Everything that I know about OTDR, Shipping, and Dates on Amazon
Executive summary:
There are 13 dates/times associated with every Merchant Fulfilled (MF-AKA FBM) order. There is no single place to find these dates and times. In fact, for some of them sellers can never see the dates/times. There are 8 different places where these dates/times can be found. Each of the dates/times have multiple different names.
On October 25, 2024: Amazon will force thousands of MF sellers to use the Automatic Handling Time (AHT) tool, based upon the seller’s handling time gap. However, there is an error in calculating this “gap” that adds more that a half a day to the promised handling time. No one at Amazon is able to explain how this gap is calculated, but Amazon plans to go forward and force sellers into their flawed AHT program based upon the incorrect data.
Lastly, the current flags of OTDR Protected, Claims Protected, and “Late Shipped” mean absolutely nothing. The are based on incorrect programming. To find out if the specific order is protected or actually late, you must review the ship-by dates and the first scan dates as well as your shipping templates, and shipping setting.
===================================================================================
Here is a list of dates/times that Amazon associates with your order and where you can find them:
1) Purchase date/time (AKA Order date/time): Found on the Manage Orders Screen, Order Details Screen, Order Reports (in Greenwich Median Time-GMT), on Time Delivery Report (but only if the order was late), and on the OTDR Defects Report (but only if the order was late).
2) Payment date/time: Found on the Order Reports (nowhere else)
3) Handling Time: Found on General Shipping Settings or on Edit Listing page Offer Tab. It is set for an individual SKU or nowhere if using Automatic Handling Time (AHT)
4) Ship By Date earliest: Found on the Manage Orders Screen, Order Details Screen, and on the Order Reports (in GMT)
5) Ship By Date latest AKA Promised Ship Date: Found on the Manage Orders Screen, Order Details Screen, Order Reports (in GMT), on Time Delivery Report (but only if the order was late), and on the OTDR Defects Report (but only if the order was late).
6) Transit Time: Found on your shipping template or (if using Shipping Setting Automation-SSA), it is found nowhere.
7) Earliest Deliver by date: Found on the Order Details Screen, and Order Reports (in Greenwich Median Time-GMT)
8) Latest Deliver by date AKA Promised delivery date-without extension: Found on the Manage Orders Screen, Order Details Screen, Order Reports (GMT), on Time Delivery Report (but only if the order was late), and on the OTDR Defects Report (but only if the order was late).
9) Promised delivery date with a promise extension: Found on, On Time Delivery Report (but only if the delivery is late)
10) Shipment Confirmation Date/Time: The date/time that the label was purchased. Found on Tracking ID from Order Detail Page (AKA Package left the shipper facility) on Time Delivery Report (but only if the order was late), and on the OTDR Defects Report (but only if the order was late).
11) Ship Date: The date that the label was purchased for: Found on Order Detail Page
12) Carrier First Scan: Found on Tracking ID from Order Detail Page (AKA Package arrived at a carrier facility), on Time Delivery Report (but only if the order was late), and on the OTDR Defects Report (but only if the order was late).
13) Actual Delivery Date: Found on Tracking ID from Order Detail Page (AKA Package Delivered) on Time Delivery Report (but only if the order was late), and on the OTDR Defects Report (but only if the order was late).
Yep! That is right! There are 13 dates/times found in one of 9 places and sometimes not at all. The 9 places are:
1) Manage Orders Screen (PDT)
- a. Purchase Date
- b. Ship by Date Earliest
- c. Ship by Date Latest
- d. Deliver by Date Latest
2) Order Details Screen (PDT)
- a. Purchase Date
- b. Ship by Date Earliest
- c. Ship by Date Latest
- d. Deliver by Date Earliest
- e. Deliver by Date Latest
3) Order Reports (GMT)
- a. Purchase Date
- b. Payment Date (only place to see this information)
- c. Ship by Date Earliest
- d. Ship by Date Latest
- e. Deliver by Date Earliest
- f. Deliver by Date Latest
4) On Time Delivery Report (PDT and GMT – but only shows late orders) Found in account health
- a. Purchase Date
- b. Ship by Date Latest
- c. Shipment Confirmation Date
- d. Carrier First Scan Date
- e. Promised Delivery Date without extension (AKA Delivery Date)
- f. Promised Delivery Date with extension
- g. Actual Delivery Date
5) OTDR Defects Report (PDT, but only shows late orders) Found on the Fulfillment Insights Dashboard under Promise Extensions.
- a. Purchase Date
- b. Promised ship date (AKA Ship by Date Latest)
- c. Actual Ship Date (AKA Carrier First Scan Date)
- d. Promised Delivery Date without extension (AKA Delivery Date)
- e. Promised Delivery Date with extension
- f. Actual Delivery Date
6) Manage Orders Tracking ID hyperlink
- a. Shipment Confirmation Date
- b. Carrier First Scan Date
- c. Actual Delivery Date
7) General Shipping Settings
- a. Handling Time for SKUs without set Handling Time
8) Edit Listing page Offer Tab
- a. Handing Time for SKUs with set handing time
9) Shipping Templates
- a. Transit Time
10) Nowhere
- a. Promised delivery date with extension (for orders that were not delivered late)
- b. Handling Time if using AHT
- c. Transit Time if using SSA
The Following information if from the Fulfillment Insights Dashboard
Promise Time Gap should be the sum of the Handling Time Gap and the Transit Time Gap, but I have seen this vary. Mine is typically 0.1 days higher than the sum of these two figures.
Promised delivery time should be the sum of the Promised Handling Time and the Promised Transit Time, but I have seen this vary. Mine is typically 0.1 days higher than the sum of the other two figures.
Actual Delivery Time appears to be the sum of the Handling Time (actual) and the Transit Time (actual).
Handling time gap is the difference between your average handling time (promised) and your actual handling time. If this gap is less than 2 days on October 25, 2024:: you will be forced to use AHT.
Handling Time (promised) is presumably the average handling time for all orders in the 30-day time window), but Amazon cannot tell us how the handling time promised is calculated. For example, my handling times are all 1 or 2 days and yet the average handling time is 2.8 days.
Handling Time (actual) is presumably the average handling time for all orders in the 30-day time window, but Amazon cannot tell us how the handling time promised is calculated. My best guess this is the difference between the Order Paid Date and the Ship Date, but I could be wrong.
Transit Time gap is the difference between promised transit time and actual transit time.
Transit Time promised is presumably the average promised transit time for all orders, but Amazon cannot tell us how this is calculated. For example, mine is EXACTLY seven days. In my experience, this number is ALWAYS a whole number (7.0 not 6.9 or 7.1). Something is wrong here. With my promised transit time anywhere from 1 to 28 days, I find in VERY suspect that this number could be a whole number over hundreds of orders.
Transit Time Actual is presumably the average transit time for all order in the 30 day time window, but Amazon cannot tell us how that is calculated. Is it from Ship Date? Is it from Carrier First scan?
On Time Delivery Rate (OTDR): You would think that this is the number of “late” orders divided by the orders within the evaluation period, but this is nearly impossible to calculate.
OTDR Protected flag does NOT mean anything. You are only OTDR protected if you are using the three “tools” that Amazon provides—SSA, AHT, and buy shipping.
Claim Protected flag does NOT mean anything. You are only claims protected if you use buy shipping and your first scan is on time.
The “Late Shipped” notice on the Managed Orders pages does NOT mean anything. Your order is only late if the carrier has scanned it late and this notice shows up without regards to when the order was shipped.
I have been lowering my Handling Time gap in an effort to keep from being forced into AHT. Why? Two reasons:
1) AHT will make me ship in one day in most cases. This will prevent me from actual claim protection on A-z claims as most of my packages will not be scanned on time.
2) My handling time plus transit time is shorter than those set by SSA. This helps me win the buy box a greater percentage of the time.
To lower your handling time gap, there are two things you can do:
1) You can lower your promised handing time.
- a. The easiest way to do this is to set your handling time to 1 day on Friday and 0 days on Saturday and then return it to 2 days on Sunday (or Monday if it is a holiday).
- b. Note: If you have 2 days as an option in your shipping settings, do NOT change this to one day. The option for 2 days will disappear.
2) You can raise your actual handling time.
- a. By purchasing your label with the buy date set to the maximum, it appears that you will be handling the package longer.
- b. Alternately, you can buy your labels as the very last step before you ship.
Everything that I know about OTDR, Shipping, and Dates on Amazon
Executive summary:
There are 13 dates/times associated with every Merchant Fulfilled (MF-AKA FBM) order. There is no single place to find these dates and times. In fact, for some of them sellers can never see the dates/times. There are 8 different places where these dates/times can be found. Each of the dates/times have multiple different names.
On October 25, 2024: Amazon will force thousands of MF sellers to use the Automatic Handling Time (AHT) tool, based upon the seller’s handling time gap. However, there is an error in calculating this “gap” that adds more that a half a day to the promised handling time. No one at Amazon is able to explain how this gap is calculated, but Amazon plans to go forward and force sellers into their flawed AHT program based upon the incorrect data.
Lastly, the current flags of OTDR Protected, Claims Protected, and “Late Shipped” mean absolutely nothing. The are based on incorrect programming. To find out if the specific order is protected or actually late, you must review the ship-by dates and the first scan dates as well as your shipping templates, and shipping setting.
