To detect revenue leakage in marketplace selling in India, reconcile every order against its settlement line, recompute commissions and fees from your agreed terms, and match returned and RTO units against what actually reached your warehouse. Group the differences by reason, note the claim window in your seller agreement, and raise disputes with order-level evidence before the window closes.
What revenue leakage means for marketplace sellers
Revenue leakage is money you were entitled to under your marketplace agreement and your own records, but never received or got back. It rarely shows up as one big error. It appears as small gaps across thousands of orders: a wrong fee, a return refunded to the customer but never received by you, or a deduction with no clear reason.
Marketplaces settle net of commission, shipping, returns and adjustments. A payout that looks healthy can therefore hide several gaps at once. Detection simply means comparing what should have happened with what the settlement shows, order by order.
Where leakage usually hides in returns and RTO
Returns and RTO (return to origin) are the most common sources because they involve several parties: the customer, the courier, the marketplace and your warehouse. Check these areas first:
- Return mismatch: the customer was refunded, but the item never reached you, came back in a different quantity, or came back as a different product.
- RTO charges: forward or reverse shipping deducted on undelivered shipments in a way that does not match your rate card.
- Fees not reversed: commission or other fees still charged on orders that were cancelled or returned, where your terms say they should be reversed.
- Wrong fee basis: commission applied on the wrong category, price or order value.
- Unexplained adjustments: penalties or debit entries with no reason code or reference.
- Missing payments: delivered orders that never appear in any settlement.
Which charges apply, and whether they are reversible on returns, depends on your seller agreement and the marketplace's current rate card. Confirm the latest terms rather than relying on memory or old emails.
A step-by-step method to detect leakage
- Collect the data. Download the sales or order report, settlement report and returns report for the period. Keep your warehouse return records and the signed agreement or rate card at hand.
- Match orders to settlements. Use order ID or item ID. Flag delivered orders with no payment, and payment lines with no matching order.
- Recompute fees. Using your agreed terms, calculate what commission and fees should have been, then compare with what was charged. Start with a sample, then run the full set.
- Match returns to stock. Compare customer returns and RTO units in the marketplace report against units you actually received and checked in.
- Check reversals. For every cancelled or returned order, confirm that the charges your terms say are reversible were reversed.
- Group and age the differences. Sort by reason and by order date, so you know which items are close to a claim deadline.
Signals to watch each month
| Signal | Where to look | What to check |
|---|---|---|
| Delivered order, no payout | Order report vs settlement report | Settlement delay or a missing payment |
| Fee higher than agreed | Settlement fee columns vs rate card | Wrong category, price band or fee basis |
| Refund without stock received | Returns report vs warehouse records | Courier loss, wrong item, short quantity |
| Charges on returned order | Returned order settlement lines | Reversal rules in your agreement |
| Unexplained debit | Adjustment or penalty lines | Reason code and supporting reference |
Recovering the money: raise claims on time
Finding a gap is only half the job. Each marketplace has its own dispute process and time limits. Find the claim window in your seller agreement or seller panel, and note it against every open item. Leakage older than the window may be hard or impossible to recover.
Build each claim with evidence:
- Order ID, item ID and the exact settlement line
- The agreement clause or rate card entry you are relying on
- Warehouse check-in records, photos or courier proof for return disputes
- Your calculation showing the expected amount versus the charged amount
Then track each case: date raised, reference number, amount claimed, status and amount recovered. Without this log, the same issue gets raised twice or forgotten.
Turning detection into a monthly routine
Doing this once finds past leakage. Doing it monthly stops it growing. Fix a review date soon after settlements close, assign one owner from finance or ecommerce, and track a few numbers: unreconciled amount, number of open claims, claims nearing their deadline and amount recovered.
Spreadsheets work at low volumes, but they strain as orders grow. MarketplaceMetrics by Fundle reconciles marketplace sales and settlements, checks commissions and fees against agreed terms, and tracks returns and recovery cases. Myntra Excel reports are reviewed today, and other marketplaces are in scope discussion.
Worked example
Illustrative example only. These figures are hypothetical and not real rates or results.
- In a month, a brand sees 500 units marked as returned by the customer on a marketplace. Its warehouse checked in 470.
- The 30 missing units, at an illustrative selling price of ₹1,200, make ₹36,000 of disputed value to raise with evidence.
- Separately, on ₹10,00,000 of sales, the agreed commission is assumed to be 2 percentage points lower than what was charged. The gap is ₹20,000.
- Total flagged for review: ₹56,000, before checking claim windows and whether each item is valid under the agreement.
Not every flagged item will be recoverable. The point is to see the gap, with order-level proof, while a claim is still possible.
Questions and answers
What is revenue leakage in marketplace selling?
It is money you were due under your marketplace agreement but did not receive or get back. Typical causes are wrong fees, missing settlements, refunds without stock returned, and charges not reversed on cancelled or returned orders.
How often should I check for leakage?
Monthly is a sensible minimum, soon after settlements close. Heavy-return categories or high order volumes may need a fortnightly check. Review frequency should also reflect the claim windows in your seller agreement.
Where do I find the correct commission and fee terms?
Use your signed seller agreement, the current rate card and any written amendments from the marketplace. Fee terms change, so confirm the latest version with your account manager or seller panel before comparing charges.
Can I recover leakage from past months?
Sometimes, but it depends on the claim window and dispute process in your agreement. Check the time limit first, gather order-level evidence, and raise the oldest items quickly, since they are closest to expiry.