FAQ for Vendors: Why Is There a Difference Between Payment Coop Summary and Payment Details in Vendor Central?
Vendor Central provides invoice and payment information in separate reports: Payment Coop Summary, and Payment Details.
The data points in these reports seem like they should match up in terms of total amount, but often they don’t. Specifically, if you add up all of the figures within “payment details,” the total isn’t always the same as what is listed in “payment coop summary.” Why is this?
Two possibilities: you’re selling in a European Union country, or it’s not factoring in straight payments.
European Union Sales
The first possible reason comes down to what is known as the “value added tax (VAT)” in the European Union. This is a broad consumption tax that is added on to the cost of goods and services sold in the EU.
What you’ll notice is that the two figures are off by the same percentage for each product, which you can see under the “Sum of % of Delta” column. That’s the VAT rate for that specific country in which you’re selling the product. So what you’re dealing with is one figure (summary) is the gross payments, while the other figure (details) is the net payments once the VAT tax is taken out.
Straight Payments Not Factored In
Another possible reason for the discrepancy is that Amazon doesn’t provide details for what are known as “straight payments.”
Most coop agreements with Amazon are variable, and billed as a percentage of the vendor’s business. For example, a freight allowance or damage allowance agreement is typically structured as a percentage of cost of goods sold (COGS) that is deducted from Amazon’s payments to the vendor.
A straight payment or “straight pay” agreement is not variable, and costs the same amount regardless of the size of the vendor’s business. For example, a vendor might agree to sponsor a Mother’s Day shopping event on Amazon.com. In exchange for a flat fee (e.g. $250,000) the vendor might receive special placement in Amazon marketing and promotional materials. The vendor owes the fee regardless of how much money they make as part of the Mother’s Day shopping event.
Straight payment details are not captured in “Payment Details.”
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