On June 29, handling time must match the seller’s actual settings. On July 6, the delivery speed threshold for Seller Fulfilled Prime will be fully raised. Starting September 30, if the business-day delivery rate is below 90%, products may be deactivated.

Within four months, three policies have panicked many Amazon sellers.

Handling time must “tell the truth”

Many veteran sellers are familiar with handling time.

Over the years, many “tricks” emerged. Some FBM sellers shortened handling time to show a prettier delivery date and boost conversion; others extended it—even if their warehouse could ship in a day—to buffer against order surges, logistics delays, or warehouse issues.

This tactic is now shut down by Amazon.

Amazon’s new self-fulfillment handling time rule takes effect on June 29, 2026. The core requirement: the SKU handling time set by sellers must continuously match the actual shipping speed (the real time from order generation to package handover), with no more artificially long “buffer times.”

In short, the handling time must match actual shipping speed.

What if sellers don’t adapt?

Starting September 1, Amazon will compare each SKU’s set handling time with its actual performance over the past 30 days. If the set handling time exceeds actual performance by more than one day for over 30 days, Amazon will automatically enable Automated Handling Time (AHT) for that SKU.

At that point, Amazon’s system forcibly takes over handling time. Chinese sellers now have two options:

First: proactively enable AHT. It automatically sets reasonable handling times per SKU based on your 30-day shipping history, adapting to your rhythm, showing shorter delivery times for higher conversion, and offering late shipment rate protection.

Second: continue manual settings with high accuracy. The gap between configured and actual handling time must be less than one day. If flagged as abnormal, you have 30 days to fix it; otherwise, forced takeover.

Many sellers believe enabling AHT proactively is the easier choice.

Not just handling time,

SFP delivery speed must also increase

Amazon announced: starting September 30, 2026, sellers must maintain at least 90% business-day delivery rate. Amazon will notify and provide improvement suggestions. If not improved by October 30, the seller’s self-fulfilled products may be deactivated for Amazon Business customers.

For Chinese sellers, the most direct impact: product models relying on direct shipping from China, sacrificing timeliness for low logistics costs, will be eliminated first. The old “ultra-low price + ultra-long delivery” strategy faces deactivation under the new rules.

Also, the Seller Fulfilled Prime (SFP) update effective July 6 sets new standards across three product categories:

Standard-size products: 1-day delivery page view share from 30% to 40%, 2-day from 70% to 75%;

Large products: 1-day from 10% to 15%;

Extra-large products: 2-day from 15% to 25%.

Failure to meet these thresholds risks losing the Prime badge.

Good news: Amazon is developing a “Custom Delivery Settings” tool, expected to launch in September. It allows sellers to set shipping timeliness, weekend shipping capability, and cutoff times by delivery zip code. Also, recognizing the difficulty of weekend fulfillment before the tool launches, Amazon provides a grace period: until October 17, 2026, weekend orders won’t count toward delivery speed metrics. But note: not counting does not mean you can skip fulfillment; weekend orders must still ship.

FBM was once a “low-cost alternative”; now that advantage is rapidly fading. Chinese sellers must either upgrade overseas warehouse fulfillment capabilities to meet the new standards, or scale back FBM and shift focus to FBA or other channels.

Of course, higher standards also cleanse the competitive landscape. Sellers lacking overseas warehouse capability, barely maintaining SFP eligibility with low-cost shipping, will be forced out, while those who remain will face a market with diluted competition.