Overview

Amazon is encouraging merchant-fulfilled (MFN/FBM) sellers to switch their default handling time from two days to one day. This simple settings change can shorten your customer delivery promise, make your offers more competitive in the Buy Box, and improve your account health metrics. Here's everything you need to know about making the switch and managing exceptions.

Why Handling Time Matters for Your Business

Handling time is one of the core components that determines your customer delivery promise — the estimated delivery date range that shoppers see when browsing your listings. Amazon calculates this promise using three factors: your handling time (how long you need to prepare and ship an order), carrier transit time (how long the package takes to arrive), and occasional buffer days to account for weather or carrier delays.

When customers compare two identically priced offers, they overwhelmingly choose the one with the shorter delivery window. A longer-than-necessary handling time directly translates to a less competitive delivery promise, which means fewer conversions and lost sales. Late deliveries also negatively impact your account health, so getting this setting right has consequences beyond just visibility.

The Handling Time Gap Most Sellers Don't Realize They Have

According to Amazon's own research, merchant-fulfilled sellers in the United States overestimate their required handling time for domestic orders by an average of 53 percent. That's a significant gap between how long sellers say they need and how long they actually take to prepare shipments.

When you first created your seller account, Amazon set your default handling time to two business days. Many sellers never revisit this setting, even though their actual fulfillment workflow is considerably faster. If you're consistently getting orders packed and handed off to your carrier within a single business day, you're leaving competitiveness on the table by keeping the two-day default.

It's worth noting that a one-day handling time does not mean same-day shipping. It means the order will be prepared and shipped by the end of the next business day after the order is placed. For most established sellers with streamlined pick-and-pack operations, this is a realistic and achievable target.

How to Change Your Default Handling Time