From the 2nd of March, Amazon are due to update the delivery promises that they make to customers on your behalf. In some cases you’ll get more time to ship, but in many you’ll be expected to ship faster.
Craig from Bedrooms Plus Ltd shared an email with further information which states: “We are writing to inform you that from March 2, 2015, shipping transit times will be updated for professional sellers in all categories. To provide improved accuracy in estimated delivery times for buyers, Amazon is adjusting estimates to match the average transit times of the major shipping carriers in the UK for domestic and international deliveries. Shipping transit times can vary for BMVD (Books, Music, Video and DVD) and non-BMVD products“.
You’ll want to check that your carrier arrangements fit with Amazon’s new stipulations, although the good news is that they should increase sales in those instances where transit times have been reduced (for instance promising standard delivery in the UK in anything up to 12 days is way outside the norms for 2015 and the new 5 day delivery much more realistic).
New Amazon transit times from 2nd March 2015
Shipping transit times for Books, Music, Video and DVD shipments |
||
|---|---|---|
| Delivery from UK to | Current shipping transit time | New shipping transit time |
| UK Street (UK excluding BFPO) Expedited Shipping | ||
| UK Street (UK excluding BFPO) Standard Shipping | ||
| Europe Standard Shipping | ||
| Rest of World Standard Shipping | ||
Shipping transit times for non-Books, Music, Video and DVD shipments |
||
|---|---|---|
| Delivery from UK to | Current shipping transit time | New shipping transit time |
| UK Street (UK excluding BFPO) Expedited Shipping | ||
| UK Street (UK excluding BFPO) Standard Shipping | ||
| UK P.O. Box | ||
| BFPO | ||
| Europe zone 1 Standard Shipping | ||
| Europe zone 2 Standard Shipping | ||
| Europe zone 3 Standard Shipping | ||
| North America Standard Shipping | ||
| Asia 1 Standard Shipping | ||
| Asia 2 Standard Shipping | ||
| Rest of World Standard Shipping | ||
4 Responses
On the subject of Amazon shipping expectations….
I have noticed a new phenomenon in the estimated dispatch dates given for a very few of my Amazon orders.
Order placed at 22:00 on Monday. Estimated dispatch date? Monday. Yes, the same day.
The worst was an estimated dispatch date of Sunday for an order placed just before midnight on…? Sunday.
I have contacted Amazon about these rare occurrences and the responses I get are universal useless.
Mark.T
Does this change apply to all Amazon Marketplaces or just the UK?
Amazon.com and Amazon.ca estimated delivery times for UK sellers is 5-6 weeks which means that a lot of US customers are probably put off buying from UK sellers. I’ve had people emailing me after making a purchase asking to cancel the transaction as they had just realised how long it would take for their order to arrive.
A change is needed urgently and would definitely help our sales.