Here is a good reference on the NSFE to add to the valuable information provided by @Lost_My_Marbles 
https://sellercentral.amazon.com/seller-forums/discussions/t/be8e1f89-10d7-47b9-86ea-f89692b62cf1
There are a some items referenced that are not quiet accurate.
Example … he states that, if you use AHT and/or SSA, AHT and/or SSA for an order is not shown anywhere. It is not stated as a number but can be figured out from the info on the order detail page.
Order of 9/10 has ship by date of 9/11 = 1 day handle time
Order of 9/10 has ship by date of 9/11 to 9/12 = 2 day handle time
Whether or not you have AHT turned on, this will always represent the handle time on the order.
As far as transit time …
Order of 9/10 has ship by date of 9/11 has deliver by date of 9/14 = 3 day transit time
Order of 9/10 has ship by date of 9/11 to 9/12 has deliver by date 9/14 to 9/16 = 3 day to 4 day transit time
- Handling Time: Found on General Shipping Settings or on Edit Listing page Offer Tab. It is set for an individual SKU or nowhere if using Automatic Handling Time (AHT)
AHT is set to what the system has seen as the average HT of the item from past data unless 1) same day shipping is selected on the SSA template or 2) there is no data in which it uses the item level HT or, if item level is missing, then uses 1 day HT.
You can raise your actual handling time.
a. By purchasing your label with the buy date set to the maximum, it appears that you will be handling the package longer.
b. Alternately, you can buy your labels as the very last step before you ship.
This (the “a” bullet above) has been proven as not true by various members right here on SAS. The moment you purchase your label is the time the clock stops for handle time. It doesn’t matter if you selected a future date for shipping … the moment the label is purchased is the moment the handle time clock stops.
It is a good general line out of items, but there are some things that are wrong or he doesn’t understand like how Handle Time Promised is 2.8 days when your handle time is set to 2 days (we have established how this happens here on SAS).
Read but be careful and we suggest referring back to SAS to be safe.
@Lost_My_Marbles Sorry for so many questions but another just popped up.
My OTDR is currently at 98.78% so I’m not worried but thought I’ll take a look at the report just to see what they were…
I have 4 of UPS 2nd day and 1 UPS Next day saver. geez… ok, none of these buyers complained but I started to wonder, if they are not protected, then shouldn’t they also be excluded from OTDR? Visa versa, if it is not excluded from OTDR, then it should be protected.
I looked into the next day saver tracking and it says - “A late flight has caused a delay. Your package will be delayed by one business day.”
Even though I don’t use SSA or AHT, shouldn’t this be excluded from OTDR?
No
You are confusing OTDR protection with just OTDR.
UPS 2nd day and UPS Next day are premium services and therefore have NO … OTDR protection.
If ANY order is delivered late (doesn’t matter the shipping services type), then that order is considered delivered late and counts against your OTDR.
Only the orders shipped Standard Shipping when you have AHT and SSA turned on AND have used Amazon Buy Shipping to purchase the label are covered for OTDR protection.
There are no exemptions or get out of jail cards for OTDR (with the exception of Amazon granting a natural disaster and/or weather exemption) for a general carrier delayed package.
Got it, so unless natural disaster/weather related, no whatsoever protection.
Thanks again!
Question for you all.
Sorry I am guilty of not looking through the entire thread. We are just buckling down on shipping slow to delight the Amazon Customer.
When our shipments call for a two day window defined to ship, let’s say Monday - Tuesday… Is it harmful to ship on Monday? Creating a position where we would be forced into SSA?
What’s your gap right now? I am shipping on the first day we are “allowed” to ship, but it took me quite a few weeks to lower my gap. At this late date, I would buy the label as late as possible if your gap is above the limit because we are very close to the cutoff date (September 15?) for the final calculations that will force us to AHT.
It’s still my understanding that September 25th is the currently-proposed cut-off date for domestic 3P Sellers, and October 25th is the cut-off date for foreign 3P Sellers.
They are always vague, but I believe September 25 is when they decide whether they force you to AHT. However, the dates they use for the calculations always lag about 2 weeks. So, if it’s September 25, they won’t be calculating from August 25 to September 25. It will be more like August 15 to September 15.
Handling time gap
You handed off packages to carriers on average 1.5 days before your promised handling time.
Handling time (promise):
3.7 days
Handling time (actual):
2.2 days
Transit time gap
Your carriers delivered packages on average 2.0 days before your promised transit time.
Transit time (promise):
5.5 days
Transit time (actual):
3.5 days
Thanks for your help, we are still working on a big “local customer” I have not had much time to review this or decode it.
Are these numbers over or under the limit?
That asked, we only changed to the first requested day shipping two days ago. Rather than waiting till the last day. This is so insane, no one is being delighted.
That’s awesome. The email said they were only looking at handling time gap, which cannot be greater than 2 days.
@Amazon_Seller is correct and what we had stated way back when this all started.
You should be ok as this is the number that needs to be under 2.0 days.
So we opted into SSA last week and already are in AHT…honestly, this hasn’t been an issue so far.
We use USPS Ground Advantage like 99% of the time. However, when we switched over to AHT…it definitely increased the amount of packages having to go UPS/Fedex since GA would not meet deadlines. When we enabled SSA last week…it seems to have made everything ship-able by GA again with a rare exception.
If the SSA template is set up correctly for USPS GA, you should be able to get 100% USPS GA availability.
With AHT, are you getting just 1 day handle time or are you seeing 2 day handle time (if you had that before)?
https://test.sellersasksellers.com/t/no-longer-able-to-disable-automated-handling-time/4451/408?u=lost_my_marbles
https://test.sellersasksellers.com/t/no-longer-able-to-disable-automated-handling-time/4451/409?u=lost_my_marbles
So we did a post on the NSFE thread to clear up some of the items for the OP …
Our Reply to Everything that I know about OTDR, Shipping, and Dates on Amazon
And mod Christine_Amazon replied to our post with this …
We guess our corrections / answers to the OP were to much and Christine_Amazon felt the need to put a kinder gentler feel good post to the OP …
We are getting some 1 day, some 2 day and even some 3 day handling times at this point (even though we were 2 day handling on everything pre AHT).
If you need 2 days on something that is coming in as 1 day, ship it as two days. Amazon system is suppose to recalculate and should show 2 days later on as the average for that item adjusts in their system. As far as the LSR (Late Shipment Rate), you won’t have to worry as LSR with AHT turned on is not held against you nor will they suppress the item because of the LSR.
Also note that an item with a 5 day handling time will adjust down if you ship it early.
This page may help you know how Amazon views each of your items handle time and what to expect … Manage seller-fulfilled products
Unless you enable AHT, we encourage you to monitor and update your handling time configuration accordingly. Setting accurate handling times will change the delivery dates that customers see, and more accurate handling times are typically shorter, which results in more sales. To view the recommended handling times on Seller Central, follow these steps:
- On Seller Central, go to Inventory, and then click Manage seller-fulfilled products.
- Select the Handling time settings tab to view all the products that have recommended handling times.
- Check back regularly to view updated handling time recommendations.
Checking in with NFSE, and it seems like some people with a gap of less than 2 days are being converted to AHT. Anyone here have that problem yet? My gap is 1 day, and cross my fingers, I haven’t been converted.
my gap is 1.4 days, not yet converted to AHT as of today BUT did receive the auto-conversion message 2 days ago saying will convert on Oct-8.
this is the same message I received before, regular routine force of AHT, I removed it 2 times already.
So, already marked my calendar : Oct-8 : remove AHT