Amazon order tracking: Amazon, sellers and carriers

Who ships my Amazon order: Amazon or a third-party seller?

Look at the "Sold by" and "Ships from" lines under the Buy Now button, or at the seller name in Your Orders. amazon.co.uk says "Dispatches from" instead of "Ships from".

Amazon.com.au shows Fulfilled by Amazon items as "Sold by [Seller Name] and Fulfilled by Amazon". Amazon.ca writes "Ships from and Sold by [SELLER NAME]" for a seller's own shipments.

Two more cases:

• Delivery Managed by Amazon (amazon.co.uk): the seller sells and dispatches the item, but Amazon manages the delivery and "may engage third-party carriers". You track it in Your Orders.
• Amazon Global Store: imported products, shown with the full price including import duties, taxes and fees. They can take longer: Amazon.com.au lists "international customs procedures" among the reasons for late Global Store orders. More in parcels held at customs.

Amazon.co.uk adds that sellers handle customer service for orders they ship, "unless the order is eligible for Amazon Prime". A seller's item delivered with Prime goes to Amazon too.

Which carrier delivers my Amazon parcel?

Track package names it. Amazon's own help says it plainly: "There might be a different carrier for each package." When Amazon is the carrier, that's Amazon Logistics, its own delivery network. These are the carriers Amazon lists on each site's carrier contact page:

A seller who ships its own orders can use any of these, or another carrier. Where exactly the number sits on each shop: find your tracking number.

What does an Amazon tracking number look like?

There are two kinds, and an order number that is neither.

Amazon doesn't publish the format of its own numbers. These are the shapes Peek recognises as Amazon's, here with made-up digits:

For a number starting with TBA, Amazon.ca points you to its "About Deliveries Shipped with Amazon" page. A carrier's number works on that carrier's site, as in tracking number formats. Not sure which you have? Type it here:

Why did my Amazon tracking number change, or why are there two?

Usually one of these:

• Several items, several parcels. "If you ordered more than one thing, they may have separate delivery dates and tracking info." An item missing from a box "may have been shipped separately".
• A partner carrier takes over. Amazon.ca: "Some national carriers use regional carriers. In this case, your tracking information may not show on the national carrier's website." For Delivery Managed by Amazon, Amazon may hand the parcel to another carrier.
• The seller uses its own carrier. Then the number is that carrier's, not Amazon's.
• Different words, same parcel. "Every carrier uses their own language", Amazon says, so it simplifies the updates in Your Orders. Its Delivery attempted is USPS's Notice left, for example.

1. Amazon or the sellerSeveral items can leave as several parcels, each with its own number
2. Label madeNo tracking until the carrier's first scan
3. Regional or partner carrierMay take over, sometimes with its own number
4. Out for delivery"Your carrier will have the latest information"
5. YouCan show delivered up to 48 hours early

When the first carrier names the partner taking over, Peek keeps the first history, follows the partner once its own tracking shows fresh progress, and shows the partner's name and number on the card.

Why is there no tracking for my Amazon order?

Amazon gives these reasons on its "Missing Tracking Information" page:

• No first scan yet. For orders sold and fulfilled by Amazon, the number appears once the carrier scans the parcel: "Until this first scan, the carrier may not acknowledge receipt of the package."
• The seller hasn't shared it. Seller orders show tracking only if the seller passed it to Amazon and you chose a trackable shipping option. "Marketplace sellers don't always provide us with tracking information."
• Untracked service. "Some shipments, such as Standard International shipments, aren't trackable."
• It's a gift. The person who bought it gets the tracking updates.
• Canada's regional hubs. On amazon.ca, "the first package scan may be on arrival at a regional hub near the destination", and sometimes not until delivery.

No Track package option on a seller order? Go to Your Orders, choose Problem with order and then Contact seller. If the estimated date has passed and nothing has changed, Amazon.ie and Amazon.ca say to wait a day or two more. Amazon.com.au adds that sellers sometimes don't pass tracking to Amazon: then "you may need to visit the website of the carrier delivering your package". When tracking shows nothing new for days: why tracking stops updating.

What to do if an Amazon order is late or says delivered

Amazon's statuses in Your Orders are Arriving, Out for delivery, Delivered and Undeliverable. That last one means the parcel is going back to Amazon, which refunds you automatically once it arrives. For the rest, go in this order:

1. 1Wait 48 hours"Most late parcels arrive within 48 hours of the estimated delivery date." A parcel can also show delivered up to 48 hours before it arrives.
2. 2Look aroundCheck where you asked it to be left, your mailbox and the neighbours. Some parcels travel through more than one carrier.
3. 3Ask the carrierTrack package names it. Amazon's carrier contact page links each one.
4. 4Contact the sellerIf a seller sold and shipped it: Your Orders, Problem with order, Contact seller. Sellers reply within 48 hours (two business days in Ireland and Australia).
5. 5Ask AmazonOrders shipped by Amazon: customer service. In the US, UK and Canada, do it within 30 days of the estimated delivery date. Seller orders: the A-to-z Guarantee.

For more on each case: delivered but not received and lost parcels.

When can I claim the A-to-z Guarantee?

It covers items a third-party seller sold and shipped itself. For a parcel that never came, three days must have passed since the latest estimated delivery date (or since tracking showed it delivered, whichever is sooner), and you must have contacted the seller more than 48 hours earlier. You start it from Problem with order in Your Orders.

Global Store items go to Amazon's customer service instead, and so, on amazon.com and amazon.co.uk, do seller items delivered with Prime. On amazon.com.au, if you chose "Authority to leave in a safe place" and tracking shows it delivered, the claim isn't eligible. If the seller didn't cover customs charges you had to pay, that can be claimed too.

Can I track an Amazon parcel outside Amazon?

It depends on the number. Paste it into Peek:

• A carrier's number (Royal Mail, USPS, Canada Post, Australia Post…) is tracked like any other parcel.
• An Amazon number, or a track.amazon link: Peek first asks Amazon's public tracker. If Amazon answers, the parcel travels with Amazon Shipping, Amazon's delivery service for other retailers and Amazon sellers, or with Multi-Channel Fulfilment, where Amazon packs orders placed on other sites, often in plain packaging. Peek then tracks it automatically.
• Otherwise it's Amazon Logistics delivering an Amazon order, and Amazon shows that only in your account. Peek says so and offers "Open my Amazon orders", which opens your order history on the Amazon site the number points to. Peek never asks for your Amazon login.
• An order number gets "That looks like an Amazon order number". Use the tracking number from Track package or the shipping email instead.