Hidden deductions on marketplaces: 13 types of deduction, how to find and dispute them

Sellers often call every ruble the marketplace takes off a sale a "commission". In practice these are two different kinds of charges, and you need to tell them apart to know what can be disputed and what cannot.

A commission is an agreed fee for a service: for selling through the platform, for storage, for logistics, for advertising. The rate is written into the offer agreement and depends on the category, the fulfillment model (FBO/FBS/rFBS) and the region. Commissions are charged automatically and are disputed very rarely - only when there is a technical error on the marketplace side.

A deduction is a charge on top of the commission for a specific violation or incident: defects found at inbound check-in, stock lost at the warehouse, a customer return caused by the seller, a penalty for breaking the rules, an erroneous charge. Deductions are disputed often, because:

• In half the cases there is no actual violation - it is a technical error in the system.
• In some cases the violation is real, but the size of the deduction exceeds the published rules.
• Some deductions cover incidents that are not the seller's fault (stock lost by the marketplace).

An average active seller sees between 5 and 30 deductions a month. Of those, 40-70% are disputed and refunded in full or in part. That means systematic control over deductions is money lying on the ground. Sellers ask: "where do 50 thousand rubles go on 1.5 million in turnover?" - the answer is often in deductions that were never disputed.

This Support material is a step-by-step method for finding and disputing hidden deductions on Wildberries and Ozon. The method is used in the standard Trusty MPO audit as part of the "economics and finance" layer.

Context lives in the parent materials:

• Pillar "Marketplace promotion" - where economics sits inside the 8 MPO modules.
• Hub "Wildberries promotion" - WB specifics and the link to promotion.
• Hub "Ozon promotion" - Ozon specifics of rates and deductions.

Type 1. Defects found at check-in. At inbound check-in the marketplace inspects packaging and labeling. If 5-10% of units are defective, a deduction is charged on that share plus a fee for the "forced return". Can be disputed if: no photos of the defects were provided, or the defect is questionable (a dented box vs. a damaged product), or the damage occurred at the warehouse after check-in.

Type 2. Stock lost at the warehouse. The marketplace physically lost part of your stock (mis-sorting, theft, damage). Under WB rules it must compensate at purchase cost (not at retail price). Sellers ask: "WB offers 200 rubles for an item that sold for 1500 - is that correct?" - yes, that is the rule, but if you have documents proving a higher real cost, you can dispute it.

Type 3. Customer return caused by the seller. If the customer returns an item because "the size did not fit", that is a normal return and the seller only pays logistics. If the return reason is "defective" or "does not match the description", the seller is charged the full value plus a penalty for a "faulty card". Can be disputed if: there is no photo from the customer, the description matches, and the size is stated correctly.

Type 4. Penalty for a "faulty card". WB can fine you for: photos that do not match the product, incorrect attributes, the wrong category, poor photo quality. The penalty runs from 1500 to 30,000 rubles per violation. Disputed often: "faulty card" is a judgment call, and the platform frequently cancels the penalty once you present counter-arguments.

Type 5. Penalty for breaking promo terms. If a card takes part in a promotion (Black Friday, for example) and on the promo day the price is above the agreed one, WB withholds 5-20% of the value of every unit sold that day. Can be disputed if: the price change request was submitted on time but was never processed.

Type 6. Retroactive commission adjustment. WB sometimes recalculates the commission for past periods (for example, after reclassifying a product into a category with a higher rate). This is legitimate under the offer agreement, but the size of the adjustment can be disputed.

Type 7. Charge for a repeat check-in. If a shipment arrived defective, was sent back and then delivered again, WB charges a fee for the second check-in. Can be disputed if: the original defect claim was questionable and the shipment had no actual violation.

Type 1. rFBS penalty for late dispatch. If a seller on rFBS did not ship within the stated deadline, Ozon fines 20-30% of the order value. Can be disputed if: there was a force majeure delay backed by documents (carrier, weather).

Type 2. Deduction for an uncollected order. If the customer refused to pick the parcel up at the collection point (did not show up within 7 days), Ozon charges the seller for round-trip logistics. This is legitimate, but the logistics amount is sometimes stated incorrectly and the difference can be recovered.

Type 3. Penalty for a customer complaint. If a customer complains (about quality, the description, a defect), Ozon can withhold the value of the item plus a complaint penalty (500-3000 rubles). Can be disputed if: photos from the customer were not provided or do not support the claim.

Type 4. Fee on an rFBS return. When an rFBS item is returned, the seller pays logistics plus an extra fee of 5-10%. This fee is often charged in error (when the return was caused by a technical failure on Ozon's side).

