where a defect lands

This is the detail most sellers miss. Amazon states that negative feedback is order-correlated, meaning it looks at the date of the order and not the date the feedback was received. The same applies to chargebacks. A buyer who leaves negative feedback three weeks after delivery adds a defect to the window that contains the original order date.

Two consequences follow. First, the feedback that counts toward ODR may not match the feedback buyers see on your profile, as Amazon itself notes. Second, a bad week of orders keeps affecting the rate long after the week is over, because defects on those orders can arrive late and still land in that period. When you investigate a spike, sort defects by order date before anything else.

Why small accounts swing faster

The denominator is the number of orders in the period. A seller with 300 seller-fulfilled orders in 60 days crosses 1 percent with four defective orders. A seller with 30,000 orders needs more than 300. One defective lot, one carrier failure or one unanswered weekend of messages can move a small account over the line in days. Low-volume merchant-fulfilled sellers need daily attention to every claim and every piece of feedback.

How defects leave the rate

A defect counts while its order is inside the 60-day window. Some defects can also be removed before they age out. Amazon states that if a buyer withdraws negative feedback, it is no longer counted, although removal from ODR can take up to 48 hours. If an A-to-z claim decision is reversed on appeal and you are found not at fault, the claim is removed from your ODR. And feedback that Amazon removes under its feedback removal criteria no longer affects ODR.

To see the detail, Amazon’s instructions are to go to Account Health, select View details in the Customer service performance section, open the Order defect rate tab and select Download report. That report is the foundation of every ODR investigation and every ODR appeal we write.

The Three Defect Types and Where Each Comes From

Reviewers check whether you can name which of the three defect types drove the rate and on which orders. Each type has its own counting rules and its own operational causes.

Negative feedback

Negative feedback is 1-star or 2-star seller feedback. It usually traces to late or missing deliveries, items that did not match the listing, damaged items, or slow responses to buyer messages. Amazon recommends identifying what caused the negative experience and working with the buyer through Feedback Manager, by selecting Contact customer next to the order, or through Buyer-Seller Messaging templates.

Amazon removes feedback in specific cases, and when it does, the feedback no longer affects ODR. Its feedback removal page lists feedback that contains profanity or obscenities, hate speech, personally identifiable information such as email addresses, full names or phone numbers, feedback that refers to a product sold by a different seller, feedback about a product for which you are the brand owner or authorized reseller, and feedback where the entire comment is a product review. If a comment mixes a product review with a complaint about your service, Amazon does not remove it. Amazon also strikes through feedback where the entire comment is about delivery on an order fulfilled by Amazon, or about a delayed or undelivered order you shipped on time using Buy Shipping. You request removal through Feedback Manager by selecting Request removal next to the order.

A-to-z Guarantee claims

Amazon’s ODR page is precise about which claims count. These claims affect your ODR.

• Claims granted to the buyer where Amazon determines you were at fault.
• Claims where you refunded the buyer after the claim was filed.
• Claims where you or Amazon canceled the order.
• Claims pending a decision on appeal.

These do not

• Claims Amazon closes with a finding in your favor.
• Claims denied to the buyer.
• Claims withdrawn by the buyer.
• Claims under the A-to-z process for property damage and personal injury.

When a claim is already open, answer it in Seller Central with tracking and the message history, and use our guide to an Amazon A-to-z claim appeal if it was granted against you on facts you can disprove. Read the second bullet of the first list again. A refund issued after the buyer files a claim still counts as a defect. A refund issued when the buyer first messages you, before a claim exists, prevents the claim. That one timing difference explains a large share of the ODR cases we see from merchant-fulfilled sellers with slow inboxes.

Credit card chargebacks

Amazon describes a chargeback as similar to an A-to-z claim, except that the card issuer processes the claim and makes the decision. Amazon lists typical reasons, such as the buyer saying they did not receive the item, returned it without receiving a refund, or received a damaged or defective product. Amazon separates chargebacks into two kinds. A fraud chargeback means the buyer says they did not make the purchase at all, usually a stolen card, and Amazon does not count fraud chargebacks toward ODR. A service chargeback means the buyer acknowledges the purchase and reports a problem, and if the issuer decides for the buyer, it counts toward ODR. Respond to every chargeback request with tracking, delivery confirmation and your communication history, because a service chargeback left unanswered is decided on the buyer’s account alone.

