Anyone ant idea if this will effect us? We ship using standard untracked royal mail 1st and 2nd (low value items) bought through Amazon so have been exempty with VTR: “NA” the past two or so years. Terrified they’re now shifting the goal posts again!
"Starting on January 15, 2025, we will update the Valid Tracking Rate (VTR) policy for seller-fulfilled orders to allow customers to see tracking over a higher number of their orders.
VTR will be measured on orders shipped through all shipping service providers and will no longer be limited to those that are integrated with Amazon to provide scan information.
All cross-border shipments to and from Germany, France, Italy, Spain, Netherlands, Portugal, Poland, Austria or Sweden will be included in the VTR calculation, unless the order value is below €20 (including shipping, excluding VAT) and a ‘letter’ ship method was used.
As a reminder, you are required to maintain a minimum of 95% VTR at a category level. Providing tracking information improves the customer experience and reduces the likelihood of negative feedback. This information also helps protect your account health metrics and is taken into consideration in addressing A-to-z Guarantee claims.
I believe that it will be applied just like it says, for any order above 20€, regardless of the carrier used. Amazon wants sellers to start purchasing shipping from Amazon, this is my understanding behind the move.
I just checked the FAQ page and yes, it’s exactly like this:
Which Royal Mail delivery services are included in Valid Tracking Rate calculations?
We require tracking or package IDs for all Royal Mail delivery services that include tracking or delivery confirmation. The shipping service levels where a tracking or parcel ID should be provided are outlined in the table below.
If you’re not eligible for Royal Mail 24 or Royal Mail 48 and only deliver letter-sized products (100 g, 24 x 16.5 x 0.5 cm), you may use 1st and 2nd class letter stamps and these shipments will be exempted from VTR calculations, if bought at no additional cost through Amazon Buy Shipping. For more information about the list of exempted shipments for VTR calculation, go to Valid Tracking Rate (VTR). Go to Royal Mail’s websitefor details on permitted products for business post letter ship methods.
If are using Royal Mail stamps/franking, your shipment will now only be exempt from VTR if you buy Royal Mail 1st and 2nd class letter stamps through Amazon Buy Shipping. Royal Mail 1st and 2nd class letter stamps are available through Amazon Buy Shipping at no additional cost.
To be honest I thought that was already the case, hence us shifting a few years ago to buying postage through amazon! Not sure what the change is there. Unless that IS just the old FAQ’s, and unaffected by the january changes.