Type 5. Penalty for breaking the offer agreement. The broadest item on the list. It covers everything: the wrong category, missing attributes, moderation violations. The penalty runs from 1000 to 50,000 rubles. Disputed often.

Type 6. Deduction for promo participation. If a card joins an Ozon promotion ("Big Discount Days", for example) and the seller does not meet the terms, Ozon withholds 5-15% of the value. Often disputed, because promo terms sometimes change without any explicit notice.

Daily reconciliation is unrealistic for most sellers. A realistic cadence is weekly for active cards and monthly for everything else: step-by-step reconciliation method. Stock lost or damaged at the warehouse is a separate class of discrepancy: shortages and compensation.

On WB:

1. 1"Finance → Financial reports → Sales" - export to Excel for the period.
2. 2"Finance → Penalties and deductions" - a separate tab card every deduction.
3. 3Reconciliation: for each deduction, check whether the card or the order actually confirms a violation. If not, it is a candidate for dispute.

On Ozon:

1. 1"Finance → Reports → Charges" - export by day.
2. 2"Disputes" - the list of open and closed cases on deductions.
3. 3Reconciliation: match every deduction in the report to a type from the list above. Suspicious ones go into the dispute queue.

What matters most to check:

• Deductions over 1000 rubles for a single incident.
• "Card violation" deductions with no explicit description of the violation.
• Check-in deductions where the shipment was accepted at a zero coefficient.
• "Defective" returns with no photo from the customer.

Step 1. Prepare the documents. Depending on the type of deduction:

• For a card penalty: screenshots of the current and the previous version of the card.
• For defects at check-in: photos of the packaging before dispatch plus the delivery note.
• For lost stock: the delivery note plus the supplier contract (to establish the value).
• For a return blamed on the seller: correspondence with the customer (if any), photos of the item before dispatch.

Step 2. Open a support ticket. On WB: "Support → Disputes → Create a case → Finance category". On Ozon: "Support → Disputes". In the description, state the deduction number, the date, the amount and the grounds for the dispute (1-2 sentences), and attach the documents.

Step 3. Wait for the response. Official review times: WB - 14 business days, Ozon - 10 business days. In practice it is often longer, especially in peak season.

Step 4. Escalate after a refusal. If the first answer is negative, do not give up straight away. In 30-40% of cases a repeat case with additional arguments produces a positive result. On WB you can escalate through your dedicated manager (if you have one). On Ozon - through a senior support specialist.

Step 5. Pre-court claim. Once the internal procedures are exhausted, you can file a formal claim at the marketplace's registered legal address. This rarely works, but it does occasionally succeed on large amounts (>100,000 rubles).

Case 1. A 30,000 ruble penalty for a "faulty card". A seller was charged 30,000 rubles for "photos not matching the description". The photos did show the product in a different color (the seller had updated the model and forgotten to replace the images). After the card was updated and a support case was filed with proof of the fix, the penalty was canceled in full.

Case 2. A 12,000 ruble deduction for defects at check-in. The marketplace recorded 7% defects in the shipment. The seller supplied photos of the packaging before dispatch plus confirmation from the carrier that the cargo had been handed over intact. WB agreed that the damage occurred during unloading at the warehouse and refunded the deduction.

Case 3. A "quality was not right" return with a 4500 ruble deduction. The customer returned the item without any photos. The seller asked for proof of the defect - neither the customer nor Ozon supplied anything. After escalation the deduction was canceled and the seller got the 4500 rubles back.

Related reading: changes to the WB and Ozon offer agreements.

• Pillar "Marketplace promotion" - where finance and economics sit in the overall MPO system.
• Pillar "Buyouts and reviews" - how to calculate the true cost of a sale with every deduction included.
• Hub "Wildberries promotion" - WB penalty specifics and the link to SEO and content.
• Support "Keyword gaps" - a targeted optimization method that lifts revenue and automatically lowers the share of deductions.

Open "Finance → Penalties and deductions" in your WB or Ozon dashboard. Export the list for the last 30 days. Find the three largest deductions and check whether each one has proof of a violation. If even one has no grounds behind it, open a ticket. This is the first practice after which 50% of sellers recover 5-15% of their monthly turnover.

For systematic work the method quickly becomes labor-intensive (you need weekly reconciliation, a register of disputes, escalation). In a standard Trusty MPO project this layer is automated: every deduction is classified by type, template claims are filed on the suspicious ones, and a register of refunds is maintained.

Related reading: Wildberries commission for sellers, Ozon commissions for sellers.

Related reading: Wildberries sales report.

Which part of the deducted money can be recovered is covered in the article on compensation for sellers.