===================================================================================
Here is a list of dates/times that Amazon associates with your order and where you can find them:
1) Purchase date/time (AKA Order date/time): Found on the Manage Orders Screen, Order Details Screen, Order Reports (in Greenwich Median Time-GMT), on Time Delivery Report (but only if the order was late), and on the OTDR Defects Report (but only if the order was late).
2) Payment date/time: Found on the Order Reports (nowhere else)
3) Handling Time: Found on General Shipping Settings or on Edit Listing page Offer Tab. It is set for an individual SKU or nowhere if using Automatic Handling Time (AHT)
4) Ship By Date earliest: Found on the Manage Orders Screen, Order Details Screen, and on the Order Reports (in GMT)
5) Ship By Date latest AKA Promised Ship Date: Found on the Manage Orders Screen, Order Details Screen, Order Reports (in GMT), on Time Delivery Report (but only if the order was late), and on the OTDR Defects Report (but only if the order was late).
6) Transit Time: Found on your shipping template or (if using Shipping Setting Automation-SSA), it is found nowhere.
7) Earliest Deliver by date: Found on the Order Details Screen, and Order Reports (in Greenwich Median Time-GMT)
8) Latest Deliver by date AKA Promised delivery date-without extension: Found on the Manage Orders Screen, Order Details Screen, Order Reports (GMT), on Time Delivery Report (but only if the order was late), and on the OTDR Defects Report (but only if the order was late).
9) Promised delivery date with a promise extension: Found on, On Time Delivery Report (but only if the delivery is late)
10) Shipment Confirmation Date/Time: The date/time that the label was purchased. Found on Tracking ID from Order Detail Page (AKA Package left the shipper facility) on Time Delivery Report (but only if the order was late), and on the OTDR Defects Report (but only if the order was late).
11) Ship Date: The date that the label was purchased for: Found on Order Detail Page
12) Carrier First Scan: Found on Tracking ID from Order Detail Page (AKA Package arrived at a carrier facility), on Time Delivery Report (but only if the order was late), and on the OTDR Defects Report (but only if the order was late).
13) Actual Delivery Date: Found on Tracking ID from Order Detail Page (AKA Package Delivered) on Time Delivery Report (but only if the order was late), and on the OTDR Defects Report (but only if the order was late).
Yep! That is right! There are 13 dates/times found in one of 9 places and sometimes not at all. The 9 places are:
1) Manage Orders Screen (PDT)
- a. Purchase Date
- b. Ship by Date Earliest
- c. Ship by Date Latest
- d. Deliver by Date Latest
2) Order Details Screen (PDT)
- a. Purchase Date
- b. Ship by Date Earliest
- c. Ship by Date Latest
- d. Deliver by Date Earliest
- e. Deliver by Date Latest
3) Order Reports (GMT)
- a. Purchase Date
- b. Payment Date (only place to see this information)
- c. Ship by Date Earliest
- d. Ship by Date Latest
- e. Deliver by Date Earliest
- f. Deliver by Date Latest
4) On Time Delivery Report (PDT and GMT – but only shows late orders) Found in account health
- a. Purchase Date
- b. Ship by Date Latest
- c. Shipment Confirmation Date
- d. Carrier First Scan Date
- e. Promised Delivery Date without extension (AKA Delivery Date)
- f. Promised Delivery Date with extension
- g. Actual Delivery Date
5) OTDR Defects Report (PDT, but only shows late orders) Found on the Fulfillment Insights Dashboard under Promise Extensions.
- a. Purchase Date
- b. Promised ship date (AKA Ship by Date Latest)
- c. Actual Ship Date (AKA Carrier First Scan Date)
- d. Promised Delivery Date without extension (AKA Delivery Date)
- e. Promised Delivery Date with extension
- f. Actual Delivery Date
6) Manage Orders Tracking ID hyperlink
- a. Shipment Confirmation Date
- b. Carrier First Scan Date
- c. Actual Delivery Date
7) General Shipping Settings
- a. Handling Time for SKUs without set Handling Time
8) Edit Listing page Offer Tab
- a. Handing Time for SKUs with set handing time
9) Shipping Templates
- a. Transit Time
10) Nowhere
- a. Promised delivery date with extension (for orders that were not delivered late)
- b. Handling Time if using AHT
- c. Transit Time if using SSA
The Following information if from the Fulfillment Insights Dashboard
Promise Time Gap should be the sum of the Handling Time Gap and the Transit Time Gap, but I have seen this vary. Mine is typically 0.1 days higher than the sum of these two figures.
Promised delivery time should be the sum of the Promised Handling Time and the Promised Transit Time, but I have seen this vary. Mine is typically 0.1 days higher than the sum of the other two figures.
Actual Delivery Time appears to be the sum of the Handling Time (actual) and the Transit Time (actual).
Handling time gap is the difference between your average handling time (promised) and your actual handling time. If this gap is less than 2 days on October 25, 2024:: you will be forced to use AHT.
Handling Time (promised) is presumably the average handling time for all orders in the 30-day time window), but Amazon cannot tell us how the handling time promised is calculated. For example, my handling times are all 1 or 2 days and yet the average handling time is 2.8 days.
Handling Time (actual) is presumably the average handling time for all orders in the 30-day time window, but Amazon cannot tell us how the handling time promised is calculated. My best guess this is the difference between the Order Paid Date and the Ship Date, but I could be wrong.
Transit Time gap is the difference between promised transit time and actual transit time.
Transit Time promised is presumably the average promised transit time for all orders, but Amazon cannot tell us how this is calculated. For example, mine is EXACTLY seven days. In my experience, this number is ALWAYS a whole number (7.0 not 6.9 or 7.1). Something is wrong here. With my promised transit time anywhere from 1 to 28 days, I find in VERY suspect that this number could be a whole number over hundreds of orders.
Transit Time Actual is presumably the average transit time for all order in the 30 day time window, but Amazon cannot tell us how that is calculated. Is it from Ship Date? Is it from Carrier First scan?
On Time Delivery Rate (OTDR): You would think that this is the number of “late” orders divided by the orders within the evaluation period, but this is nearly impossible to calculate.
OTDR Protected flag does NOT mean anything. You are only OTDR protected if you are using the three “tools” that Amazon provides—SSA, AHT, and buy shipping.
Claim Protected flag does NOT mean anything. You are only claims protected if you use buy shipping and your first scan is on time.
The “Late Shipped” notice on the Managed Orders pages does NOT mean anything. Your order is only late if the carrier has scanned it late and this notice shows up without regards to when the order was shipped.
I have been lowering my Handling Time gap in an effort to keep from being forced into AHT. Why? Two reasons:
1) AHT will make me ship in one day in most cases. This will prevent me from actual claim protection on A-z claims as most of my packages will not be scanned on time.
2) My handling time plus transit time is shorter than those set by SSA. This helps me win the buy box a greater percentage of the time.
To lower your handling time gap, there are two things you can do:
1) You can lower your promised handing time.
- a. The easiest way to do this is to set your handling time to 1 day on Friday and 0 days on Saturday and then return it to 2 days on Sunday (or Monday if it is a holiday).
- b. Note: If you have 2 days as an option in your shipping settings, do NOT change this to one day. The option for 2 days will disappear.
2) You can raise your actual handling time.
- a. By purchasing your label with the buy date set to the maximum, it appears that you will be handling the package longer.
- b. Alternately, you can buy your labels as the very last step before you ship.
21 replies
Seller_r9wMm8LrE5iKj
Dollars to donuts there's not a single employee or manager at Amazon with this good of a macro view of the problem, and yet they continue to make account-ending decisions while stewing in their ignorance (and continue to use the word "Days" without any context and no clue as to just how stooopid-with-3-o's that is).
Thank you so much for putting this reference together. Hopefully someone at Amazon will actually internalize this document.
Seller_IlwjJKqpD81nL
Thank you for all the thought you have put into this.
We are still trying to wrap our brains around the changes (aka being punished for shipping "too fast")
Do you have any suggestions for the best way to use the "order handling capacity" feature as well?
It sounds like the safest thing to do is to lowball what we're capable of doing every day... and then force ourselves to NEVER ship orders ahead of time? To NEVER ship orders before they are actually due?
This still just doesn't make any sense to us. This seems unnecessarily complex. It was so much easier to just give ourselves a little bit of padding with the handling time... and then just pick, pack, and ship as much as we could on a given day.
It is actually going to take more discipline and planning to intentionally slow down so that we don't lose our flexibility...
Seller_Fjab9DiTv8G4R
Great post. You clearly put way more thought and effort into this new policy than Scamazon did.
Seller_8UYHnTIxJNqVK
So just so its clear, I still have the two day handling time, If I change it to the one day the two day will disappear and I will only have the one day handling time?
Seller_1rABOZWHm00vi
Great write up. I noticed that you mentioned October 25th as the date that AHT is being forced on sellers with a handling gap >2 days (and linked to a moderator's post which says the same) but the original notification I got a few weeks ago says AHT will be forced on September 25th. Did they end up pushing that date back?
Seller_ZDUFw1qRNIbgB
I would REALLY like to know what Amazon's reason is for:
A) taking away our 2 day handling time in shipping settings...how does this benefit the customer?
