Does Amazon charge before or after delivery?

Depends on the seller. Is it shipped and sold by Amazon? If so, often it charges when it ships, especially if it isn't in stock or the expected ship date is sometime in the future. If it's FBA or third party it seems to charge immediately regardless of when it's going to ship.

HOWEVER, it's not guaranteed to work that way unless Amazon tells you straight out they aren't going to charge you until something ships, and that's usually on back ordered or preordered things. Can your purchase wait until you have the money?

Amazon is a huge online retailer that processes millions of orders every single day. With orders being shipped to over 100 different countries as well. When shopping with Amazon, you generally use a debit or credit card. Hence, you may wonder if Amazon will charge you for your order after it has been placed. 

Therefore, in this article, we will uncover when Amazon charges you for your order. We will also discover if Amazon charges you before or after shipping.

When Are You Charged On Amazon?

Typically, we have found that Amazon will only charge you once your order has begun its shipping process. Although, Amazon has a lot of third-party sellers that could charge you at the point of purchase, or they may charge you once your order is being shipped.

It does depend on the retailer and what they decide to do.

Will Amazon Charge You Before Shipping?

Like a lot of other companies, Amazon is known for chagrin with their customers a couple of days before shipping or once their order has been shipped.

The Federal Trade Commission has put together a list of quite strict rules that merchants and credit card issuers have to follow.

As a result, of these tight restrictions, you will notice that the majority of e-retailers will wait to charge you for your order when your order is close to being shipped or has been shipped.

E-retailers are allowed to charge their customers before their order has been shipped. However, if the order isn’t then shipped within a certain timeframe, then the seller must notify the customer.

They must let them know of the updated time frame, including their new shipping date. There also must be the option given to accept the new date, or cancel the order and receive a full refund.

As a result, to save all that trouble and time, Amazon waits until the customer’s order has moved onto the shipping process before charging them. However, as stated above, if a third-party seller is involved they may choose to charge from the point of purchase.

On Amazon Marketplace, third-party sellers will have their own rules to follow. They also have their own preferences when it comes to when they decide to collect their payment.

Therefore, you will notice that more third-party sellers will charge before shipping when you buy the product.

Buying Products From Amazon

As we have stated above, when it comes to being charged by Amazon, it does depend if you are buying from Amazon or through a third-party seller on Amazon. When you buy from different departments on Amazon, you may be charged at different times.

If you order Amazon products or from Amazon Fresh, which is Amazon’s grocery delivery, then your card will be charged once your order reaches the shipping stage.

Sometimes depending on your order and how long it is going to take. You may be charged either just before or after your order is shipped.

If you order a product that has a short delivery time frame, that is only a couple of days. Then you will be charged quite soon after your order has been placed, this is because your shipping process will begin almost immediately. This is due to Amazon having a large warehouse that completes thousands of orders a day.

When it comes to Amazon Subscribe and Save or any back-ordered products, Amazon will email you a notification a few days before the products are shipped. Therefore, in this instance, you will be charged once the products are on their way to you.

As a result, any products that are sold by Amazon, which includes AmazonBasics and Kindle e-reader, you aren’t normally charged until the shipping process begins.

Some third-party sellers that you find on Amazon Marketplace, may wait to charge you once they have entered the shipping process. Yet, generally, you will be charged as soon as you have placed your order.

When Does Amazon Charge You For Amazon Prime?

As we are speaking about all the products that Amazon offers and when they charge you, we cannot forget Amazon Prime.

However, Amazon Prime is slightly different from anything else that Amazon offers. This is because Amazon Prime is a paid subscription program. 

Typically, you will pay your membership either every month or once a year. This will depend on which option you choose to do when signing up.

Thus, when you first sign up, your card will be charged once you have confirmed you are signing up. After that, your Amazon Prime settings will let you know when your next payment will be due. 

You should keep an eye on what date you need to pay for this subscription. As a nominated date, either a monthly date or yearly date will be given for you to follow. However, if you want to cancel your subscription, then you want to do it before the next month’s charges come through. 

There is an end of membership option on Amazon Prime, and it outlines terms and conditions. If you haven’t used any of the Prime benefits, you are eligible for a full refund of the membership fee.

However, this only applies, if you haven’t used the Prime benefits from the initial charge date. 

When Can You Expect To Be Charged For A Pre-order?

If there is a product that you want but hasn’t been released yet, then you can normally pre-order it. Some of the most pre-ordered items on Amazon include books, video games and consoles, and most technical products. 

Yet, when you order a pre-order, you may be unsure when you will be charged. Well, if you order a pre-order, then your card won’t be charged immediately.

Instead, it will be charged either when the order is about to leave the warehouse or a couple of days before the release date of when the order will be shipped. Like most Amazon products, it is all about when the order will be shipped, that is when your card will be charged. 

As a result, you should keep an eye out for when your order will be shipped. This is because when your item is ready to be shipped, you can guess that your card will be charged quite soon. There is a way on Amazon to keep an eye on any pre-orders, by looking at your orders tab in your account.

What Happens If A Product Is Out Of Stock?

Amazon likes to wait to charge their customers until the shipping process in case there are any stock issues. If there are orders waiting to be filled, yet there isn’t enough stock, there are two things that the sellers can do.

They can either try and get more stock or offer the customer a new delivery date. Or they can offer the customer a full refund.

This is why Amazon likes to wait before changing its customers, as it saves the hassle of having to offer and complete refunds if there is a stock issue and the customer isn’t happy.

Conclusion

Amazon processes millions of orders every day and is a very well-known online trader.

Generally, when it comes to Amazon you won’t be charged on your order until it is about to be shipped, or it is on its way to you. Except for Amazon Prime, which has a nominated date that it will always charge you on. 

However, if you are buying from a third-party seller on Amazon, then they can charge you from the moment you press purchase. Sometimes, they may work like Amazon and wait until your order is ready to be shipped before charging the card, as this can save time if there are any issues.

Although, they do typically charge from the point of purchase. So, it is worth checking who you are buying from when you are purchasing your product on Amazon. 

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