The business models behind most ODR cases

Three models produce most of the ODR deactivations we work.

• Merchant-fulfilled sellers with thin operations. Slow shipping and unanswered messages turn into A-to-z claims that count directly in ODR. Run it compliantly by answering buyer messages within 24 hours and moving slow or unreliable fulfillment to FBA or a carrier with consistent delivery.
• Drop shipping from retail sources. Long, unpredictable delivery and wrong items generate claims and negative feedback, and the seller rarely controls either. Amazon’s drop shipping rules add a separate policy exposure, covered in our guide on the Amazon drop shipping policy violation.
• Sellers with a single defective or mis-described SKU. One bad lot can push a small order count over 1 percent quickly. Pull the order-level report, find the SKU driving defects, and pause that offer until it is fixed.

Delivery speed connects to two neighboring metrics. Late shipments and missing tracking show up first in those metrics and then in ODR as claims and feedback. Our guides on the Amazon late shipment and on-time delivery rate and the Amazon valid tracking rate restriction cover them.

Writing a Plan of Action for an ODR Deactivation

The appeal for an ODR deactivation is submitted from the Account Health page. Amazon’s appeal questionnaire guidance asks you to be clear, concise, factual and direct, to explain the root causes of every issue, to give specific actions with dates or documentation, and to avoid emotive language. The same page notes that some sellers can reactivate offers by enrolling in Fulfilled by Merchant support tools for a minimum required period, so check Account Health for that option before you write. Our method for ODR cases rests on one position, that the shortfall traces to a specific, corrected cause, and current performance meets the 1 percent standard.

The decision and your position

Name the notice and the policy, which is Amazon’s Order Defect Rate requirement under its customer service performance standards. State your position in one sentence. Do not argue that 1 percent is unfair, describe your years on the platform or explain how much the suspension costs you. None of that is evidence.

The order-level root cause

This is the section reviewers weigh most, and it is where general appeals fail. Break the defects down by type, showing how many orders had negative feedback, how many had claims and how many had chargebacks. Then name the driver for each group, with order IDs, such as the SKU, the carrier, the response time or the fulfillment source. A root cause we would accept reads like this composite example, “Of the defective orders in the period, most were A-to-z claims for non-delivery on orders shipped through one regional carrier during a two-week period. The remainder were negative feedback on one SKU from a lot with a packaging defect.” A root cause we would reject reads. “We experienced shipping delays and have improved our customer service.” Never blame buyers or carriers. Name what your process failed to catch.

Corrective actions already taken

Corrective actions are completed and counted. Every open claim answered or resolved. Buyers refunded where owed. The defective lot pulled from sale and the SKU paused. The carrier dropped or the shipping method changed. Feedback that meets Amazon’s removal criteria submitted through Feedback Manager, and only that feedback. Each with dates.

Preventive measures now in place

Preventive measures are controls with an owner. A response-time rule for buyer messages. Carrier selection rules based on delivery performance. An inspection step for new lots before they ship. A weekly ODR review with a named owner who downloads the report and classifies every new defect. Tie each control to a cause you named.

Evidence and the request

Attach the performance notice, the order-level defect data from the ODR report, records showing how the affected orders were resolved, and the written monitoring procedure. Show the current corrected metric where it is available. Close with one request, reinstatement of selling privileges, with the driver identified and corrected and current performance within target. Add a short reservation of rights stating that nothing in the appeal is an admission. Threatening legal action does not help a first appeal.

If a first ODR plan has already been rejected, read our guide on an Amazon ODR Plan of Action that was rejected before you resubmit.

What Never to Do When ODR Spikes

Some reactions to a rising ODR make the case worse. Seven of them show up again and again in the deactivated accounts sent to our desk.