B) not giving us a 3-5 day transit time option or a 4-6 day option...how does this benefit the customer?
I
If it isn't to benefit the customer then the only reasonable explanation is that they intend to destroy every FBM sellers' business in order to get more sellers to pay crazy fees for warehouse space, etc....it seems to me they built too many warehouses and want to make their fortunes on renting that space out for a ridiculous price...
Amazon please prove me wrong and give us a legit reason as to how these changes benefit the consumer and that it's not just a systematic way to destroy our livelihood while keeping face with the public. We all know you want to be able to tell the American public that you are good for small business.
Seller_0xdtD36hDLHBC
Thank you.
It is unclear if the post that I linked meant AHT will not be implemented for all sellers or sellers shipping from outside the US to the US.
The post says one thing, but it could be taken to apply to only those shipping from outside the US.
The mods have been kind of quiet about this since the July announcement.
@KJ_Amazoncare to chime in?
Seller_RSMYvDoptcfRI
You said if the HT gap is less than 2 days, It was my understanding that the handling time gap had to be more than 2 days. Can someone shed some light on this please, before I really screw things up??
Seller_LYYnVjweGTmby
I read somewhere that all OTDR bets are off if the seller ships Free Economy. Is that correct?
Seller_EkbLZUYSpmJEy
No ... Sept 25, 2024 is for US sellers ... Oct 25, 2024 is for sellers outside of US shipping into US.
10) Nowhere
- a. Promised delivery date with extension (for orders that were not delivered late)
- b. Handling Time if using AHT
- c. Transit Time if using SSA
Both b & c can be determined by the order detail page.
Example:
- Order of 9/10 has ship by date of 9/11 = 1 day handle time
- Order of 9/10 has ship by date of 9/11 to 9/12 = 2 day handle time
Whether or not you have AHT turned on, this will always represent the handle time on the order.
As far as transit time …
- Order of 9/10 has ship by date of 9/11 has deliver by date of 9/14 = 3 day transit time
- Order of 9/10 has ship by date of 9/11 to 9/12 has deliver by date 9/14 to 9/16 = 3 day to 4 day transit time
Promise Time Gap should be the sum of the Handling Time Gap and the Transit Time Gap, but I have seen this vary. Mine is typically 0.1 days higher than the sum of these two figures.
Promised Time Gap = (Handle Time Promised + Transit Time Promised) - (Handle Time Actual + Transit Time Actual) ... If the system calculation returns 9.56 days, then the page will show 9.6 days whereas the inputs might be displayed as 2.3 days and 7.2 days ( a combined value of 9.5 days) but have actual calculated numbers of 2.34 days and 7.22 days (which wouldn't be rounded up on what is displayed but have a combined value of 9.56 days which would be rounded up on the display).
The same would explain you 0.1 day difference on the Promised Delivery Time.
Handling Time (actual) is presumably the average handling time for all orders in the 30-day time window, but Amazon cannot tell us how the handling time promised is calculated. My best guess this is the difference between the Order Paid Date and the Ship Date, but I could be wrong.
Handle Time starts the minute the order is placed so an item with 2 day handle time is calculated as follows:
- Order on 9/10 at 12:00pm (noon) PST has 0.5 days handle time for the 9/10
- 1st day of 2 day handle time on 9/11 has 1.0 days handle time for 9/11
- 2nd day of 2 day handle time on 9/12 has 1.0 days handle time for 9/12
- 0.5 + 1.0 + 1.0 = 2.5 days handle time promised for a 2 day handle time
- If your store is closed (doesn't ship) over the weekend, then a Thursday order at 12:00pm (noon) PST with 2 day handle time will have a 4.5 day handle time promised with the last ship by date being on Monday.
Handling Time (actual)
This is calculated from the date and time the order is purchased to the date and time that you purchase the shipping label through Amazon Buy Shipping or input the tracking number into the system (if you bought your label off of Amazon).
Transit Time promised is presumably the average promised transit time for all orders, but Amazon cannot tell us how this is calculated. For example, mine is EXACTLY seven days. In my experience, this number is ALWAYS a whole number (7.0 not 6.9 or 7.1). Something is wrong here.
If you have your shipping setting set to 2 to 4 days transit, then when the system estimates the order delivery time there will be a range between two dates.
Example
- deliver by 9/10 to 9/14 (four days)
- deliver by 9/10 to 9/15 (5 days because a weekend day extended out day 4)
- deliver by 9/10 to 9/16 (6 days because a weekend day and a Monday holiday extended out day 4)
When the Amazon system calculates the promised transit time, it is an average of the range between 1st and last day of delivery promise time for all the orders during the reporting period. This will result in numbers that are not whole numbers.
Transit Time Actual is presumably the average transit time for all order in the 30 day time window, but Amazon cannot tell us how that is calculated. Is it from Ship Date? Is it from Carrier First scan?
Actual Transit Time is calculated from the date and time you purchase the shipping label (or input the tracking number if bought off Amazon) to the date and time the item is delivered.
On Time Delivery Rate (OTDR): You would think that this is the number of “late” orders divided by the orders within the evaluation period, but this is nearly impossible to calculate.
During the reporting period ... the number orders delivered on time minus ( - ) the number of orders that arrived late divided by ( / ) 100 = OTDR
For those following, OTDR protection is only available for orders with ...
- AHT turn on
- SSA turn on
- Standard Shipping orders ONLY
Economy, Expedited, 2 Day, 1 Day and Same Day orders are NOT covered under the OTDR protection.
1) You can lower your promised handing time.
- a. The easiest way to do this is to set your handling time to 1 day on Friday and 0 days on Saturday and then return it to 2 days on Sunday (or Monday if it is a holiday).
- b. Note: If you have 2 days as an option in your shipping settings, do NOT change this to one day. The option for 2 days will disappear.
To lower your Handle Time Gap, ship your orders on the last ship by date (it will take 30 days of doing this to see the gap drop).
2) You can raise your actual handling time.
- a. By purchasing your label with the buy date set to the maximum, it appears that you will be handling the package longer.
This method does not work. The calculation is done at the time the label is purchased even if you put a future date for shipping. Some sellers who were purchasing the label within 2 hours of the order coming down with the next day as the ship date had Handle Time Actual numbers of 0.2 days. If you have your handle time set to 2 or more days, this will mean you will always have a Handle Time Gap greater than 2.0 days.
Everything that I know about OTDR, Shipping, and Dates on Amazon
Executive summary:
There are 13 dates/times associated with every Merchant Fulfilled (MF-AKA FBM) order. There is no single place to find these dates and times. In fact, for some of them sellers can never see the dates/times. There are 8 different places where these dates/times can be found. Each of the dates/times have multiple different names.
On October 25, 2024: Amazon will force thousands of MF sellers to use the Automatic Handling Time (AHT) tool, based upon the seller’s handling time gap. However, there is an error in calculating this “gap” that adds more that a half a day to the promised handling time. No one at Amazon is able to explain how this gap is calculated, but Amazon plans to go forward and force sellers into their flawed AHT program based upon the incorrect data.
Lastly, the current flags of OTDR Protected, Claims Protected, and “Late Shipped” mean absolutely nothing. The are based on incorrect programming. To find out if the specific order is protected or actually late, you must review the ship-by dates and the first scan dates as well as your shipping templates, and shipping setting.
===================================================================================
Here is a list of dates/times that Amazon associates with your order and where you can find them:
1) Purchase date/time (AKA Order date/time): Found on the Manage Orders Screen, Order Details Screen, Order Reports (in Greenwich Median Time-GMT), on Time Delivery Report (but only if the order was late), and on the OTDR Defects Report (but only if the order was late).
2) Payment date/time: Found on the Order Reports (nowhere else)
3) Handling Time: Found on General Shipping Settings or on Edit Listing page Offer Tab. It is set for an individual SKU or nowhere if using Automatic Handling Time (AHT)
4) Ship By Date earliest: Found on the Manage Orders Screen, Order Details Screen, and on the Order Reports (in GMT)
5) Ship By Date latest AKA Promised Ship Date: Found on the Manage Orders Screen, Order Details Screen, Order Reports (in GMT), on Time Delivery Report (but only if the order was late), and on the OTDR Defects Report (but only if the order was late).
6) Transit Time: Found on your shipping template or (if using Shipping Setting Automation-SSA), it is found nowhere.
7) Earliest Deliver by date: Found on the Order Details Screen, and Order Reports (in Greenwich Median Time-GMT)
8) Latest Deliver by date AKA Promised delivery date-without extension: Found on the Manage Orders Screen, Order Details Screen, Order Reports (GMT), on Time Delivery Report (but only if the order was late), and on the OTDR Defects Report (but only if the order was late).
9) Promised delivery date with a promise extension: Found on, On Time Delivery Report (but only if the delivery is late)
10) Shipment Confirmation Date/Time: The date/time that the label was purchased. Found on Tracking ID from Order Detail Page (AKA Package left the shipper facility) on Time Delivery Report (but only if the order was late), and on the OTDR Defects Report (but only if the order was late).
11) Ship Date: The date that the label was purchased for: Found on Order Detail Page
12) Carrier First Scan: Found on Tracking ID from Order Detail Page (AKA Package arrived at a carrier facility), on Time Delivery Report (but only if the order was late), and on the OTDR Defects Report (but only if the order was late).
