question on Handling time gap and aht
i don't really understand all this stuff. I am classified as having learning disabilities so please forgive me. So I am no longer able to ship orders out early and what not? Some inventory is set to 2 days because it's in storage etc.
Most of my inventory is set to 0 days handling and I ship everything around 5pm and that's what my cutoff time is then it starts rolling to the next day. So if it's Monday, and something comes in at night for Tuesday shipping, I should no longer ship it Monday like I normally do?
The handling time is calculated from the order date to shipping the order, not the first carrier scan correct?
My gap is now 2.0 because I was busy for a few weeks so I added some extra handling days so I wouldn't have drop off every day and now that is coming back to bite me. I have to get it down slightly and hope I don't go over the delivery promise..
question on Handling time gap and aht
i don't really understand all this stuff. I am classified as having learning disabilities so please forgive me. So I am no longer able to ship orders out early and what not? Some inventory is set to 2 days because it's in storage etc.
Most of my inventory is set to 0 days handling and I ship everything around 5pm and that's what my cutoff time is then it starts rolling to the next day. So if it's Monday, and something comes in at night for Tuesday shipping, I should no longer ship it Monday like I normally do?
The handling time is calculated from the order date to shipping the order, not the first carrier scan correct?
My gap is now 2.0 because I was busy for a few weeks so I added some extra handling days so I wouldn't have drop off every day and now that is coming back to bite me. I have to get it down slightly and hope I don't go over the delivery promise..
18 respostas
Seller_kIukTwdhvntAp
"My gap is now 2.0 because I was busy for a few weeks so I added some extra handling days so I wouldn't have drop off every day "
You seem to be going in the exact opposite direction from what is needed.
Shorten the handling days to what you feel comfortable with. THEN ship on the LAST DAY that you can to not be late.
What Amazon is doing is hurting the BUYERS. When they announced this I had a "gap" of about 1.8 or 1.9 so I was 'safe' from their interference but it was too close for comfort. I am now at "0.4" for the gap. How did I do that?
I now ship at the last point possible. I have a 2 day handling period. Orders received today do not have to ship until TUESDAY. It has been that way forever BUT I used to ship them either this afternoon (if I had time) or I shipped them on Saturday. NOW they will ship on Tuesday!
My orders for eBay and other sites that I sell on will ship on Saturday and THOSE buyers will be "pleased".
Amazon buyers get slower deliveries because AMAZON wants to screw with my life!
Seller_nRFmxiQg4EGrw
I'll add to the excellent advice already given: Amazon measures by when you CREATE the label. So if you get an order on Friday, pack everything up by the end of the day, but don't actually hand it to the carrier until Tuesday, to Amazon, it's still "Same Day Shipping" and they will expect you to do that all of the time.
And to the OP, don't feel bad about not understanding it. On another forum, there have been dozens of discussions trying to figure it out; I'm not 100% sure that it is fully understood by anyone (including those at Amazon).
Note also that it may be too late to do anything. The Gap is figured on a rolling basis, and is by Deliver By date + x number of days (I think 12, but not sure). So for some orders, it can be almost a month before a change starts showing up. Anything you do now will not affect the gap by the 25th. Hopefully, the AHT will not be the disaster that many fear it will be.
Seller_2ocdeVST6pSqj
Who knows! Other threads are saying the opposite of what your saying,,,it counts when it ships not when the label is purchased...Amazon has not clarified anything, not in English anyway. All of this is designed for failure. None of it makes sense, none of it is realistic, your beeped if you do beeped if you don't. Its just a way to get rid of all third party sellers, pretty soon it will be FBA only or your out, so I hope everyone here has an exit plan. Will just be fortunate if we can make it through the holiday season because the treatment of businesses on here is inexcusable. This whole gap nonsense was cooked up in other lands by a bunch of geeks who know nothing about running a business or shipping.
Seller_kIukTwdhvntAp
"This whole gap nonsense was cooked up in other lands by a bunch of geeks who know nothing about running a business or shipping. "
I would normally agree with you on this, but in this case an actual GOOD business reason can be seen for taking actions FOR sellers that are doing better than anticipated.
The FAILURE is one that is a typical Amazon issue. THEY think they are REWARDING sellers that are at that "2"+ level by placing us in AHT because (in theory) it should result in more orders, thus more business for those more efficient sellers that get things to buyers faster.
Where they have gone off the rails is by believing that making us use AHT and Buy Shipping they are REWARDING us, when, in fact, as an independent business owner AND a one man shop, it is NOT a reward, it is a PENALTY.
I do not want them exercising even more control over how I take care of MY business. I have spent the past 20+ years on eBay and now (about) 15 years on Amazon trying to get sales while minimizing stress levels. AMAZON wants to increase their control and thus increase the stress by REWARDING me with controls and penalties!
It's NOT that the creators of this policy change don't know anything about business, it's that they think ALL businesses are just cookie cutter versions of their warehouses and shipping centers.
Those monstrosities are automated and run by managers that have unlimited staffing (they think) as well as the advantages of unlimited budgets. Even then they can't meet their targets for shipping in many cases. But WE are expected to!
The result so far has been that I have cut my "gap" from about 1.8 down to 0.4 days and now buyers are STILL getting items about 6 days sooner than expected. Of course, before I started my work slow down, they were getting them almost 9 days early. GOOD JOB AMAZON!
Seller_TD8kClMwLYBMd
yes I do believe the motive in all this is to get all sellers FBA and all members paying $200 a year for prime. For what? Lol. there might be as many Amazon Warehouses near me as there are planet fitness. I don't blame them, I mean if I were CEO I would be doing everything I could do to build on Amazon. The problem is too many sellers are weak and just cave in:(
At least for me, it wouldn't be a complete disaster. It seems like you would still be able to slightly manipulate things to push the handling time out, but for some it could be detrimental. It's ashame Amazon is doing this. This is definitely equivalent to mobs and coerce. Isn't this what they said about Diddy? Him coercing people by drugs, violence and threats? Why are we not going after Amazon. That would be a bigger PR for the AGs. Probably a bigger pay day too.
Seller_kIukTwdhvntAp
",it counts when it ships not when the label is purchased."
It will depend on who is looking at the numbers and if they use Amazon Buy Shipping or not. If a seller uses Buy Shipping (affectionately abbreviated as BS) the info is entered at the time of purchase for the "GAP".
I do NOT since I use Stamps/Dazzle/Endicia for ALL my shipping and you can see the results from changing nothing other than shipping and manually entering the tracking numbers on the last possible day.
By doing that my 'gap' has dropped from about 1.8 all the way down to 0.4 since I started my delays.
Nothing changed other than holding shipments back. Only the buyers have been inconvenienced. The PLUS for me is that I can now look ahead TWO DAYS at orders that need shipping. I already know how many I have to ship on Monday. It used to be that I had to sweat out how many orders came in Sunday night to see how much work I had to do Monday, Now Tuesday is the busy day and I have all weekend to prepare!
Seller_nRFmxiQg4EGrw
I would argue that while they may have college level "book" knowledge of business, they don't have knowledge of how things REALLY work, at least not outside the big corporate machine.
If it doesn't fit what's in the book, they have no clue. (of course, I realize that we agree on this, just wording it differently).
Hmmph. I've gotten mind down to 0.2! Which means that Amazon now has me bragging that I've giving even poorer customer service than you are! ;-)
(and frankly, I need the buffer; having company next week, and won't be so flexible).
Seller_a3dZIXYofzccZ
I'm confused. Are sellers punished for shipping earlier than the "ship by" date?
