mainly to use the SFP only on certain things.
Is your SFP still active? If so, how do your metrics look?
Hell no. That is not the kind of stress I need in my life. I only used it when we had the 4 day S&L loophole. I shut it off immediately when they clamped down on the SFP rules.
I only used it when we had the 4 day S&L loophole.
And that was the one case where the template was different. Small and Light had itās own. So you know what Iām talking about when I say the Wed - Sat thing that basically let you turn 2-day Prime into 4-day Prime. Iām so surprised that Amazon didnāt like us doing that!
Wellā¦wellā¦I never did or do SFP though I think I still have the option to do that enabled because at one point like in my last lifetime, I qualified. Nope, no thank you. I donāt do anything beyond the basics ā for a short time FBA, but even stopped that.
The only thing I do is free shipping. And I was using the STANDARD template to make that happen. Then Iād see a order to āOregonā or WA or CA where I shipped on Monday from Alabama and I couldnāt buy first class. This led me to learn that in the other template I get more time. I just never filled it out or activated it. (Sometimes I think it wasnāt there but I am probably wrong about that.)
Standard
Itās just meā¦nowā¦Mom used to help with the sewing, but not anymore. So I have to keep my handling time to about 4 days right now for everything ā even pull off the shelf marketplace items ā so that I donāt trip myself up.
I felt like FBA was just as much work ā and that long term storage fee really irritated me.
And I agree ā Handmade where shipping is concerned is not really different from Marketplace items. Weāre different for customizatons/personalizations and in how our listings look. Over time, at first, we couldnāt use spreadsheetsā¦now we can. I can also create a handmade listing like boom with no UPC code.
And I was using the STANDARD template to make that happen. Then Iād see a order to āOregonā or WA or CA where I shipped on Monday from Alabama and I couldnāt buy first class.
Hereās a tip for how to make that happen if you donāt want to use the free economy option for everyone. You can get what youāre after, all within the āStandardā section of the template.
First, click Edit here and uncheck the states you want to have longer transit times.
Once you remove them, Amazon will give you this warning. Ignore it.
Then, click here and add the states you just removed. Theyāll be highlighted in red. Iām using Washington and California for this example.
Once you save, youāll see those states as a separate āgroupā, so you can assign it its own transit time.
Itās fine to have everyone have the same delivery time, so free economy works great, but just in case you want to offer shorter/longer delivery times based on the buyerās location, this is how you can do it.
Same here. I canāt worry about switching shipping for different days of the week. I want as few administrative somersaults as possible.
My packages are 1-3 ounces. I ship 1st class USPS only. I list 2-day production time on everything but usually mail within 24 hours. Iām not high volume, but once or twice a month Amazon shipping wonāt offer 1st class so I use Shipstation. Annoying because I print labels soon after getting the order, and should be able to buy 1st class. Also annoying is that I get regular emails from Amazon suggesting that I shorten my production time. (Why? so no labels would be offered 1st class?) Whatever. My shipping metric is 100% on time so Iām happy.
Depends on the IQ of your buyers, Whether they know their own addresses is an issue.
The big risk, I did not see addressed on this thread, is Address Correction Fees. A buyer address which is deemed incorrect is charged $19.50 assuming the correction does not require other adjustments.
When we had daily pickup, a phone call got incorrect fees reversed, If you buy through Amazon, you do not exist and reversals are unlikely.
If you use UPS address verification before you ship, there is no way to correct the address without failing to delivery to the address on the order.
You may see this fee if your buyer calls UPS to redirect a shipment. Yes, a buyer can redirect a shipment.
Yes. I went to the UPS hub and watched them manhandle the packages. The guy at the desk said they were told to drop packages that were too heavy to save their backs. They drop them on purpose, basically. My boxes are small and I donāt want to worry about them surviving the journey against large packages being dropped on them. USPS tends to deal in smaller packages and I trust them more.
That, plus I have dealt with USPS insurance and it was a breeze compared to dealing with UPS insurance, so thereās that.
When thereās a choice, I choose USPS, unless the difference in price is significant.
I have to come back here because twice now I had DHL given to me as my only option to ship to Cananda. First time was OK, fine, let me find DHL and the only one was 30 miles away. Package sent.
Today we get the same person ordering and DHL was the only choice (from AL to Canada). First off, she didnāt pay enough in shipping even though for international orders she should have.
Second, DHL drop off closed at 12 noon today, so we canāt ship it.
Iām of course done. WTF?
Going through my shipping settings, I donāt even see that anymore. I would have never choses DHL. I really prefer USPS, period.
Is there a way to set that? I really donāt even want to go UPS.
I looked in my shipping templates and they are set correctly (I think of course). Should I open a case with Amazon and ask WHY the customer didnāt get charged enough? And how can I turn off DHL since the local office is unreliable, and the next closest is 60 miles away (in Birmingham?)
We had one where only UPS or FedEx was allowed ā¦ no USPS. We went to the USPS site and got the label no problem. Then we posted on NSFE with images showing the issue. Amazon was seeing the address as not deliverable so no USPS. KJ_Amazon said to open a case to investigate why the address wasnāt in their system ā¦ so ā¦
Yes
Amazon has too many changes going on with Seller Central to be on top of any of it.
Chatting about DHL and getting them removed now.
Saying I canāt remove completely, and that I should call DHL and have them pick up. Doesnāt that cost money too?
With a DHL account, we think you could get a pick up for free (at least that is what a search gives back as an answer). The problem with that is will it ship on time?
I have had problems with only being offered expensive shipping options for books sold on Amazon, often to places where the USPS does not deliver, mostly in tony communities in California.
Sometimes, I ship. Other times I refuse the order with: Address Undeliverable. I will take the metrics hit to not lose money.
I do not offer out of USA shipping on Amazon, but do so on the other venues, where it is possible to request extra shipping, as needed, or offer to send the book to someone in the US who can hand-deliver it to the buyer abroad.
I ran into those tiny California communities and the three I encountered all have P.O. Boxes at a local post office. They do not have mail carriers and the people know this. I had one get mad because I tracked her downā¦ooopsā¦but OH well (that was when I cared too much and wanted to do right by them).
Now I hesitateā¦people donāt want to be helped.
Sadly, thereās an increasingly-abundant body of evidence to support such a dismal conclusion regarding how the average consumer views contacts with providers of goods & services.
Sadder still, Amazonās rise to eCommerce dominance, combined with its āCustomer-Centricā & āEverything Storeā philosophies, arguably has done much - mayhaps as much as any other single factor over the last Ā¼-century - to exacerbate the ever-troubling situation of folks failing to embrace personal responsibility.
I posed a question to the bots yesterday, and the answer was Go to this page > and do abcd.
Unfortunately the link to this page was Page Not Found.
Even the bots canāt keep up with all the changes.
Amazon DOES NOT OFFER First Class Mail in Letters or Flats, nor does Veeqo
So I find this thread Title to be confusing as it started in 3 years ago in Februaly 2023 and resurrected in March 2026
Further, I suspect that few here actually ship First-Class mail anymore, but instead Ground Advantage
Might want to start a new Thread, with a fresh title.