Handling times mess
A few days ago I got this email
" We noticed your orders are prepared for shipping with a Handling Time of 1-day, however your account was set to a longer handling time. In other words, you are performing better than you are letting your customers know! Your performance shows that you are an ideal candidate to have your Default Handling time switched to 1-day. We automatically updated your account to 1-day Default Handling time. **No action is required from your side**"
Since then my delivery dates have actually moved forward, now it says items will be delivered 30 May - 1 June which means I have lost most of my buy boxes. I have looked at the settings in my shipping templates but everything looks normal, I even tried to shorten the transit time but nothing changes. Why has Amazon interfered, everything was working great?
70 replies
Seller_pD4k5nUkDbIgP
This is an example, I mean 10 days to deliver something that normally would take a couple of days.
B07QJX48YZ
Seller_GTQV2zDar8YQQ
That happens to me when I asked SS about it they sent this ,
Kindly note that delayed/extended delivery dates can appear on the detail page due to the following reasons.
- It can happen due to carrier availability to ship the order.
- There can be postcode issue for which the order can be delayed.
- It can also happen due to order delivery timings, which is the order is showing a two day delivery date or showing a late delivery date which depends on the timing of the order or the date can based on your previous performance.
- Due to the ongoing Royal Mail strikes, the delivery dates have been extended in certain locations where deliveries are getting affected by the strike.
Hope this helps you .
Seller_DTufFoxJuMU0M
Try changing the handling time on a listing, that overrides the account set handling time, and see if that fixes the delivery time (if it does then at least you know its something to do with the global handling time, if not then its just Amazon padding your deliveries by a couple of days)
Seller_dNa0OnTP0n8Ug
Amazon know best… Really hate the way they control you. I had a email today saying the same as you but they did not automatically change things thank goodness! Reason we have a 2 day handling time is in case of staff sickness or unforeseen absences. In which case we got penalised by Amazon when not fufilling in a day.
Seller_pD4k5nUkDbIgP
I got an answer from SS, not answering my question though.
Hello from Amazon Selling Partner Support,
Thank you for reaching out to us. My name is Ajay and it will be a pleasure to assist you today.
I understand your concern is regarding the estimated delivery date getting affected.
I realize the importance this has for you and I will gladly help you to achieve the best resolution possible for your query.
It is important for customers to know when they can expect their products. We provide the estimated delivery time to customers on the offer listing and checkout pages. This is the estimated time between when the customer places the order and when the order is delivered.
Total delivery time = handling time + transit time (+ any holidays and weekends)
You set your default handling time at the account level, and it applies to all your products. Additionally, you can set ASIN-level handling times, which will override the account-level handling time for that specific ASIN. Default handling time can be set to same-day, one or two working days (this does not affect products that have an ASIN-level handling time set).
For same-day handling, orders received before the order cut-off time must be dispatched and confirmed the same day as they are placed to prevent late dispatch If you receive an order after the cut-off time, it must be dispatched and confirmed by the next working day.
Note: For new professional sellers joining Amazon, the default handling time will be set to one day. You can change the default setting at any time to same day or two days.
To update the default handling time on Seller Central, follow the below steps:
- On the Shipping Settings page, navigate to the General Shipping Settings tab.
- Scroll down to Handling time and click Edit.
- Select Same day (0 day), 1 day or 2 days and click Save.
- Optional: Enter your order handling capacity and click Save.
This will allow you to set a limit for how many orders you can handle within your default handling time, and protect your Late Dispatch Rate (LDR) when you receive more orders than you can manage by adding one additional day of handling time for all orders above your set capacity.
Note: You can only change your default handling time once in a 24-hour window, and it can take up to 24 hours for the change to be effective.
Seller_sSxf9ltVoIMz9
OTDR definitely affects delivery estimates. And, as I recall it lasts for 2 weeks until your metrics come back up. Typically this is due to strikes and possibly some bank holidays. For us it was the RM strikes around Christmas which meant over the holidays and well into January we were impacted. To counter the problem we set our handling time to 2 days.
