Overview

Handling time is a critical component of the delivery date that Amazon displays to customers on product listings and at checkout. It represents the window between when a buyer places an order and when the seller hands the package off to a shipping carrier. Getting this setting right directly impacts your delivery promises, buy box competitiveness, and account health metrics.

Key Points / What Sellers Need to Know

• Handling time affects delivery estimates — Amazon calculates estimated delivery dates using two components: handling time (your preparation and ship time) and transit time (carrier delivery time). Inaccurate handling times lead to either missed delivery promises or unnecessarily long estimates that drive buyers away.
• Four configuration methods exist — Sellers can use automated handling time, SKU-specific handling time, default handling time, or pallet-specific handling time. Each method serves different operational needs and follows a specific override hierarchy.
• Automated handling time now overrides manual settings — Amazon's automated system uses your actual shipping history to set handling times per SKU, and as of September 2024, sellers with a handling time gap of two or more days will have it automatically enabled with no option to turn it off.
• Account health protection is tied to automated handling time — Using automated handling time protects sellers from late shipment rate and on-time delivery rate penalties, but opting out of it for specific SKUs removes that protection.
• Handling time reports are available for download — Sellers can review handling time settings across all SKUs by downloading the handling time report from the SKU-level shipping preferences page in Seller Central.

How the Override Hierarchy Works

Amazon applies handling time settings in a specific priority order that every seller should understand. Automated handling time sits at the top of the hierarchy and overrides both SKU-specific and default handling times in most cases. The main exceptions are when a SKU lacks sufficient shipping history or when Amazon has approved a manual override exception. When automated handling time is active, it still respects any SKU-specific handling time you have set for new products until enough shipping data has been collected. Pallet delivery handling time is additive — it layers on top of your standard handling time whenever a customer selects the pallet delivery option at checkout.