13) Actual Delivery Date: Found on Tracking ID from Order Detail Page (AKA Package Delivered) on Time Delivery Report (but only if the order was late), and on the OTDR Defects Report (but only if the order was late).
Yep! That is right! There are 13 dates/times found in one of 9 places and sometimes not at all. The 9 places are:
1) Manage Orders Screen (PDT)
- a. Purchase Date
- b. Ship by Date Earliest
- c. Ship by Date Latest
- d. Deliver by Date Latest
2) Order Details Screen (PDT)
- a. Purchase Date
- b. Ship by Date Earliest
- c. Ship by Date Latest
- d. Deliver by Date Earliest
- e. Deliver by Date Latest
3) Order Reports (GMT)
- a. Purchase Date
- b. Payment Date (only place to see this information)
- c. Ship by Date Earliest
- d. Ship by Date Latest
- e. Deliver by Date Earliest
- f. Deliver by Date Latest
4) On Time Delivery Report (PDT and GMT – but only shows late orders) Found in account health
- a. Purchase Date
- b. Ship by Date Latest
- c. Shipment Confirmation Date
- d. Carrier First Scan Date
- e. Promised Delivery Date without extension (AKA Delivery Date)
- f. Promised Delivery Date with extension
- g. Actual Delivery Date
5) OTDR Defects Report (PDT, but only shows late orders) Found on the Fulfillment Insights Dashboard under Promise Extensions.
- a. Purchase Date
- b. Promised ship date (AKA Ship by Date Latest)
- c. Actual Ship Date (AKA Carrier First Scan Date)
- d. Promised Delivery Date without extension (AKA Delivery Date)
- e. Promised Delivery Date with extension
- f. Actual Delivery Date
6) Manage Orders Tracking ID hyperlink
- a. Shipment Confirmation Date
- b. Carrier First Scan Date
- c. Actual Delivery Date
7) General Shipping Settings
- a. Handling Time for SKUs without set Handling Time
8) Edit Listing page Offer Tab
- a. Handing Time for SKUs with set handing time
9) Shipping Templates
- a. Transit Time
10) Nowhere
- a. Promised delivery date with extension (for orders that were not delivered late)
- b. Handling Time if using AHT
- c. Transit Time if using SSA
The Following information if from the Fulfillment Insights Dashboard
Promise Time Gap should be the sum of the Handling Time Gap and the Transit Time Gap, but I have seen this vary. Mine is typically 0.1 days higher than the sum of these two figures.
Promised delivery time should be the sum of the Promised Handling Time and the Promised Transit Time, but I have seen this vary. Mine is typically 0.1 days higher than the sum of the other two figures.
Actual Delivery Time appears to be the sum of the Handling Time (actual) and the Transit Time (actual).
Handling time gap is the difference between your average handling time (promised) and your actual handling time. If this gap is less than 2 days on October 25, 2024:: you will be forced to use AHT.
Handling Time (promised) is presumably the average handling time for all orders in the 30-day time window), but Amazon cannot tell us how the handling time promised is calculated. For example, my handling times are all 1 or 2 days and yet the average handling time is 2.8 days.
Handling Time (actual) is presumably the average handling time for all orders in the 30-day time window, but Amazon cannot tell us how the handling time promised is calculated. My best guess this is the difference between the Order Paid Date and the Ship Date, but I could be wrong.
Transit Time gap is the difference between promised transit time and actual transit time.
Transit Time promised is presumably the average promised transit time for all orders, but Amazon cannot tell us how this is calculated. For example, mine is EXACTLY seven days. In my experience, this number is ALWAYS a whole number (7.0 not 6.9 or 7.1). Something is wrong here. With my promised transit time anywhere from 1 to 28 days, I find in VERY suspect that this number could be a whole number over hundreds of orders.
Transit Time Actual is presumably the average transit time for all order in the 30 day time window, but Amazon cannot tell us how that is calculated. Is it from Ship Date? Is it from Carrier First scan?
On Time Delivery Rate (OTDR): You would think that this is the number of “late” orders divided by the orders within the evaluation period, but this is nearly impossible to calculate.
OTDR Protected flag does NOT mean anything. You are only OTDR protected if you are using the three “tools” that Amazon provides—SSA, AHT, and buy shipping.
Claim Protected flag does NOT mean anything. You are only claims protected if you use buy shipping and your first scan is on time.
The “Late Shipped” notice on the Managed Orders pages does NOT mean anything. Your order is only late if the carrier has scanned it late and this notice shows up without regards to when the order was shipped.
I have been lowering my Handling Time gap in an effort to keep from being forced into AHT. Why? Two reasons:
1) AHT will make me ship in one day in most cases. This will prevent me from actual claim protection on A-z claims as most of my packages will not be scanned on time.
2) My handling time plus transit time is shorter than those set by SSA. This helps me win the buy box a greater percentage of the time.
To lower your handling time gap, there are two things you can do:
1) You can lower your promised handing time.
- a. The easiest way to do this is to set your handling time to 1 day on Friday and 0 days on Saturday and then return it to 2 days on Sunday (or Monday if it is a holiday).
- b. Note: If you have 2 days as an option in your shipping settings, do NOT change this to one day. The option for 2 days will disappear.
2) You can raise your actual handling time.
- a. By purchasing your label with the buy date set to the maximum, it appears that you will be handling the package longer.
- b. Alternately, you can buy your labels as the very last step before you ship.
Everything that I know about OTDR, Shipping, and Dates on Amazon
Executive summary:
There are 13 dates/times associated with every Merchant Fulfilled (MF-AKA FBM) order. There is no single place to find these dates and times. In fact, for some of them sellers can never see the dates/times. There are 8 different places where these dates/times can be found. Each of the dates/times have multiple different names.
On October 25, 2024: Amazon will force thousands of MF sellers to use the Automatic Handling Time (AHT) tool, based upon the seller’s handling time gap. However, there is an error in calculating this “gap” that adds more that a half a day to the promised handling time. No one at Amazon is able to explain how this gap is calculated, but Amazon plans to go forward and force sellers into their flawed AHT program based upon the incorrect data.
Lastly, the current flags of OTDR Protected, Claims Protected, and “Late Shipped” mean absolutely nothing. The are based on incorrect programming. To find out if the specific order is protected or actually late, you must review the ship-by dates and the first scan dates as well as your shipping templates, and shipping setting.
===================================================================================
Here is a list of dates/times that Amazon associates with your order and where you can find them:
1) Purchase date/time (AKA Order date/time): Found on the Manage Orders Screen, Order Details Screen, Order Reports (in Greenwich Median Time-GMT), on Time Delivery Report (but only if the order was late), and on the OTDR Defects Report (but only if the order was late).
2) Payment date/time: Found on the Order Reports (nowhere else)
3) Handling Time: Found on General Shipping Settings or on Edit Listing page Offer Tab. It is set for an individual SKU or nowhere if using Automatic Handling Time (AHT)
4) Ship By Date earliest: Found on the Manage Orders Screen, Order Details Screen, and on the Order Reports (in GMT)
5) Ship By Date latest AKA Promised Ship Date: Found on the Manage Orders Screen, Order Details Screen, Order Reports (in GMT), on Time Delivery Report (but only if the order was late), and on the OTDR Defects Report (but only if the order was late).
6) Transit Time: Found on your shipping template or (if using Shipping Setting Automation-SSA), it is found nowhere.
7) Earliest Deliver by date: Found on the Order Details Screen, and Order Reports (in Greenwich Median Time-GMT)
8) Latest Deliver by date AKA Promised delivery date-without extension: Found on the Manage Orders Screen, Order Details Screen, Order Reports (GMT), on Time Delivery Report (but only if the order was late), and on the OTDR Defects Report (but only if the order was late).
9) Promised delivery date with a promise extension: Found on, On Time Delivery Report (but only if the delivery is late)
10) Shipment Confirmation Date/Time: The date/time that the label was purchased. Found on Tracking ID from Order Detail Page (AKA Package left the shipper facility) on Time Delivery Report (but only if the order was late), and on the OTDR Defects Report (but only if the order was late).
11) Ship Date: The date that the label was purchased for: Found on Order Detail Page
12) Carrier First Scan: Found on Tracking ID from Order Detail Page (AKA Package arrived at a carrier facility), on Time Delivery Report (but only if the order was late), and on the OTDR Defects Report (but only if the order was late).
13) Actual Delivery Date: Found on Tracking ID from Order Detail Page (AKA Package Delivered) on Time Delivery Report (but only if the order was late), and on the OTDR Defects Report (but only if the order was late).
Yep! That is right! There are 13 dates/times found in one of 9 places and sometimes not at all. The 9 places are:
1) Manage Orders Screen (PDT)
- a. Purchase Date
- b. Ship by Date Earliest
- c. Ship by Date Latest
- d. Deliver by Date Latest
2) Order Details Screen (PDT)
- a. Purchase Date
- b. Ship by Date Earliest
- c. Ship by Date Latest
- d. Deliver by Date Earliest
- e. Deliver by Date Latest
3) Order Reports (GMT)
- a. Purchase Date
- b. Payment Date (only place to see this information)
- c. Ship by Date Earliest
- d. Ship by Date Latest
- e. Deliver by Date Earliest
- f. Deliver by Date Latest
4) On Time Delivery Report (PDT and GMT – but only shows late orders) Found in account health
- a. Purchase Date
- b. Ship by Date Latest
- c. Shipment Confirmation Date
- d. Carrier First Scan Date
- e. Promised Delivery Date without extension (AKA Delivery Date)
- f. Promised Delivery Date with extension
- g. Actual Delivery Date
5) OTDR Defects Report (PDT, but only shows late orders) Found on the Fulfillment Insights Dashboard under Promise Extensions.
