How Can I Qualify for Premium Shipping or SFP?

If you send on Premium 1-day shipping, it is virtually impossible to keep it.

99 out of 100 MUST arrive on time. So, how do you control the courier to ensure none are missed?

For example, the courier knows a business you have sent to is closed on Saturday, so they roll it over to a Monday delivery, as no delivery attempted, that will count as not delivered on time.

A van breaks down and they deliver the day after, that is late, so counts against you. etc, etc.

If you sell anything less than 100 Premium orders in the 30 day period, then just 1 order not on time means you are over the percentage and all counts against you, and taken away from you.

RM Tracked 24 is NOT a 1-day delivery service (Amz count it as 2-day, and RM say it is not a 1-day service either).

For small items RM Special delivery and use their Saturday service. But, even then, it just needs 1 to go wrong, and ruin the percentage. However, that is the only service I’d reasonably trust to be on a 1-day delivery. Even Parcelforce Guaranteed Next Day by Noon, are virtually never on time, although MOST arrive the next day, and their Saturday Guaranteed is very expensive. Note, I also said ‘MOST’ as again 1 in 50 may have an issue, Parcelforce refund as not on time. but Amz still remove the Premium facility from you.

Even if you use Buy Shipping, it still counts against you.

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If you offer 2-day Premium instead, but send everything 1-day, you have 1 day to play with for the courier/RM to delay the delivery. If you ship on a Friday, that also means a Monday delivery (although I’d still suggest an AM delivery paid to couriers, as some will still be late).

Even after you do all the above, and at high cost (but you can charge the Buyer), couriers/RM only need to bodge up once to be a problem for you.

I would suggest SFP, as long as you ship on time (you have to ship all orders received by 4pm, the same day and send on either a Saturday or Sunday), but if any are late, they do not count against you.

With SFP, you can only ship either using DPD (all deliveries next day, inc Saturday, and they have a good track record), but are expensive. Or, RM Tracked 24, but depending on percentage, Amz may show as a 2-day Prime only. You can also use their own courier, if approved and in your area, again those show as 1-day, but really are not as good as DPD, or RM.

(NOTE: you cannot use RM Tracked 48 even for 2-day deliveries).