Manage Orders FAQ

What should I do if I don’t receive the “Sold, Ship Now” email notification?

What should I do when a single item was sold to two buyers?

What if a buyer says they didn’t receive their order?

What should I do if I don’t receive the “Sold, Ship Now” email notification?

We encourage you to check Manage Orders in your seller account at least once a day to ensure you are aware of all incoming orders. Do not rely on the Sold, Ship Now email notification alone to identify shippable orders. You can also check for shippable orders using the Unshipped Orders report.

Here are some common causes and possible solutions for why you may not be receiving your Sold, Ship Now email notifications:

• Connection blocked

The connection between the AlphaDiscounters mail server and your mail server timed out, or your Internet service provider (ISP) was temporarily unable to receive messages.

• Contact your ISP to ensure that there are no problems with your account.
• Confirm that your ISP is not filtering emails from AlphaDiscounters.
• Email bounced

Your email address is incorrect or your inbox was full.

• Verify that your contact information is correct in Account Info (under Settings) in Seller Central.
• Be sure to maintain your primary selling account mailbox to ensure you receive all messages from AlphaDiscounters. If your inbox is full, emails can’t be delivered.
• Email filtered or discarded

Your email service identified the message as spam or junk.

• Check your Junk and Trash folders for the missing Sold, Ship Now emails.
• Check any spam filters or rules you have that may inadvertently filter out these emails.
• Add [email protected] to your contacts list.

Only ship orders that you can verify in Manage Orders. All orders listed as Unshipped in your seller account can and should be shipped promptly in accordance with AlphaDiscounters policies.

Note: If you do not confirm shipment for an order within 14 days of the order date, we will automatically cancel the order and will not charge the buyer, even if you already shipped the order.

What should I do when a single item was sold to two buyers?

There are instances when inventory management issues may lead to multiple sales of a single item. For example, when a buyer initiates a purchase for a single-quantity listing but payment is not immediately successful, the listing may still appear on Manage Inventory with a quantity of “0” while payment is pending. If the listing is then edited, this will add a quantity of “1” and bring the total quantity available for purchase to two. At that point, two buyers could submit purchases for the listing in two different orders.

Monitor completed and pending orders and keep listings updated to reflect real-time inventory quantities. If you have only one item available, tell the second buyer that the item is unavailable, cancel the order you are unable to fulfill, and refund the buyer. When you cancel an order, we will update the order status in the buyer’s AlphaDiscounters account, and also send an email message to notify the buyer. Keep in mind that buyers can leave feedback for orders that have been canceled by sellers.

What if a buyer says they didn’t receive their order?

If a buyer says that they didn’t receive an order, your customer service policy ultimately determines how you will handle it. All sellers are expected to provide high level customer service. We encourage you to work with the buyer to reach a mutually agreeable solution. For orders, refer the buyer to AlphaDiscounters Customer Service.

Below are some ways you can handle this situation. Note that regardless of which option you choose; the buyer might still post negative feedback for the transaction. To handle negative feedbacks, refer to What can I do about negative feedback?

The most customer-friendly solution is to issue a refund for a product that was not received. Before initiating a refund, there are other options to consider:

• Ask the buyer to wait a bit longer for the order to arrive

See Contact a buyer using Buyer-Seller Messages to learn how to initiate communication. If you choose this option, be aware that the buyer might file a Guarantee claim.

Buyers can file a claim 3 calendar days after the maximum estimated delivery date or 14 days after the order date, whichever is earlier. They have 90 days from the maximum estimated delivery date or date of service to file a claim. However, AlphaDiscounters reserves the right to accept claims after that time frame.

• Ship a replacement order at your cost

If you choose this option, issue a refund, and then ask the buyer to reorder the product. Although this might cause a financial loss to your business, it helps maintain good customer experience. If the original order arrives, you can arrange a return with the buyer.

• Contact your shipping carrier

If an order is lost in transit or shipped to the wrong address, sometimes you can get help from your shipping carrier. If you purchased package tracking or insurance, the carrier might be able to help find the package or file an insurance claim. If you did not get tracking information, your carrier might have other options available to help find the package.

Note:

• We encourage you to use tracking when you ship packages. Tracking can significantly reduce the costs associated with a lost shipment. It is also your best protection claims. If you sell in the Office Products or Shoes categories, you must provide valid tracking numbers for 95% of European Union shipments.
• For most European Union carriers (ACS, UPS, USPS, FedEx, DHL), shipment tracking is already built into the cost to ship (including USPS First Class and Media Mail shipments).
• Refund the buyer

The most considerate approach is to issue a refund for a product that was not received. If the original order arrives after you’ve made a refund, AlphaDiscounters can recharge the customer (with their authorization). For information about full and partial refunds, go to Issue a full refund and Issue a partial refund. For orders, refer the buyer to AlphaDiscounters Customer Service. To learn about how returns and refunds are handled for Fulfillment by AlphaDiscounters orders, see customer returns policy.

Note: The Seller Assurance for e-Commerce Transactions process allows you to file a claim for reimbursement if you want to appeal AlphaDiscounters decision to issue a refund to a customer. At AlphaDiscounters sole discretion, you may be issued a reimbursement in cases where AlphaDiscounters determines that you were not at fault. For more information, refer to Reimbursement policy for Prepaid Return Labels (PRL) in the seller-fulfilled network.