- a. Purchase Date
- b. Promised ship date (AKA Ship by Date Latest)
- c. Actual Ship Date (AKA Carrier First Scan Date)
- d. Promised Delivery Date without extension (AKA Delivery Date)
- e. Promised Delivery Date with extension
- f. Actual Delivery Date
6) Manage Orders Tracking ID hyperlink
- a. Shipment Confirmation Date
- b. Carrier First Scan Date
- c. Actual Delivery Date
7) General Shipping Settings
- a. Handling Time for SKUs without set Handling Time
8) Edit Listing page Offer Tab
- a. Handing Time for SKUs with set handing time
9) Shipping Templates
- a. Transit Time
10) Nowhere
- a. Promised delivery date with extension (for orders that were not delivered late)
- b. Handling Time if using AHT
- c. Transit Time if using SSA
The Following information if from the Fulfillment Insights Dashboard
Promise Time Gap should be the sum of the Handling Time Gap and the Transit Time Gap, but I have seen this vary. Mine is typically 0.1 days higher than the sum of these two figures.
Promised delivery time should be the sum of the Promised Handling Time and the Promised Transit Time, but I have seen this vary. Mine is typically 0.1 days higher than the sum of the other two figures.
Actual Delivery Time appears to be the sum of the Handling Time (actual) and the Transit Time (actual).
Handling time gap is the difference between your average handling time (promised) and your actual handling time. If this gap is less than 2 days on October 25, 2024:: you will be forced to use AHT.
Handling Time (promised) is presumably the average handling time for all orders in the 30-day time window), but Amazon cannot tell us how the handling time promised is calculated. For example, my handling times are all 1 or 2 days and yet the average handling time is 2.8 days.
Handling Time (actual) is presumably the average handling time for all orders in the 30-day time window, but Amazon cannot tell us how the handling time promised is calculated. My best guess this is the difference between the Order Paid Date and the Ship Date, but I could be wrong.
Transit Time gap is the difference between promised transit time and actual transit time.
Transit Time promised is presumably the average promised transit time for all orders, but Amazon cannot tell us how this is calculated. For example, mine is EXACTLY seven days. In my experience, this number is ALWAYS a whole number (7.0 not 6.9 or 7.1). Something is wrong here. With my promised transit time anywhere from 1 to 28 days, I find in VERY suspect that this number could be a whole number over hundreds of orders.
Transit Time Actual is presumably the average transit time for all order in the 30 day time window, but Amazon cannot tell us how that is calculated. Is it from Ship Date? Is it from Carrier First scan?
On Time Delivery Rate (OTDR): You would think that this is the number of “late” orders divided by the orders within the evaluation period, but this is nearly impossible to calculate.
OTDR Protected flag does NOT mean anything. You are only OTDR protected if you are using the three “tools” that Amazon provides—SSA, AHT, and buy shipping.
Claim Protected flag does NOT mean anything. You are only claims protected if you use buy shipping and your first scan is on time.
The “Late Shipped” notice on the Managed Orders pages does NOT mean anything. Your order is only late if the carrier has scanned it late and this notice shows up without regards to when the order was shipped.
I have been lowering my Handling Time gap in an effort to keep from being forced into AHT. Why? Two reasons:
1) AHT will make me ship in one day in most cases. This will prevent me from actual claim protection on A-z claims as most of my packages will not be scanned on time.
2) My handling time plus transit time is shorter than those set by SSA. This helps me win the buy box a greater percentage of the time.
To lower your handling time gap, there are two things you can do:
1) You can lower your promised handing time.
- a. The easiest way to do this is to set your handling time to 1 day on Friday and 0 days on Saturday and then return it to 2 days on Sunday (or Monday if it is a holiday).
- b. Note: If you have 2 days as an option in your shipping settings, do NOT change this to one day. The option for 2 days will disappear.
2) You can raise your actual handling time.
- a. By purchasing your label with the buy date set to the maximum, it appears that you will be handling the package longer.
- b. Alternately, you can buy your labels as the very last step before you ship.
Everything that I know about OTDR, Shipping, and Dates on Amazon
Executive summary:
There are 13 dates/times associated with every Merchant Fulfilled (MF-AKA FBM) order. There is no single place to find these dates and times. In fact, for some of them sellers can never see the dates/times. There are 8 different places where these dates/times can be found. Each of the dates/times have multiple different names.
On October 25, 2024: Amazon will force thousands of MF sellers to use the Automatic Handling Time (AHT) tool, based upon the seller’s handling time gap. However, there is an error in calculating this “gap” that adds more that a half a day to the promised handling time. No one at Amazon is able to explain how this gap is calculated, but Amazon plans to go forward and force sellers into their flawed AHT program based upon the incorrect data.
Lastly, the current flags of OTDR Protected, Claims Protected, and “Late Shipped” mean absolutely nothing. The are based on incorrect programming. To find out if the specific order is protected or actually late, you must review the ship-by dates and the first scan dates as well as your shipping templates, and shipping setting.
===================================================================================
Here is a list of dates/times that Amazon associates with your order and where you can find them:
1) Purchase date/time (AKA Order date/time): Found on the Manage Orders Screen, Order Details Screen, Order Reports (in Greenwich Median Time-GMT), on Time Delivery Report (but only if the order was late), and on the OTDR Defects Report (but only if the order was late).
2) Payment date/time: Found on the Order Reports (nowhere else)
3) Handling Time: Found on General Shipping Settings or on Edit Listing page Offer Tab. It is set for an individual SKU or nowhere if using Automatic Handling Time (AHT)
4) Ship By Date earliest: Found on the Manage Orders Screen, Order Details Screen, and on the Order Reports (in GMT)
5) Ship By Date latest AKA Promised Ship Date: Found on the Manage Orders Screen, Order Details Screen, Order Reports (in GMT), on Time Delivery Report (but only if the order was late), and on the OTDR Defects Report (but only if the order was late).
6) Transit Time: Found on your shipping template or (if using Shipping Setting Automation-SSA), it is found nowhere.
7) Earliest Deliver by date: Found on the Order Details Screen, and Order Reports (in Greenwich Median Time-GMT)
8) Latest Deliver by date AKA Promised delivery date-without extension: Found on the Manage Orders Screen, Order Details Screen, Order Reports (GMT), on Time Delivery Report (but only if the order was late), and on the OTDR Defects Report (but only if the order was late).
9) Promised delivery date with a promise extension: Found on, On Time Delivery Report (but only if the delivery is late)
10) Shipment Confirmation Date/Time: The date/time that the label was purchased. Found on Tracking ID from Order Detail Page (AKA Package left the shipper facility) on Time Delivery Report (but only if the order was late), and on the OTDR Defects Report (but only if the order was late).
11) Ship Date: The date that the label was purchased for: Found on Order Detail Page
12) Carrier First Scan: Found on Tracking ID from Order Detail Page (AKA Package arrived at a carrier facility), on Time Delivery Report (but only if the order was late), and on the OTDR Defects Report (but only if the order was late).
13) Actual Delivery Date: Found on Tracking ID from Order Detail Page (AKA Package Delivered) on Time Delivery Report (but only if the order was late), and on the OTDR Defects Report (but only if the order was late).
Yep! That is right! There are 13 dates/times found in one of 9 places and sometimes not at all. The 9 places are:
1) Manage Orders Screen (PDT)
- a. Purchase Date
- b. Ship by Date Earliest
- c. Ship by Date Latest
- d. Deliver by Date Latest
2) Order Details Screen (PDT)
- a. Purchase Date
- b. Ship by Date Earliest
- c. Ship by Date Latest
- d. Deliver by Date Earliest
- e. Deliver by Date Latest
3) Order Reports (GMT)
- a. Purchase Date
- b. Payment Date (only place to see this information)
- c. Ship by Date Earliest
- d. Ship by Date Latest
- e. Deliver by Date Earliest
- f. Deliver by Date Latest
4) On Time Delivery Report (PDT and GMT – but only shows late orders) Found in account health
- a. Purchase Date
- b. Ship by Date Latest
- c. Shipment Confirmation Date
- d. Carrier First Scan Date
- e. Promised Delivery Date without extension (AKA Delivery Date)
- f. Promised Delivery Date with extension
- g. Actual Delivery Date
5) OTDR Defects Report (PDT, but only shows late orders) Found on the Fulfillment Insights Dashboard under Promise Extensions.
