Overview

Amazon has rolled out a new transparency feature for seller payments, allowing merchants to view delivery date-based reserve amounts as individual transactions within their payments dashboard. This update gives sellers much clearer visibility into exactly how much money is being held, why it's being held, and when they can expect to receive it. The change comes alongside expanded help documentation that breaks down deferred transactions in greater detail.

Key Points

• Transaction-level reserve visibility — Sellers can now see each delivery date-based reserve as a separate line item on their payments dashboard, rather than a single lump sum
• Deferred transaction details — Each held amount now shows as a deferred transaction with a projected future payout date
• Downloadable reports — Reserve payment data can be exported through the updated reserves payments report
• Expanded help documentation — Amazon has updated multiple help pages with more detailed explanations of how deferred transactions work

How Delivery Date-Based Reserves Work

Delivery date-based reserves are funds that Amazon temporarily holds from a seller's account balance until the buyer's order has been confirmed as delivered. This reserve policy is designed to ensure that Amazon has sufficient funds available to process any refunds, claims, or chargebacks that might arise during the delivery window. Once the delivery is confirmed and the associated guarantee period passes, the reserved funds are released into the seller's available balance and included in the next regular disbursement cycle.

For many sellers, especially those with longer shipping times or those who fulfill orders themselves through Merchant Fulfilled Network, these reserves can represent a significant portion of their outstanding balance at any given time. Previously, understanding exactly which orders were driving reserve holds and how much was being withheld for each transaction required considerable effort and manual reconciliation. The lack of granular visibility made cash flow forecasting particularly challenging for growing businesses that rely on predictable payment timing to fund inventory purchases and operational expenses.