Marketplace Fee Audit Service for Ecommerce Brands

What a marketplace fee audit actually checks

Most brands see marketplace costs as a single deduction line in the settlement. An audit breaks that line apart and tests each component against your contract. The aim is simple: confirm you were charged what you agreed to, no more.

• Commission: was the right percentage applied to the right base (selling price, category, brand tier) as per your agreement?
• Fixed and closing fees: were they applied on the right orders and slabs?
• Shipping and logistics charges: do weight and zone charges match the rate card?
• Collection or payment fees: were they charged only where applicable?
• Returns and RTO adjustments: were commissions reversed, and were return-related fees applied correctly?
• Penalties and ad-hoc deductions: is each one backed by a clause and a reason?
• Tax lines: are the tax components shown consistently with your invoices? Confirm applicable rates with your tax adviser.

Where fee differences usually come from

Differences rarely come from one big error. They usually come from small mismatches that repeat across thousands of orders and are hard to see in a monthly total.

• Outdated rate cards: a revised commission slab applied before its effective date, or a category change that was never reversed.
• Wrong product mapping: an SKU sitting in a different category than the one in your agreement.
• Weight or dimension disputes: shipping charged on a weight different from your catalogue data.
• Returns not netted properly: commission retained on an order that was returned, or return charges applied twice.
• Unexplained adjustments: deductions labelled generically with no order reference.

None of these can be assumed for your account. They are the places to look first.

What data a fee audit needs

An audit is only as good as its inputs. Before you approach any provider, gather the following.

1. Seller agreement and annexures: commission terms, fee schedules, return policy clauses and any amendments.
2. Current and past rate cards: with effective dates, since rates change over time.
3. Settlement reports: order-level, not just monthly summaries.
4. Sales and order reports: to match against what was settled.
5. Returns and RTO reports: with status and dates.
6. Your own catalogue data: categories, MRP, weights and dimensions.

Always use the latest agreement and rate card from your seller portal or account manager. Do not rely on a rate someone remembers from last year.

In-house, spreadsheet or specialist service?

Many brands start with a look-back and move to ongoing checks once they see how often the same issue repeats. Platforms such as MarketplaceMetrics by Fundle sit in the third category: they reconcile sales and settlements, check commissions and fees against agreed terms, and track returns and recovery cases. Myntra Excel reports are currently reviewed, and other marketplaces can be discussed for scope.

How to evaluate a fee audit provider

Ask questions that separate a real audit from a summary dashboard.

• Order-level or summary-level? Summary comparisons cannot produce claims you can defend.
• Which marketplaces and report formats are supported today? Get a clear answer, not a roadmap promise.
• How are your contract terms loaded? The provider should test against your terms, not generic assumptions.
• What does the output look like? You want order references, expected versus charged amounts and the clause relied upon.
• Who raises the dispute, and who tracks it? Recovery only counts when the money reaches your account.
• How is pricing set? Ask for a quote based on your marketplaces and volumes, and read how any success-based element is defined.
• Data handling: who can see your settlement data, and how is it stored?

Be wary of anyone promising a fixed recovery percentage before seeing your data.

Making the audit result useful

The findings matter only if they change what happens next. After each audit cycle, sort differences into three buckets: claimable now (clear contract breach with evidence), needs clarification (ambiguous clause or missing data) and accepted (charge was correct). Track claims with dates, ticket references and outcomes, and note how long each marketplace takes to respond. Feed recurring causes, such as wrong category mapping, back into your catalogue and onboarding process so they stop at the source.