- a. Purchase Date
- b. Promised ship date (AKA Ship by Date Latest)
- c. Actual Ship Date (AKA Carrier First Scan Date)
- d. Promised Delivery Date without extension (AKA Delivery Date)
- e. Promised Delivery Date with extension
- f. Actual Delivery Date
6) Manage Orders Tracking ID hyperlink
- a. Shipment Confirmation Date
- b. Carrier First Scan Date
- c. Actual Delivery Date
7) General Shipping Settings
- a. Handling Time for SKUs without set Handling Time
8) Edit Listing page Offer Tab
- a. Handing Time for SKUs with set handing time
9) Shipping Templates
- a. Transit Time
10) Nowhere
- a. Promised delivery date with extension (for orders that were not delivered late)
- b. Handling Time if using AHT
- c. Transit Time if using SSA
The Following information if from the Fulfillment Insights Dashboard
Promise Time Gap should be the sum of the Handling Time Gap and the Transit Time Gap, but I have seen this vary. Mine is typically 0.1 days higher than the sum of these two figures.
Promised delivery time should be the sum of the Promised Handling Time and the Promised Transit Time, but I have seen this vary. Mine is typically 0.1 days higher than the sum of the other two figures.
Actual Delivery Time appears to be the sum of the Handling Time (actual) and the Transit Time (actual).
Handling time gap is the difference between your average handling time (promised) and your actual handling time. If this gap is less than 2 days on October 25, 2024:: you will be forced to use AHT.
Handling Time (promised) is presumably the average handling time for all orders in the 30-day time window), but Amazon cannot tell us how the handling time promised is calculated. For example, my handling times are all 1 or 2 days and yet the average handling time is 2.8 days.
Handling Time (actual) is presumably the average handling time for all orders in the 30-day time window, but Amazon cannot tell us how the handling time promised is calculated. My best guess this is the difference between the Order Paid Date and the Ship Date, but I could be wrong.
Transit Time gap is the difference between promised transit time and actual transit time.
Transit Time promised is presumably the average promised transit time for all orders, but Amazon cannot tell us how this is calculated. For example, mine is EXACTLY seven days. In my experience, this number is ALWAYS a whole number (7.0 not 6.9 or 7.1). Something is wrong here. With my promised transit time anywhere from 1 to 28 days, I find in VERY suspect that this number could be a whole number over hundreds of orders.
Transit Time Actual is presumably the average transit time for all order in the 30 day time window, but Amazon cannot tell us how that is calculated. Is it from Ship Date? Is it from Carrier First scan?
On Time Delivery Rate (OTDR): You would think that this is the number of “late” orders divided by the orders within the evaluation period, but this is nearly impossible to calculate.
OTDR Protected flag does NOT mean anything. You are only OTDR protected if you are using the three “tools” that Amazon provides—SSA, AHT, and buy shipping.
Claim Protected flag does NOT mean anything. You are only claims protected if you use buy shipping and your first scan is on time.
The “Late Shipped” notice on the Managed Orders pages does NOT mean anything. Your order is only late if the carrier has scanned it late and this notice shows up without regards to when the order was shipped.
I have been lowering my Handling Time gap in an effort to keep from being forced into AHT. Why? Two reasons:
1) AHT will make me ship in one day in most cases. This will prevent me from actual claim protection on A-z claims as most of my packages will not be scanned on time.
2) My handling time plus transit time is shorter than those set by SSA. This helps me win the buy box a greater percentage of the time.
To lower your handling time gap, there are two things you can do:
1) You can lower your promised handing time.
- a. The easiest way to do this is to set your handling time to 1 day on Friday and 0 days on Saturday and then return it to 2 days on Sunday (or Monday if it is a holiday).
- b. Note: If you have 2 days as an option in your shipping settings, do NOT change this to one day. The option for 2 days will disappear.
2) You can raise your actual handling time.
- a. By purchasing your label with the buy date set to the maximum, it appears that you will be handling the package longer.
- b. Alternately, you can buy your labels as the very last step before you ship.
21 replies
21 replies
Seller_r9wMm8LrE5iKj
Dollars to donuts there's not a single employee or manager at Amazon with this good of a macro view of the problem, and yet they continue to make account-ending decisions while stewing in their ignorance (and continue to use the word "Days" without any context and no clue as to just how stooopid-with-3-o's that is).
Thank you so much for putting this reference together. Hopefully someone at Amazon will actually internalize this document.
Seller_IlwjJKqpD81nL
Thank you for all the thought you have put into this.
We are still trying to wrap our brains around the changes (aka being punished for shipping "too fast")
Do you have any suggestions for the best way to use the "order handling capacity" feature as well?
It sounds like the safest thing to do is to lowball what we're capable of doing every day... and then force ourselves to NEVER ship orders ahead of time? To NEVER ship orders before they are actually due?
This still just doesn't make any sense to us. This seems unnecessarily complex. It was so much easier to just give ourselves a little bit of padding with the handling time... and then just pick, pack, and ship as much as we could on a given day.
It is actually going to take more discipline and planning to intentionally slow down so that we don't lose our flexibility...
Seller_Fjab9DiTv8G4R
Great post. You clearly put way more thought and effort into this new policy than Scamazon did.
Seller_8UYHnTIxJNqVK
So just so its clear, I still have the two day handling time, If I change it to the one day the two day will disappear and I will only have the one day handling time?
Seller_1rABOZWHm00vi
Great write up. I noticed that you mentioned October 25th as the date that AHT is being forced on sellers with a handling gap >2 days (and linked to a moderator's post which says the same) but the original notification I got a few weeks ago says AHT will be forced on September 25th. Did they end up pushing that date back?
Seller_ZDUFw1qRNIbgB
I would REALLY like to know what Amazon's reason is for:
A) taking away our 2 day handling time in shipping settings...how does this benefit the customer?
B) not giving us a 3-5 day transit time option or a 4-6 day option...how does this benefit the customer?
I
If it isn't to benefit the customer then the only reasonable explanation is that they intend to destroy every FBM sellers' business in order to get more sellers to pay crazy fees for warehouse space, etc....it seems to me they built too many warehouses and want to make their fortunes on renting that space out for a ridiculous price...
Amazon please prove me wrong and give us a legit reason as to how these changes benefit the consumer and that it's not just a systematic way to destroy our livelihood while keeping face with the public. We all know you want to be able to tell the American public that you are good for small business.
Seller_0xdtD36hDLHBC
Thank you.
It is unclear if the post that I linked meant AHT will not be implemented for all sellers or sellers shipping from outside the US to the US.
The post says one thing, but it could be taken to apply to only those shipping from outside the US.
The mods have been kind of quiet about this since the July announcement.
@KJ_Amazoncare to chime in?
Seller_RSMYvDoptcfRI
You said if the HT gap is less than 2 days, It was my understanding that the handling time gap had to be more than 2 days. Can someone shed some light on this please, before I really screw things up??
Seller_LYYnVjweGTmby
I read somewhere that all OTDR bets are off if the seller ships Free Economy. Is that correct?
Seller_EkbLZUYSpmJEy
No ... Sept 25, 2024 is for US sellers ... Oct 25, 2024 is for sellers outside of US shipping into US.
10) Nowhere
- a. Promised delivery date with extension (for orders that were not delivered late)
- b. Handling Time if using AHT
- c. Transit Time if using SSA
Both b & c can be determined by the order detail page.
Example:
- Order of 9/10 has ship by date of 9/11 = 1 day handle time
- Order of 9/10 has ship by date of 9/11 to 9/12 = 2 day handle time
Whether or not you have AHT turned on, this will always represent the handle time on the order.
As far as transit time …
- Order of 9/10 has ship by date of 9/11 has deliver by date of 9/14 = 3 day transit time
- Order of 9/10 has ship by date of 9/11 to 9/12 has deliver by date 9/14 to 9/16 = 3 day to 4 day transit time
Promise Time Gap should be the sum of the Handling Time Gap and the Transit Time Gap, but I have seen this vary. Mine is typically 0.1 days higher than the sum of these two figures.
Promised Time Gap = (Handle Time Promised + Transit Time Promised) - (Handle Time Actual + Transit Time Actual) ... If the system calculation returns 9.56 days, then the page will show 9.6 days whereas the inputs might be displayed as 2.3 days and 7.2 days ( a combined value of 9.5 days) but have actual calculated numbers of 2.34 days and 7.22 days (which wouldn't be rounded up on what is displayed but have a combined value of 9.56 days which would be rounded up on the display).
The same would explain you 0.1 day difference on the Promised Delivery Time.
Handling Time (actual) is presumably the average handling time for all orders in the 30-day time window, but Amazon cannot tell us how the handling time promised is calculated. My best guess this is the difference between the Order Paid Date and the Ship Date, but I could be wrong.
Handle Time starts the minute the order is placed so an item with 2 day handle time is calculated as follows:
- Order on 9/10 at 12:00pm (noon) PST has 0.5 days handle time for the 9/10
- 1st day of 2 day handle time on 9/11 has 1.0 days handle time for 9/11
- 2nd day of 2 day handle time on 9/12 has 1.0 days handle time for 9/12
- 0.5 + 1.0 + 1.0 = 2.5 days handle time promised for a 2 day handle time
- If your store is closed (doesn't ship) over the weekend, then a Thursday order at 12:00pm (noon) PST with 2 day handle time will have a 4.5 day handle time promised with the last ship by date being on Monday.
Handling Time (actual)
This is calculated from the date and time the order is purchased to the date and time that you purchase the shipping label through Amazon Buy Shipping or input the tracking number into the system (if you bought your label off of Amazon).
Transit Time promised is presumably the average promised transit time for all orders, but Amazon cannot tell us how this is calculated. For example, mine is EXACTLY seven days. In my experience, this number is ALWAYS a whole number (7.0 not 6.9 or 7.1). Something is wrong here.