• Refunding after a claim is filed to make it go away. Refund early when a refund is owed, before a claim, and answer the claim with evidence once it exists.
• Ignoring chargeback requests. An unanswered service chargeback is decided on the buyer’s account alone.
• Pressuring buyers to change feedback. Amazon treats incentives for feedback changes as manipulation, a risk our guide to an Amazon feedback manipulation warning walks through. Contact buyers through Feedback Manager or Buyer-Seller Messaging to resolve the problem. Asking for a feedback change in exchange for a refund or anything else creates a separate policy problem on top of the ODR.
• Requesting removal of every negative feedback. Amazon removes feedback only on its stated grounds. Blanket requests waste time and do not change the rate.
• Canceling orders to avoid late shipments. Claims on canceled orders still count toward ODR, and cancellations feed their own metric. Our guide on the Amazon cancellation rate above 2.5 percent covers that one.
• Opening a second account to keep selling. A new account tied to a deactivated one moves a fixable metric problem into a related-account case, which our guide on how to avoid Amazon related account linking explains.
• Submitting an appeal before the cause is fixed. A plan that promises fixes instead of describing completed ones reads as a plan with nothing done.

First breach compared with a repeat

Amazon’s ODR page describes the consequence above 1 percent and the appeal path for reinstatement. It does not describe a separate tier for repeat ODR breaches. The Account Health Rating program policy does explain how Amazon weighs repeat violations of the same policy. The rating runs from 0 to 1,000, new sellers start at 200, and the score reflects the last 180 days. Point values rise each time the same policy is violated, and Amazon states that the maximum number of repeat violations in a 180-day period can be as low as two for higher severity violations. In practice, a repeat breach after reinstatement is judged against the same 1 percent target with a weaker track record, which makes the second Plan of Action harder to accept. A second appeal must show what changed in the operation, such as a new carrier, a fulfillment move to FBA or a supplier change, since tighter monitoring of the same setup will not carry it. Performance problems can also feed the wider Account Health picture, which our guide on an unhealthy Amazon Account Health Rating explains.

Regional differences and the law

Amazon’s US help page sets the 1 percent target, the three defect types and the 60-day period. The UK Order defect rate page on Seller Central Europe sets the same under 1 percent target over the same 60-day period, with one difference that matters before deactivation. A UK seller whose seller-fulfilled offers are at risk may be offered a five-question quiz on the ODR policy in the Account Health banner. The seller has 72 hours to take it, and a pass means no Plan of Action is required and the listings are not deactivated. Sellers on other European stores should check their own store’s help page for the same option. The legal frame around the buyer relationship also differs by region.

The table describes the rules as published on the eCFR, EUR-Lex and Seller Central. Talk to a licensed attorney in your state or country before you rely on any of it in a dispute.

How to Lower an Amazon ODR That Is Too High

The rate only falls two ways. New orders arrive without defects, which grows the denominator, and existing defects leave through withdrawal, removal, reversal or the 60-day clock. Work these steps in order.

1. Download the ODR report the same day. Use the Download report path described in the 60-day window section, and save a dated copy so you can show the before and after in the appeal.
2. Sort every defect by order date and type. Mark each row as negative feedback, A-to-z claim or service chargeback, then add the SKU, carrier and ship date.
3. Close every open claim and chargeback request. Respond with tracking, delivery confirmation and the full message history, because the card issuer rules on whatever file is in front of it by the response date.
4. Pause the driver. Take the SKU, lot or carrier behind most rows off sale or out of use until it is fixed.
5. Clear what Amazon allows you to clear. Request removal only on feedback that meets the removal grounds, and appeal claims where you can prove you were not at fault. Withdrawn feedback can take up to 48 hours to leave the rate.
6. Count the days to recovery. Find the order date of each remaining defect and add 60 days. That date is when it stops counting if nothing else removes it first.
7. Submit the appeal only when the fix is complete. If offers are already deactivated, use Submit appeal on Account Health with the Plan of Action above.

For a worked example, take a seller with 600 seller-fulfilled orders in the window and 9 defective orders. That is 1.5 percent. Getting under 1 percent at the same volume means 5 or fewer defective orders, so 4 defects have to leave the window through removal, reversal or age while no new ones arrive.

