To recover revenue lost to marketplace overcharges, collect your agreed terms (seller agreement, rate card, amendments), compare them with order-level settlement data, and list every mismatch in commission, fees or returns deductions. Attach proof to each case, raise claims within the dispute window in your agreement, escalate unanswered tickets, and track every claim until the money is credited.
What counts as an overcharge
An overcharge is any deduction that differs from what your agreement allows. It is rarely one big error. It is usually many small ones repeated across hundreds of orders. Common patterns:
- Commission mismatch: a different rate or category applied than the one agreed.
- Fee errors: fixed, closing, shipping or weight-slab fees that do not match your rate card.
- Returns deductions: fees charged again on an order, or charged on an order that was never returned.
- Unreversed charges: commission or fees not reversed after a return or cancellation.
- Unrecognised penalties: deductions with no matching policy clause.
- Missing credits: returned stock that was received damaged, lost or not credited.
Do not treat every deduction as wrong. Some are valid under your terms. The aim is to find the ones that are not.
Start with your agreed terms, not the settlement
You cannot call something an overcharge without a baseline. Before touching settlement files, collect:
- The signed seller agreement and every amendment or addendum.
- The current rate card, by category, with its effective dates.
- Emails or portal notices where terms, fees or policies changed.
- Any special commercial arrangement your account manager confirmed in writing.
Never assume rates from memory or from another seller's experience. Fees, GST and TCS treatment and returns policies change, so confirm the latest position in your agreement and rate card, and ask your tax adviser about tax components. Note the date each term took effect, because a charge can be right in one month and wrong in the next.
Reconcile order by order
Month-end totals hide errors. Work at order level.
- Export your sales and settlement reports for the period from the seller panel. For Myntra, this means the Excel reports available to you.
- Match each order to its settlement line using order ID, SKU and dates.
- Recalculate expected deductions from your rate card for each order.
- Flag differences between expected and actual, and tag each with a reason: commission, fee, return, penalty or missing credit.
- Group repeated errors by cause. One wrong category mapping may explain hundreds of lines.
Grouping matters because a marketplace is far more likely to fix one clearly explained root cause than a spreadsheet of 800 unexplained rows.
Build a claim the marketplace can act on
A claim fails when it is vague. For each case or group of cases, prepare:
| Item | What to include |
|---|---|
| Reference | Order IDs, SKUs, settlement dates, settlement reference |
| Term breached | Clause or rate card line, with the page or screenshot |
| Calculation | Expected deduction, actual deduction, difference |
| Evidence | Settlement extract, invoices, return proof, courier tracking |
| Ask | Exact amount to be credited or reversed |
Raise it through the official seller support or dispute channel so there is a ticket number. Check your agreement for the dispute window and submission format, since late claims can be rejected. If a ticket stalls, escalate to your account manager with the ticket history rather than starting again.
Recovering returns and RTO losses
Returns and RTO (return to origin) cases need extra proof because the dispute is often about the physical product.
- Return not received or not credited: keep courier tracking, return initiation date and the settlement line showing the reversal.
- Wrong or damaged item returned: record unboxing photos or video and a goods receipt note on the day the parcel arrives.
- RTO charges: compare the fee charged with your rate card and check whether the reason fits the policy.
- Double deductions: look for the same fee applied on the original order and again on the return.
Set up an unboxing routine now. Evidence collected after the dispute starts is usually too late.
Track claims and stop repeat leakage
Recovery is a pipeline, not a one-time cleanup. Keep a case register with claim date, amount, ticket number, status, promised credit date and the settlement where the credit actually appeared. Review ageing weekly, and confirm each approved claim shows up in a later settlement, since approval is not the same as payment.
Then reduce repeats: fix category mappings, feed rate card changes into your checks, and reconcile every settlement cycle. Tools such as MarketplaceMetrics by Fundle can reconcile sales and settlements, check commissions and fees against agreed terms, and track returns and recovery cases in one place. Myntra Excel reports are reviewed, and other marketplaces can be discussed. A spreadsheet works too, if someone owns it every cycle.
Worked example
Illustrative example only. Rates and amounts are made up to show the method, not real marketplace rates.
| Line | Value |
|---|---|
| Selling price per order | ₹1,000 |
| Agreed commission (illustrative) | 12% = ₹120 |
| Commission charged | 15% = ₹150 |
| Overcharge per order | ₹30 |
| Affected orders in the month | 400 |
| Claim value | ₹12,000 |
Instead of 400 separate tickets, you raise one claim: the rate card clause, the root cause (for example, a wrong category mapping), the list of 400 order IDs, and the ₹12,000 difference. Then you check that the credit appears in a later settlement.
Questions and answers
How long do I have to raise a marketplace overcharge claim?
It depends on your seller agreement and the marketplace's dispute policy, so check the dispute or settlement query clause. Some windows are short. Reconcile every settlement cycle rather than quarterly so you never lose valid claims to a deadline.
What proof do I need to dispute a wrong commission?
You need the agreed rate from your agreement or rate card, the settlement lines showing the charged rate, and the order IDs affected. Add a calculation of expected versus actual deduction and the exact amount you want reversed.
Can I recover charges from past months?
Possibly, but it depends on the dispute window and the marketplace's policy. Start with the most recent settlements, then raise older cases quickly with full evidence. Ask your account manager in writing whether older periods are still eligible.
Should I do this in Excel or use a tool?
Excel works for a small order volume if one person owns it every cycle. As orders, SKUs and returns grow, manual matching gets slow and error-prone. A reconciliation tool helps by automating matching, fee checks and claim tracking.