If you have your shipping setting set to 2 to 4 days transit, then when the system estimates the order delivery time there will be a range between two dates.
Example
- deliver by 9/10 to 9/14 (four days)
- deliver by 9/10 to 9/15 (5 days because a weekend day extended out day 4)
- deliver by 9/10 to 9/16 (6 days because a weekend day and a Monday holiday extended out day 4)
When the Amazon system calculates the promised transit time, it is an average of the range between 1st and last day of delivery promise time for all the orders during the reporting period. This will result in numbers that are not whole numbers.
Transit Time Actual is presumably the average transit time for all order in the 30 day time window, but Amazon cannot tell us how that is calculated. Is it from Ship Date? Is it from Carrier First scan?
Actual Transit Time is calculated from the date and time you purchase the shipping label (or input the tracking number if bought off Amazon) to the date and time the item is delivered.
On Time Delivery Rate (OTDR): You would think that this is the number of “late” orders divided by the orders within the evaluation period, but this is nearly impossible to calculate.
During the reporting period ... the number orders delivered on time minus ( - ) the number of orders that arrived late divided by ( / ) 100 = OTDR
For those following, OTDR protection is only available for orders with ...
- AHT turn on
- SSA turn on
- Standard Shipping orders ONLY
Economy, Expedited, 2 Day, 1 Day and Same Day orders are NOT covered under the OTDR protection.
1) You can lower your promised handing time.
- a. The easiest way to do this is to set your handling time to 1 day on Friday and 0 days on Saturday and then return it to 2 days on Sunday (or Monday if it is a holiday).
- b. Note: If you have 2 days as an option in your shipping settings, do NOT change this to one day. The option for 2 days will disappear.
To lower your Handle Time Gap, ship your orders on the last ship by date (it will take 30 days of doing this to see the gap drop).
2) You can raise your actual handling time.
- a. By purchasing your label with the buy date set to the maximum, it appears that you will be handling the package longer.
This method does not work. The calculation is done at the time the label is purchased even if you put a future date for shipping. Some sellers who were purchasing the label within 2 hours of the order coming down with the next day as the ship date had Handle Time Actual numbers of 0.2 days. If you have your handle time set to 2 or more days, this will mean you will always have a Handle Time Gap greater than 2.0 days.
Seller_r9wMm8LrE5iKj
Dollars to donuts there's not a single employee or manager at Amazon with this good of a macro view of the problem, and yet they continue to make account-ending decisions while stewing in their ignorance (and continue to use the word "Days" without any context and no clue as to just how stooopid-with-3-o's that is).
Thank you so much for putting this reference together. Hopefully someone at Amazon will actually internalize this document.
Seller_r9wMm8LrE5iKj
Dollars to donuts there's not a single employee or manager at Amazon with this good of a macro view of the problem, and yet they continue to make account-ending decisions while stewing in their ignorance (and continue to use the word "Days" without any context and no clue as to just how stooopid-with-3-o's that is).
Thank you so much for putting this reference together. Hopefully someone at Amazon will actually internalize this document.
Seller_IlwjJKqpD81nL
Thank you for all the thought you have put into this.
We are still trying to wrap our brains around the changes (aka being punished for shipping "too fast")
Do you have any suggestions for the best way to use the "order handling capacity" feature as well?
It sounds like the safest thing to do is to lowball what we're capable of doing every day... and then force ourselves to NEVER ship orders ahead of time? To NEVER ship orders before they are actually due?
This still just doesn't make any sense to us. This seems unnecessarily complex. It was so much easier to just give ourselves a little bit of padding with the handling time... and then just pick, pack, and ship as much as we could on a given day.
It is actually going to take more discipline and planning to intentionally slow down so that we don't lose our flexibility...
Seller_IlwjJKqpD81nL
Thank you for all the thought you have put into this.
We are still trying to wrap our brains around the changes (aka being punished for shipping "too fast")
Do you have any suggestions for the best way to use the "order handling capacity" feature as well?
It sounds like the safest thing to do is to lowball what we're capable of doing every day... and then force ourselves to NEVER ship orders ahead of time? To NEVER ship orders before they are actually due?
This still just doesn't make any sense to us. This seems unnecessarily complex. It was so much easier to just give ourselves a little bit of padding with the handling time... and then just pick, pack, and ship as much as we could on a given day.
It is actually going to take more discipline and planning to intentionally slow down so that we don't lose our flexibility...
Seller_Fjab9DiTv8G4R
Great post. You clearly put way more thought and effort into this new policy than Scamazon did.
Seller_Fjab9DiTv8G4R
Great post. You clearly put way more thought and effort into this new policy than Scamazon did.
Seller_8UYHnTIxJNqVK
So just so its clear, I still have the two day handling time, If I change it to the one day the two day will disappear and I will only have the one day handling time?
Seller_8UYHnTIxJNqVK
So just so its clear, I still have the two day handling time, If I change it to the one day the two day will disappear and I will only have the one day handling time?
Seller_1rABOZWHm00vi
Great write up. I noticed that you mentioned October 25th as the date that AHT is being forced on sellers with a handling gap >2 days (and linked to a moderator's post which says the same) but the original notification I got a few weeks ago says AHT will be forced on September 25th. Did they end up pushing that date back?
Seller_1rABOZWHm00vi
Great write up. I noticed that you mentioned October 25th as the date that AHT is being forced on sellers with a handling gap >2 days (and linked to a moderator's post which says the same) but the original notification I got a few weeks ago says AHT will be forced on September 25th. Did they end up pushing that date back?
Seller_ZDUFw1qRNIbgB
I would REALLY like to know what Amazon's reason is for:
A) taking away our 2 day handling time in shipping settings...how does this benefit the customer?
B) not giving us a 3-5 day transit time option or a 4-6 day option...how does this benefit the customer?
I
If it isn't to benefit the customer then the only reasonable explanation is that they intend to destroy every FBM sellers' business in order to get more sellers to pay crazy fees for warehouse space, etc....it seems to me they built too many warehouses and want to make their fortunes on renting that space out for a ridiculous price...
Amazon please prove me wrong and give us a legit reason as to how these changes benefit the consumer and that it's not just a systematic way to destroy our livelihood while keeping face with the public. We all know you want to be able to tell the American public that you are good for small business.
Seller_ZDUFw1qRNIbgB
I would REALLY like to know what Amazon's reason is for:
A) taking away our 2 day handling time in shipping settings...how does this benefit the customer?
B) not giving us a 3-5 day transit time option or a 4-6 day option...how does this benefit the customer?
I
If it isn't to benefit the customer then the only reasonable explanation is that they intend to destroy every FBM sellers' business in order to get more sellers to pay crazy fees for warehouse space, etc....it seems to me they built too many warehouses and want to make their fortunes on renting that space out for a ridiculous price...
Amazon please prove me wrong and give us a legit reason as to how these changes benefit the consumer and that it's not just a systematic way to destroy our livelihood while keeping face with the public. We all know you want to be able to tell the American public that you are good for small business.
Seller_0xdtD36hDLHBC
Thank you.
It is unclear if the post that I linked meant AHT will not be implemented for all sellers or sellers shipping from outside the US to the US.
The post says one thing, but it could be taken to apply to only those shipping from outside the US.
The mods have been kind of quiet about this since the July announcement.
@KJ_Amazoncare to chime in?
Seller_0xdtD36hDLHBC
Thank you.
It is unclear if the post that I linked meant AHT will not be implemented for all sellers or sellers shipping from outside the US to the US.
The post says one thing, but it could be taken to apply to only those shipping from outside the US.
The mods have been kind of quiet about this since the July announcement.
@KJ_Amazoncare to chime in?
Seller_RSMYvDoptcfRI
You said if the HT gap is less than 2 days, It was my understanding that the handling time gap had to be more than 2 days. Can someone shed some light on this please, before I really screw things up??
Seller_RSMYvDoptcfRI
You said if the HT gap is less than 2 days, It was my understanding that the handling time gap had to be more than 2 days. Can someone shed some light on this please, before I really screw things up??
Seller_LYYnVjweGTmby
I read somewhere that all OTDR bets are off if the seller ships Free Economy. Is that correct?
Seller_LYYnVjweGTmby
I read somewhere that all OTDR bets are off if the seller ships Free Economy. Is that correct?
Seller_EkbLZUYSpmJEy
No ... Sept 25, 2024 is for US sellers ... Oct 25, 2024 is for sellers outside of US shipping into US.
10) Nowhere
- a. Promised delivery date with extension (for orders that were not delivered late)
- b. Handling Time if using AHT
- c. Transit Time if using SSA
Both b & c can be determined by the order detail page.
Example:
- Order of 9/10 has ship by date of 9/11 = 1 day handle time
- Order of 9/10 has ship by date of 9/11 to 9/12 = 2 day handle time
Whether or not you have AHT turned on, this will always represent the handle time on the order.
As far as transit time …
- Order of 9/10 has ship by date of 9/11 has deliver by date of 9/14 = 3 day transit time
- Order of 9/10 has ship by date of 9/11 to 9/12 has deliver by date 9/14 to 9/16 = 3 day to 4 day transit time
Promise Time Gap should be the sum of the Handling Time Gap and the Transit Time Gap, but I have seen this vary. Mine is typically 0.1 days higher than the sum of these two figures.
