Automated Handling Time Conflicts With Made-to-Order Batch Workflow – Advice?
Hi everyone,
I’m a small business owner selling 3D printed tabletop miniatures made to order across multiple platforms (Etsy, eBay, Shopify), but I’m running into a persistent issue on Amazon due to its Automated Handling Time (AHT) system.
To be clear, I produce my miniatures in batches, so printing and fulfillment efficiency is not the problem. I have nearly 2,000 listing variations on Amazon, and while some items are simple and can be shipped within 2 days, I choose to list most with a 5 to 8 day handling time. That time frame isn’t random, it reflects the full made-to-order process (printing, cleaning, curing, inspection) and also accounts for the reality that I have a full-time job and two kids. This is the schedule that ensures consistent, quality fulfillment without overpromising.
The issue is that Amazon overrides these settings with automated expectations based on past shipments, and then applies those assumptions across all SKUs. This forced AHT creates an unrealistic expectation for items that legitimately need longer processing. If I don’t adhere to the AHT Amazon assigns, my on-time delivery rate suffers, even when I'm actually shipping within the timeline I originally set and communicated.
I use ShipStation to manage orders across platforms, but Amazon is the only channel where these forced ship-by and deliver-by dates have become a real problem. Other platforms respect the handling time I set and don’t penalize me for operating on a flexible, batch-based schedule.
Is anyone else dealing with this? Has anyone found a way to work around or better manage AHT when running a made-to-order operation with varied processing times?
Appreciate any advice or shared experience.
Thanks,
Greg
Automated Handling Time Conflicts With Made-to-Order Batch Workflow – Advice?
Hi everyone,
I’m a small business owner selling 3D printed tabletop miniatures made to order across multiple platforms (Etsy, eBay, Shopify), but I’m running into a persistent issue on Amazon due to its Automated Handling Time (AHT) system.
To be clear, I produce my miniatures in batches, so printing and fulfillment efficiency is not the problem. I have nearly 2,000 listing variations on Amazon, and while some items are simple and can be shipped within 2 days, I choose to list most with a 5 to 8 day handling time. That time frame isn’t random, it reflects the full made-to-order process (printing, cleaning, curing, inspection) and also accounts for the reality that I have a full-time job and two kids. This is the schedule that ensures consistent, quality fulfillment without overpromising.
The issue is that Amazon overrides these settings with automated expectations based on past shipments, and then applies those assumptions across all SKUs. This forced AHT creates an unrealistic expectation for items that legitimately need longer processing. If I don’t adhere to the AHT Amazon assigns, my on-time delivery rate suffers, even when I'm actually shipping within the timeline I originally set and communicated.
I use ShipStation to manage orders across platforms, but Amazon is the only channel where these forced ship-by and deliver-by dates have become a real problem. Other platforms respect the handling time I set and don’t penalize me for operating on a flexible, batch-based schedule.
Is anyone else dealing with this? Has anyone found a way to work around or better manage AHT when running a made-to-order operation with varied processing times?
Appreciate any advice or shared experience.
Thanks,
Greg
0 yanıt
Glenn_Amazon
Hi there @Seller_urLooTSkpRRXp,
At this time the only way to request an exemption to Automatic Handling Time is to reach out to Seller Support:
For certain product types, such as custom, heavy and bulky, handmade, perishable, or media SKUs, you can request an exception to manually set a SKU-specific handling time that will override what AHT has configured. To request an exception of your handling time, please contact Selling Partner Support and ask them to create a ticket for you to have a handling time exception. We recommend doing this for SKUs where your handling time may be very unpredictable and using your history may be inaccurate.
In general Automated handling time exists to reduce unnecessarily long handling times (known as a handling time gap) that make your delivery dates less appealing to customers however there are paths to request exemptions. Feel free to reach out to Seller Support for further information.
Thank you for your understanding.
-Glenn
Seller_trhxW5oqqwtaJ
We're having the same issue.
We've turned it off in each shipping profile but its still causing us problems as it changed all our handling times and some have remained at the unrealistic 0 days. Out late dispatch rate has got worse and worse over the last month and we were suspended yesterday. I've been try to get amazon to help for over a month now and they dont care and it look like after 10 years of being good sellers on amazon we will get permanently banned in the next while as we cant fix it.
