ODR, or Order Defect Rate, is the single most important customer-service metric on Amazon. It sits at the top of the Account Health page in Seller Central and is the number Amazon uses to decide whether a seller is looking after buyers well enough to keep selling. Unlike the Account Health Rating, which tracks policy violations, ODR only looks at what happened to real orders after they were placed.
How ODR is calculated
ODR = (orders with at least one defect ÷ total orders in the period) × 100. Amazon measures it over a rolling 60-day window, and an order counts as defective if any of three things happened:
- Negative seller feedback: a 1-star or 2-star seller rating. Three stars is neutral and does not count. Product reviews are separate and do not affect ODR.
- A-to-z Guarantee claim: a claim the buyer filed that Amazon granted, refunded, or that is still pending. Claims Amazon denies or the buyer withdraws are not counted.
- Service chargeback: a card dispute where the buyer says the goods were not received or not as described. Fraud chargebacks, where the buyer says they never made the purchase, are excluded.
An order that triggers two of these still counts as one defective order. Worked example: a seller of steel tiffin boxes ships 1,800 Easy Ship orders in 60 days. Twelve buyers leave 1- or 2-star seller feedback, three A-to-z claims are granted, and one chargeback is filed on an order that also had negative feedback. Defective orders = 12 + 3 = 15 (the chargeback order was already counted). ODR = 15 ÷ 1,800 × 100 = 0.83%, just under the line. Five more complaints would have taken it over 1%.
What a good ODR looks like
Amazon's published target is under 1%. Amazon does not publish a benchmark below that, but accounts that stay comfortably safe usually run between 0.2% and 0.5%, and anything drifting past 0.7% deserves attention because the window is short: a few bad weeks in festive season can push a small account over. The consequences of crossing 1% are real. Amazon can remove Buy Box eligibility, restrict the account or deactivate it, and reinstatement requires a written plan of action. Because the window is rolling, one bad month keeps hurting for two months; because the denominator is order count, small sellers are hit hardest, as five defects on 300 orders is already 1.67%.
ODR does not depend on the fulfilment channel in the way that late shipment rate does. FBA orders can still earn negative feedback and A-to-z claims, though Amazon strikes through feedback that is purely about FBA delivery problems, so FBA sellers generally see a lower ODR than Easy Ship or self-ship sellers.
How to keep ODR low
- Answer buyer messages within 24 hours, including weekends. Most A-to-z claims are filed by buyers who felt ignored, and Amazon lets the buyer claim if the seller has not replied in 48 hours.
- Refund or replace quickly when the buyer has a fair point. A proactive refund costs the margin on one order; a granted claim costs the order plus a defect.
- Request feedback removal from Seller Central when the rating is about the product, contains obscene language, or is purely about an FBA delivery problem. Amazon strikes these through and they stop counting.
- Fix the listing that causes "not as described" complaints. Wrong size charts, missing "colour may vary" notes and stock images of a different variant are the most common root causes we see.
- Pack for Indian transit. Damaged-on-arrival is the top reason for chargebacks and claims on fragile goods; double-boxing costs a few rupees and saves the metric.
Blooprint monitors ODR weekly for every account under Amazon account management and handles claims and feedback removals before they hit the threshold. For the fee side of a refund, see the Amazon seller fees guide.