Promised Time Gap = (Handle Time Promised + Transit Time Promised) - (Handle Time Actual + Transit Time Actual) ... If the system calculation returns 9.56 days, then the page will show 9.6 days whereas the inputs might be displayed as 2.3 days and 7.2 days ( a combined value of 9.5 days) but have actual calculated numbers of 2.34 days and 7.22 days (which wouldn't be rounded up on what is displayed but have a combined value of 9.56 days which would be rounded up on the display).
The same would explain you 0.1 day difference on the Promised Delivery Time.
Handling Time (actual) is presumably the average handling time for all orders in the 30-day time window, but Amazon cannot tell us how the handling time promised is calculated. My best guess this is the difference between the Order Paid Date and the Ship Date, but I could be wrong.
Handle Time starts the minute the order is placed so an item with 2 day handle time is calculated as follows:
- Order on 9/10 at 12:00pm (noon) PST has 0.5 days handle time for the 9/10
- 1st day of 2 day handle time on 9/11 has 1.0 days handle time for 9/11
- 2nd day of 2 day handle time on 9/12 has 1.0 days handle time for 9/12
- 0.5 + 1.0 + 1.0 = 2.5 days handle time promised for a 2 day handle time
- If your store is closed (doesn't ship) over the weekend, then a Thursday order at 12:00pm (noon) PST with 2 day handle time will have a 4.5 day handle time promised with the last ship by date being on Monday.
Handling Time (actual)
This is calculated from the date and time the order is purchased to the date and time that you purchase the shipping label through Amazon Buy Shipping or input the tracking number into the system (if you bought your label off of Amazon).
Transit Time promised is presumably the average promised transit time for all orders, but Amazon cannot tell us how this is calculated. For example, mine is EXACTLY seven days. In my experience, this number is ALWAYS a whole number (7.0 not 6.9 or 7.1). Something is wrong here.
If you have your shipping setting set to 2 to 4 days transit, then when the system estimates the order delivery time there will be a range between two dates.
Example
- deliver by 9/10 to 9/14 (four days)
- deliver by 9/10 to 9/15 (5 days because a weekend day extended out day 4)
- deliver by 9/10 to 9/16 (6 days because a weekend day and a Monday holiday extended out day 4)
When the Amazon system calculates the promised transit time, it is an average of the range between 1st and last day of delivery promise time for all the orders during the reporting period. This will result in numbers that are not whole numbers.
Transit Time Actual is presumably the average transit time for all order in the 30 day time window, but Amazon cannot tell us how that is calculated. Is it from Ship Date? Is it from Carrier First scan?
Actual Transit Time is calculated from the date and time you purchase the shipping label (or input the tracking number if bought off Amazon) to the date and time the item is delivered.
On Time Delivery Rate (OTDR): You would think that this is the number of “late” orders divided by the orders within the evaluation period, but this is nearly impossible to calculate.
During the reporting period ... the number orders delivered on time minus ( - ) the number of orders that arrived late divided by ( / ) 100 = OTDR
For those following, OTDR protection is only available for orders with ...
- AHT turn on
- SSA turn on
- Standard Shipping orders ONLY
Economy, Expedited, 2 Day, 1 Day and Same Day orders are NOT covered under the OTDR protection.
1) You can lower your promised handing time.
- a. The easiest way to do this is to set your handling time to 1 day on Friday and 0 days on Saturday and then return it to 2 days on Sunday (or Monday if it is a holiday).
- b. Note: If you have 2 days as an option in your shipping settings, do NOT change this to one day. The option for 2 days will disappear.
To lower your Handle Time Gap, ship your orders on the last ship by date (it will take 30 days of doing this to see the gap drop).
2) You can raise your actual handling time.
- a. By purchasing your label with the buy date set to the maximum, it appears that you will be handling the package longer.
This method does not work. The calculation is done at the time the label is purchased even if you put a future date for shipping. Some sellers who were purchasing the label within 2 hours of the order coming down with the next day as the ship date had Handle Time Actual numbers of 0.2 days. If you have your handle time set to 2 or more days, this will mean you will always have a Handle Time Gap greater than 2.0 days.
Seller_EkbLZUYSpmJEy
No ... Sept 25, 2024 is for US sellers ... Oct 25, 2024 is for sellers outside of US shipping into US.
10) Nowhere
- a. Promised delivery date with extension (for orders that were not delivered late)
- b. Handling Time if using AHT
- c. Transit Time if using SSA
Both b & c can be determined by the order detail page.
Example:
- Order of 9/10 has ship by date of 9/11 = 1 day handle time
- Order of 9/10 has ship by date of 9/11 to 9/12 = 2 day handle time
Whether or not you have AHT turned on, this will always represent the handle time on the order.
As far as transit time …
- Order of 9/10 has ship by date of 9/11 has deliver by date of 9/14 = 3 day transit time
- Order of 9/10 has ship by date of 9/11 to 9/12 has deliver by date 9/14 to 9/16 = 3 day to 4 day transit time
Promise Time Gap should be the sum of the Handling Time Gap and the Transit Time Gap, but I have seen this vary. Mine is typically 0.1 days higher than the sum of these two figures.
Promised Time Gap = (Handle Time Promised + Transit Time Promised) - (Handle Time Actual + Transit Time Actual) ... If the system calculation returns 9.56 days, then the page will show 9.6 days whereas the inputs might be displayed as 2.3 days and 7.2 days ( a combined value of 9.5 days) but have actual calculated numbers of 2.34 days and 7.22 days (which wouldn't be rounded up on what is displayed but have a combined value of 9.56 days which would be rounded up on the display).
The same would explain you 0.1 day difference on the Promised Delivery Time.
Handling Time (actual) is presumably the average handling time for all orders in the 30-day time window, but Amazon cannot tell us how the handling time promised is calculated. My best guess this is the difference between the Order Paid Date and the Ship Date, but I could be wrong.
Handle Time starts the minute the order is placed so an item with 2 day handle time is calculated as follows:
- Order on 9/10 at 12:00pm (noon) PST has 0.5 days handle time for the 9/10
- 1st day of 2 day handle time on 9/11 has 1.0 days handle time for 9/11
- 2nd day of 2 day handle time on 9/12 has 1.0 days handle time for 9/12
- 0.5 + 1.0 + 1.0 = 2.5 days handle time promised for a 2 day handle time
- If your store is closed (doesn't ship) over the weekend, then a Thursday order at 12:00pm (noon) PST with 2 day handle time will have a 4.5 day handle time promised with the last ship by date being on Monday.
Handling Time (actual)
This is calculated from the date and time the order is purchased to the date and time that you purchase the shipping label through Amazon Buy Shipping or input the tracking number into the system (if you bought your label off of Amazon).
Transit Time promised is presumably the average promised transit time for all orders, but Amazon cannot tell us how this is calculated. For example, mine is EXACTLY seven days. In my experience, this number is ALWAYS a whole number (7.0 not 6.9 or 7.1). Something is wrong here.
If you have your shipping setting set to 2 to 4 days transit, then when the system estimates the order delivery time there will be a range between two dates.
Example
- deliver by 9/10 to 9/14 (four days)
- deliver by 9/10 to 9/15 (5 days because a weekend day extended out day 4)
- deliver by 9/10 to 9/16 (6 days because a weekend day and a Monday holiday extended out day 4)
When the Amazon system calculates the promised transit time, it is an average of the range between 1st and last day of delivery promise time for all the orders during the reporting period. This will result in numbers that are not whole numbers.
Transit Time Actual is presumably the average transit time for all order in the 30 day time window, but Amazon cannot tell us how that is calculated. Is it from Ship Date? Is it from Carrier First scan?
Actual Transit Time is calculated from the date and time you purchase the shipping label (or input the tracking number if bought off Amazon) to the date and time the item is delivered.
On Time Delivery Rate (OTDR): You would think that this is the number of “late” orders divided by the orders within the evaluation period, but this is nearly impossible to calculate.
During the reporting period ... the number orders delivered on time minus ( - ) the number of orders that arrived late divided by ( / ) 100 = OTDR
For those following, OTDR protection is only available for orders with ...
- AHT turn on
- SSA turn on
- Standard Shipping orders ONLY
Economy, Expedited, 2 Day, 1 Day and Same Day orders are NOT covered under the OTDR protection.
1) You can lower your promised handing time.
- a. The easiest way to do this is to set your handling time to 1 day on Friday and 0 days on Saturday and then return it to 2 days on Sunday (or Monday if it is a holiday).
- b. Note: If you have 2 days as an option in your shipping settings, do NOT change this to one day. The option for 2 days will disappear.
To lower your Handle Time Gap, ship your orders on the last ship by date (it will take 30 days of doing this to see the gap drop).
2) You can raise your actual handling time.
- a. By purchasing your label with the buy date set to the maximum, it appears that you will be handling the package longer.
This method does not work. The calculation is done at the time the label is purchased even if you put a future date for shipping. Some sellers who were purchasing the label within 2 hours of the order coming down with the next day as the ship date had Handle Time Actual numbers of 0.2 days. If you have your handle time set to 2 or more days, this will mean you will always have a Handle Time Gap greater than 2.0 days.