Daily ODR Control Routine

The prevention lesson is to track each defect type daily and resolve buyer problems before they become negative feedback, A-to-z claims or chargebacks.

Every day

• Answer every buyer message within 24 hours, including weekends. Unanswered messages are the most common path to a claim.
• Check for new A-to-z claims and chargeback requests and respond the same day with tracking, delivery proof and the message history.
• Read every new 1-star and 2-star rating the same morning, open the order, and offer the fix the buyer is owed through Contact customer. File Request removal only on ratings that match one of Amazon’s removal grounds.
• Check orders that are late to ship or have no valid tracking, and act before the buyer has to ask.

Every week

• Download the ODR report from Account Health and classify every new defect by type, SKU, carrier and cause.
• Pause any SKU or carrier that appears in more than one defect in the week until the cause is known.
• Record the rate and the reason for any change in a simple log with a named owner.

Every new SKU or lot

• Inspect a sample before shipping to buyers, especially for products with past defect history.
• Confirm the listing matches the product exactly, including size, color, quantity and included parts.
• Confirm the carrier and handling time you can meet.

For sellers who want this run for them, our Amazon account health maintenance service handles the daily checks and weekly classification. Buyer contact metrics feed the rating as well, and our guide on Amazon Voice of the Customer and poor CX Health covers the listing-level side of buyer dissatisfaction.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the Amazon Order Defect Rate limit?

Amazon requires sellers to keep ODR under 1 percent. The rate is measured on seller-fulfilled orders over a 60-day period. Above 1 percent, Amazon may suspend Fulfilled by Merchant privileges or deactivate seller-fulfilled offers.

What counts toward Amazon ODR?

Negative feedback, A-to-z Guarantee claims and credit card chargebacks over a 60-day window count toward ODR. Negative feedback means 1-star and 2-star seller feedback. Fraud chargebacks and claims where Amazon finds you were not at fault do not count.

What happens if my ODR goes over 1 percent?

Your Fulfilled by Merchant selling privileges can be suspended, or your seller-fulfilled offers deactivated, once ODR passes 1 percent. Amazon can also remove individual offers with high defect rates in a compressed period. Reinstatement runs through Submit appeal on the Account Health page.

How do I get reinstated after an ODR deactivation?

Submit a Plan of Action that explains the root cause, the fixes made and the controls that prevent recurrence. Break the defects down by type with order IDs and attach the order-level evidence. Fix the cause before you submit.

How long does a defect stay in my ODR?

The metric is measured over a 60-day window, so each defect counts while its order falls inside that period. Feedback and chargebacks are tied to the order date. Withdrawn feedback, removed feedback and claims reversed in your favor come out of the rate sooner.

Get Help With an Amazon Order Defect Rate Deactivation

Many sellers can recover from an ODR deactivation with the order-level method above. Where we help most is the case where the breach is tied to supplier quality or a fulfillment model that has to change. The Plan of Action then needs operational rework that is hard to describe convincingly without having done it before. We build the defect breakdown, rework the operation with you and write the plan.

Go straight to our Amazon suspension and reinstatement service, submit your case for a free assessment, or book a consultation to review your ODR report with us.

If the account is still selling and you want the daily defect review run by a team that does it every day, our Amazon account health desk takes over the inbox, claim and chargeback checks. Sellers with problems on Walmart, eBay or TikTok Shop as well can start from our marketplace reinstatement hub.

Sources

1. Amazon Seller Central: Order Defect Rate
2. Amazon Seller Central: Can Amazon remove buyer feedback?
3. Amazon Seller Central: Complete an appeal questionnaire to reinstate selling privileges
4. Amazon Seller Central: Account Health Rating program policy
5. eCFR: 16 C.F.R. Part 435, Mail, Internet, or Telephone Order Merchandise
6. Amazon Seller Central Europe: Order defect rate (United Kingdom)
7. EUR-Lex: Regulation (EU) 2022/2065, Digital Services Act