Frequently Asked Questions about Amazon Payments
Q: When a decline occurs, do I receive an email notification of the decline?
A: When a decline response occurs and the "Amazon returned DECLINED for the authorization." note appears on the order, the order then it moves to Accounts Receivable and sends an email to all users with the notification "Process Amazon Payment".
Whitelisting merchant email notifications
Since the order email notifications Ultracart sends out are notification only emails and you do not reply to them, your email client may eventually begin to mark/filter those notification as SPAM.
See: the "Default Email Addresses and Troubleshooting sections for more details in the following help doc"Email Addresses"
Q: Do I receive the customers for email address for Amazon Payments orders to send them their digital products?
A: Yes, you receive the customers actual full email address just like you would for any credit card on your store.
Q: Are auto orders (recurring orders) compatible with Amazon Payments?
A: No, not at this time. Amazon Payments is not displayed when the cart contains an auto order item just like PayPal.
Q: I understand the fee is 2.9% +$0.30 per transaction (over $10). Is that fee in addition to the credit card fee or instead of the merchant account fee?
A: That is the entire fee for processing the Amazon Payments transaction. Please note the fee structure is lower for transactions under $10 and the percentage also drops for merchants that process higher volumes of payments.
Q: How frequently does Amazon pay?
A: There’s a 14 day reserve after your account is established, after which you begin at Tier 1, which is a 7 day reserve. Higher volume merchants can submit their account to be evaluated for Tier-2, which lowers the reserve to 3% of daily purchase volume and any outstanding refunds/claims. More information about our full reserve policy is here: https://payments.amazon.com/help/Amazon-Payments-Advanced/Getting-Paid/What%27s-a-Reserve
Q: Is it basically acting in place of the merchant account? If yes, how is it different?
A: Amazon Payments does not replace your merchant account which allows direct credit cards. What it does allow is the customer to login to their Amazon account and use the addresses and credit cards they have on file with Amazon. It gives the customer a very fast way to check out.
Q: How does it handle refunds?
A: Use the refund functionality within UltraCart just like you would credit cards. It all happens automatically.
Q: How does it handle chargebacks?
A: Amazon leverages all of it's anti-fraud technology while processing payments. There is still a chance of a chargeback scenario similar to any other payment method. Amazon will contact you via the Amazon Seller Central web interface if there is a disputed charge.
Q: Why do Amazon Payment orders go into pending clearance?
A: When properly configured, Amazon Payment orders stay in the pending clearance section of UltraCart for a few minutes. The orders go through the Confirm Order -> Authorization -> Capture. If you have live orders staying in the pending clearance section longer than that then you failed to configure the Amazon Payments Instant Payment Notification feature in step 3 of the configuration tutorial. If you fail to configure this UltraCart will check all pending clearance orders at 9AM EST and release them so that they will still flow.
Q: Is Amazon Payments compatible with Upsell After?
A: Yes (see also the following Q/A regarding shippable items and upsell after)
Q: Trying to implement an upsell after offer to add a tangible/shippable item into the customer order (initial purchase item is billing only) but it appears to be getting ignored, why?
A: The way the Amazon payments integration works, it requires the initial checkout to contain a shippable item in order for an upsell after that requires shipping details to be triggered.
Q: Is Amazon Payments compatible with the Single Page Checkout?
A: Yes
Q: I already have Amazon payment account, but when I configure it the payment button is not appearing in my checkout?
A: Amazon has released multiple payment services, but our integration is specific to the Amazon Payments Advanced. If the button is not appearing, please refer back to the sign up article to make sure that you have followed those instructions precisely as it provides direct links (and corresponding screenshots) to the sign up process required for this integration to function properly.
Q: Testing checkout in sandbox works, but when I configure sandbox mode off the payment button is not appearing in my checkout?
A: If your button disappears when you uncheck the sandbox testing setting, your account may not have a hold on it that is preventing the live mode form functioning. Please contact Amzon customer service to ask them to review your account and confirm that is ready to function in the live mode.