What Is Amazon Vacation Mode?

Selling on Amazon is always stressful. No matter how hard you try to avoid it, you still know it's true. And you just need to rest at least for a short period. But how can you leave your business and just not think about it for several days, enjoying the sea surf or clean mountain air? Well, Amazon has made that possible. Take advantage of the Amazon Vacation option to make your vacation the best part of your life, but not a headache.

Amazon Vacation Mode is a facilitating feature that allows sellers to put their accounts on hold for a set period. During some time, sales are not lost, and you don’t need to close Amazon Seller Account.

Remember that there are some points here. For FBA and FBM sellers, the vacation period will look different in the end. Let's take a closer look at what Amazon Vacation Mode is all about for sellers.

Amazon Vacation Mode for FBA and FBM Sellers: What Is the Difference?

The differences for FBM and FBA sellers are not only in the way buyers' orders are processed. In this case, a vacation on Amazon will also look different for them.

The Amazon Vacation Mode for FBA (Fulfillment by Amazon) sellers will go the usual way. The listings will stay active due to the fact that Amazon processes orders and fulfilled them for customers. However, the sellers need to strategize well to avoid the out-of-stock situation. But the seller still needs to monitor the account performance to keep handling niche dominance. You also need to respond to buyer messages within 24 hrs. according to Amazon rules.

When you activate Amazon vacation mode for FBM (Fulfillment by Merchant) the listings are deactivated. Customers don’t see your product’s listing when they are searching for goods on the marketplace. Please, remember that listing inactivation requires time, i.e., up to 36 hours. However, reactivating a listing can be easily done at any time with the help of Seller Central. Therefore, you will not receive new orders, which means you will not need to process and deliver them.

What Do You Need to Do Before Setting Up Amazon Vacation Mode?

As a seller, you need to cover a few things before changing the Amazon Vacation Settings.

• Complete your Pending Orders. It’s the most important point. Make sure you fulfill any pending orders before you will turn on the vacation mode. Even if you deactivate a listing using this option, pending orders will not be canceled. You need to take care of their delivery to customers so as not to lose the rating. In addition, buyers expect to receive their orders. Don't make them feel frustrated. If you simply cancel pending orders, this will not add value to you and worsen your account metrics.
• Use the e-mail newsletter to notify customers about your vacation. If you take care of your buyers in advance and warn them that you are going on vacation, you can make life easier for yourself. Even if they have a complaint about your product, they will probably put off negative feedback or review until you get back from vacation. It will let your customers know about the break and the date of opening. This, of course, does not guarantee a 100% result, but it's worth a try if you have an assembled mailing list.
• Think about the right time and turn on Amazon Vacation Mode timely. Usually, it takes from 15 minutes to 1 hour to deactivate a listing. However, this does not mean that it is enough for you to activate the mode on the vacation start day and calmly hit the road. You should give yourself time to complete orders that may come at the last minute. You don’t want to spoil your account metrics and mood before the holidays, do you? Then take care to think not only about the rest but also about fulfilling all responsibilities to your customers. And set aside enough time for this. Ideally, if it is 3-4 days.

How to Set Up Amazon Vacation Settings?

Now, let’s learn how to turn on the Amazon Seller Central Vacation mode. Just follow the simple steps below.

1. First, head to Amazon Seller Central settings through your Seller Central account.
2. Click on Seller Info in the Settings tab.
3. Next, click on the Listing Status widget on the left side. After that, click on the "Going on a vacation?" link.
4. On the Vacation Settings option, choose the marketplace where you want to deactivate listings.
5. Lastly, do not forget to click on "Save".

You can select all available marketplaces or select only those you need at the moment. And it's all! But remember that listings remain active for the FBA seller because he doesn’t fulfill orders on his own.

What Else Can I Do?

There are two more options that can be an alternative to Amazon Vacation Mode.

• Set your inventory to zero. This is good to do if you are going on a longer break.

1. Click on the Inventory tab.
2. Next, click the Manage Inventory link.
3. Set the availability to zero.

Now, your customers will not be able to make any purchases while you are on a vacation. As soon as you return, set up your stocks to the desired level.

• Change the Handling Time. The option is ideal if you plan to spend several days on vacation and don’t want to stop your business by losing orders. Simply increase Amazon Handling Time to ensure that incoming orders are processed on time and you don't let down your customers. You will be able to continue processing and shipping orders immediately after the return to get the usual sales volume.

You can use Manage Inventory Tab in Amazon Seller Central Inventory Settings.

Tips to Avoid Problems When Your Amazon Business Will Be Inactive

Please know that you will have to keep an eye on your store during vacation and be mindful about certain things. Yes, you are on vacation. But you have been selling on Amazon for a while and you understand that without control, everything will simply fall apart. Therefore, it is better to allocate quite a bit of time to maintain your business even during this period, so that everything will be fine. Keep a few tips to stay on top.

1. Avoid logging into your account from different devices. This can lead to account suspension. Amazon is very suspicious of such things, as the algorithm thinks that your account could simply have been hacked. Do not take risks so as not to get problems after the rest period.
2. Monitor the Seller Account Metrics and other necessary analytics every 24 hours. You can do it using Amazon mobile tool. Even if you pause your listings, keep in mind that you can get negative feedback or negative review at the most inopportune moment. And it will ruin your life a lot. Hence use the next tip to avoid it.
3. Do not forget to respond to buyer messages every 24 hours or in a defined window. Amazon requires the seller to answer customer questions, whether he is on vacation or works full-time. This is a requirement that every seller on Amazon has to agree to. Therefore, don’t forget to check incoming questions in order to answer them in time and not spoil your account performance.
4. Comply with all the necessary Amazon rules. This is an obvious recommendation, but many people forget about it during the holidays. Remember, no matter where you are, you are still an Amazon seller. Therefore, you must fulfill all the conditions that are prescribed in the selling rules of the marketplace.

For all of these things, you can use the Amazon Seller App for convenience.

Cons of Amazon Vacation Mode

It is good to be aware of both sides of the coin. The main disadvantage that concerns FBM sellers is the loss of sales. Of course, when your listings are inactive, this is reflected in sales volumes, in your final revenue. It can also affect your account metrics and even lead to an account suspension if you are not careful and use different devices to log into your Amazon Seller Central Account when you are on vacation.  Going on a vacation can lead to a loss of loyal customers especially if you’re going to rest for too long. But you must understand that rest is vital for you to work normally.

Bottom Line

Of course, when you are an Amazon seller, you are a super-hero, because you work daily to grow your business. And sometimes this work takes much more time than regular offline work. So, give yourself time to rest.

You need to plan your vacation at optimal times of the year. For instance, you cannot have a vacation in December when we have the new year holidays and Christmas and when it is Black Friday. If your product is seasonal, you should opt-out of deactivating listings. Because you may not have such a sales volume in another time period. If you’ve made a decision to go to the rest, use Amazon Vacation Mode to avoid problems. This option is great for Amazon FBM sellers, but if you use FBA selling model, you may use it too to get the best results.