Short answer: Valid Tracking Rate (VTR) is the share of your seller-fulfilled packages that have a valid tracking number, one the carrier scans and that Amazon can follow. Amazon requires you to keep it above 95% for seller-fulfilled listings. It usually drops because of wrong or reused tracking numbers, labels that are created but never scanned, or carriers Amazon cannot read. A process where every order ships with a label that is scanned at pickup fixes most cases.
What Amazon measures
In its October 2024 announcement in Seller Central news, Amazon says its Order Performance policy "requires that you maintain a Valid Tracking Rate (VTR) of over 95% for seller-fulfilled listings," and that the VTR metric was revised from January 15, 2025, including updated exemptions.
In practice, a package counts as valid when:
- a tracking number was uploaded for the shipment;
- the carrier is one Amazon can track;
- the carrier has scanned the package, so the tracking shows real movement.
You can see your rate, broken down by category, on the Account Health and Shipping Performance pages in Seller Central. Check the current help page there for the exact calculation, time window and exemptions, which Amazon updates.
Why VTR drops
- Label created, package not scanned. The label exists, but the parcel sat in the warehouse or was handed over without a scan. Tracking shows "label created" and nothing else.
- Wrong tracking number. A typing error, a number pasted onto the wrong order, or a number from a different shipment.
- Reused tracking numbers. The same number on two orders. One of them can never be valid.
- Unrecognised carrier or service. The carrier name or service type does not match what Amazon expects, so Amazon cannot follow the package.
- Late upload. Tracking added long after the package left, or not at all, for example when a supplier ships for you and never shares the number.
- Supplier-shipped orders. If someone else ships for you, their tracking discipline becomes your VTR.
How to fix it
Buy labels where tracking flows automatically. Labels bought through Amazon Buy Shipping upload tracking to the order automatically. Our guide on Buy Shipping vs your own carrier account explains the trade-offs.
Make "scanned at pickup" a rule. Every parcel should get a carrier scan the day it ships. Use carrier pickups or drop-off points that scan at handover, and keep the handover receipts.
Never type tracking numbers by hand. Copy them from the label system or let your software upload them. Manual entry is where most wrong numbers come from.
Check the carrier and service names. Use the carrier names Amazon lists in the shipping confirmation, not abbreviations.
Audit daily. Once a day, look for orders shipped yesterday whose tracking still shows no carrier scan, and chase them with the carrier or warehouse before the customer does.
Hold suppliers to the same standard. If a supplier ships for you, agree in writing that they send a valid, scanned tracking number for every order within your handling time. Read the Amazon dropshipping policy first; Amazon only allows it when you stay the seller of record.
Build it into the FBM workflow
VTR is easiest to protect when every order follows the same steps: order imported, stock confirmed, label bought, package packed, carrier scan confirmed, tracking uploaded. Our Amazon FBM fulfilment workflow walks through each step, and Amazon account health metrics covers VTR alongside late shipment rate and the other numbers Amazon watches.
How ECOMHUTSY helps
HutsyBoard, our Amazon FBM software, connects to Seller Central through SP-API and runs orders, purchasing, receiving, inventory and shipping in one workspace, so tracking is not copied between spreadsheets. If you would rather hand the work over, our Amazon automation team runs FBM operations day to day. Every engagement is scoped after a short consultation. Talk to our team.
Sources
- Amazon Seller Central News, Update to Valid Tracking Rate guidelines, checked October 12, 2026.
Amazon updates its performance policies. Follow the current Valid Tracking Rate help page in your own Seller Central account.
