Amazon’s new FBM handling time requirement: what it means for sellers

Amazon is tightening the screws on seller-fulfilled operations, and most FBM sellers are not ready.

What changed

Starting June 29, 2026, every seller-fulfilled SKU must have accurate SKU-level handling time settings. You can either enable Automated Handling Time or set it manually per SKU. If you do neither, Amazon assigns one based on your recent shipping history. Source: Nova Analytics

What actually changed

This is not a fee. It is a delivery promise tightening. Amazon’s automation will look at your last 90 days of confirmed handling times and set a promised delivery date closer to your best case, not your average. That sounds good until peak season hits or a supplier delays.

For you, this means tighter promised delivery dates on SKUs you may not have optimised for speed. A product that normally ships in 2 days but occasionally takes 3 will get a 1-day promise. Miss it, and your Late Shipment Rate climbs. A-to-z claims follow. Account health drifts.

What it means for UK sellers

The policy applies to all seller-fulfilled sellers on Amazon.co.uk. If you run FBM alongside FBA, or if FBM is your primary fulfilment method, you need to act before June 29.

Pull your active FBM SKUs this week and segment them by what actually drives shipping time: same-day pick-and-pack, bundled items, fragile goods, third-party warehoused stock.
Audit your p95 handling time on each segment (not the average). If you enable Automated Handling Time, Amazon will use this data to set your promised delivery date.
If you enable Automated Handling Time, watch your Late Shipment Rate daily for the first 30 days. Any drift above 4% means the automation set the promise too tight.
If you cannot ship consistently fast, set manual handling time conservatively and accept lower conversion. Do not let Amazon’s automation set a promise you cannot keep.

What to do

Run your handling time audit before June 29. Segment your catalogue by prep profile. For high-velocity SKUs with stable same-day or next-day shipping history, Automated Handling Time is the right call. For fragile, bundled, kitted, or third-party-warehoused SKUs, set manual handling time based on your realistic capacity, not your best case.

Set a Late Shipment Rate alert from June 29 and watch it daily for the first month. Any drift above 4% is an early signal that an automated handling time was set too tight on a segment.

My view

Amazon is nudging FBM sellers toward either faster operations or FBA. The handling time rule is the upstream lever. If you cannot ship consistently fast, you have two choices: invest in faster operations, or accept that your conversion will be lower than sellers who can promise next-day delivery.

The mistake most sellers make is letting Amazon’s automation set a promise they cannot keep. That costs more in A-to-z claims and account health damage than a slightly lower conversion rate ever would.