Are you an Amazon seller having trouble with suppliers? Card Payments not going through? Supplier won't deliver to your prep center? Worry no more! Read our guide to know more about why suppliers won’t take payment or won’t deliver to your prep center and what you can do about it..
It is very likely that you have already experienced (or that you are soon going to experience) your orders getting cancelled by a supplier. What a nightmare, right? You bought your stock but it didn’t arrive at your prep center. This delays your Amazon business and may even affect your customers and sales if you are a merchant fulfilled seller.
Another likely experience is that by the time you are ready to pay for your orders, the supplier won’t accept your credit or debit card payment. This is frustrating because all you want is to keep things going and have a smooth business flow!
So, we put this guide together on what to do when a supplier won’t take payment or won’t deliver to your prep center.
SCENARIO 1: Supplier won’t take your credit or debit card payment.
POSSIBLE REASON: Your billing address doesn’t match your shipping address so the supplier’s payment system flags this as a possible fraudulent transaction and stops the order.
As a customer, your card is registered at your home whilst your prep center may be located somewhere else. When buying goods to be shipped to a different address oth,er than that registered for your card, your purchase may not go through.
This is a normal situation, especially in the UK and EU. Banks flag cases like this because they are just being cautious of fraud. Now, we have 2 easy ways that can help you:
- Recommended: Call your bank and request to add your prep center address as another registered address of your bank account. This should mean that your prep center address is a safe address. Then, the next time you order works a breeze. Alternatively, request that your billing address be changed to your shipping (prep center) address. Some banks will do this for you. And you won’t be flagged anymore!
- Hassle-free, but not good for security: Try typing in your shipping (prep center) address when the supplier asks for your billing address. Just make sure that your card details are all correct and that the billing address is also your shipping address. Easy-peasy! But again, you have to be careful about this because some banks will flag it, but others will let it go through. Don’t worry, we have used this many times before and our bank does not stop the transaction when this happens.
SCENARIO 2: Supplier won’t deliver to your Prep Center.
POSSIBLE REASON: You have a consumer account but your prep center is a business address, and the supplier only allows purchases for personal use.
Your payment to the supplier has gone through. Success right? Now you are thinking the supplier will have your orders delivered to you. Not at your doorstep, though, but at your prep center or warehouse.
The problem here is that sometimes, suppliers cancel the delivery because your account with them falls under a consumer account, not a business. Others may ask, “Why not register under a business account?”
The problem here is that sometimes, suppliers cancel the delivery because your account with them falls under a consumer account, not a business. Others may ask, “Why not register under a business account?”
The answer is simple. Business accounts require a minimum amount of orders which can be high for a new seller. Consumer accounts, meanwhile, don’t need to worry about minimum orders. Another reason is that you don’t get perks or great offers when buying goods using a business account, so you have to use a consumer account to get the perks and great deals.
The solution to this is also simple: tweak your prep centre (shipping) address to make it look like a residential address instead of a business address.
Use this format to tweak your prep centre address:
- Name and warehouse
- Warehouse number
- Street address
- Zip or postcode
Example:
| Your Prep Center Address | Tweaked Prep Center Address |
| EastWest Prep Centre – James Potter | James Potter – RE EastWest |
| Unit 15 | No. 15 |
| Carlton, Saffron | Carlton, Saffron |
| CB11 3WW | CB11 3WW |
But before tweaking, try to get your goods delivered using your business address as it is first. If deliveries keep getting cancelled, then go ahead and tweak your prep centre address!
Let us know if any of these tips have worked for you or if you have other tips in mind that we can add to this guide.
