diff --git a/src/services/monitor.ts b/src/services/monitor.ts
index 49cd362..160daf2 100644
--- a/src/services/monitor.ts
+++ b/src/services/monitor.ts
@@ -14,6 +14,7 @@ interface ListingScreeningSummary {
   eligible: number;
   outsideRecentWindow: number;
   deferred: number;
+  deferredReason: 'selected-recent-candidate' | 'older-than-fallback' | null;
 }
 
 export class MonitorService {
@@ -57,6 +58,7 @@ export class MonitorService {
           eligible: 0,
           outsideRecentWindow: 0,
           deferred: 0,
+          deferredReason: null,
         };
         let selected: RedditPost | null = null;
 
@@ -126,6 +128,7 @@ export class MonitorService {
           if (!prioritizeRecent || post.created_utc >= recentCutoffSec) {
             selected = post;
             summary.deferred = newestFirst.length - index - 1;
+            summary.deferredReason = 'selected-recent-candidate';
             break;
           }
 
@@ -135,6 +138,7 @@ export class MonitorService {
           summary.outsideRecentWindow += 1;
           if (!fallback || post.created_utc > fallback.created_utc) fallback = post;
           summary.deferred = newestFirst.length - index - 1;
+          summary.deferredReason = 'older-than-fallback';
           break;
         }
 
@@ -232,7 +236,12 @@ export class MonitorService {
       `${summary.eligible} eligible${selected ? ' (selected)' : ''}`,
       `${summary.outsideRecentWindow} outside recent window`,
     ];
-    if (summary.deferred > 0) counts.push(`${summary.deferred} not evaluated after outcome`);
+    if (summary.deferred > 0) {
+      const reason = summary.deferredReason === 'older-than-fallback'
+        ? 'older than eligible fallback'
+        : 'not evaluated after selected recent candidate';
+      counts.push(`${summary.deferred} ${reason}`);
+    }
     this.logger.info(`r/${subreddit} listing: ${counts.join('; ')}`);
   }
 
diff --git a/tests/monitor.test.ts b/tests/monitor.test.ts
index 64e8b6e..36bd83d 100644
--- a/tests/monitor.test.ts
+++ b/tests/monitor.test.ts
@@ -168,7 +168,7 @@ describe('MonitorService', () => {
     await expect(monitor.getUnprocessedPosts()).resolves.toEqual([selected]);
     expect(logger.logs).toContainEqual(expect.objectContaining({
       level: 'info',
-      message: 'r/sub1 listing: 4 fetched; 3 screened; 0 already processed; 1 already messaged; 1 seller signals; 0 missing gender tag; 0 gender not targeted; 1 eligible (selected); 0 outside recent window; 1 not evaluated after outcome',
+      message: 'r/sub1 listing: 4 fetched; 3 screened; 0 already processed; 1 already messaged; 1 seller signals; 0 missing gender tag; 0 gender not targeted; 1 eligible (selected); 0 outside recent window; 1 not evaluated after selected recent candidate',
     }));
   });
 
@@ -321,6 +321,32 @@ describe('MonitorService', () => {
     expect(result[0].id).toBe('t3_old');
   });
 
+  it('labels deferred listing posts as older than the eligible fallback', async () => {
+    const now = Math.floor(Date.now() / 1000);
+    const fallback: RedditPost = {
+      id: 't3_fallback', subreddit: 'sub1', author: 'u_fallback', title: 'Fallback',
+      url: 'http://example.com/fallback.jpg', permalink: '/r/sub1/fallback', thumbnail: '',
+      is_self: false, created_utc: now - 7200, over_18: false, spoiler: false,
+    };
+    const older: RedditPost = { ...fallback, id: 't3_older', author: 'u_older', created_utc: now - 10_800 };
+    const config = getTestConfig({
+      reddit: {
+        subreddits: [{ name: 'sub1', type: 'image' }],
+        prioritizeRecentPosts: true,
+        recentWindowMinutes: 60,
+      },
+    });
+    monitor = new MonitorService(
+      createMockRedditApi([fallback, older]), createMockPostsRepo(), createMockMessagesRepo(), config, logger, 0,
+    );
+
+    await monitor.getUnprocessedPosts();
+
+    expect(logger.logs).toContainEqual(expect.objectContaining({
+      message: expect.stringContaining('1 older than eligible fallback'),
+    }));
+  });
+
   it('returns empty array when no subreddits have valid posts', async () => {
     const redditApi = createMockRedditApi([]);
     const postsRepo = createMockPostsRepo();