The vacation settings feature empowers merchants to continue selling products and operating stores and warehouses during the holiday without needing to worry about being subject to fulfillment-related infractions.

The way this works is merchants designate the start date and end date of their vacation between one to seven calendar days. The setting will then automatically extend the fulfillment timeline to merchants’ orders released during the merchant-designated vacation time frame based on the number of days merchants set. Merchants’ warehouse operations will not be paused and products will remain available for sale during the vacation.

What follows is a walkthrough to guide merchants through understanding and configuring the  vacation settings on the Merchant Dashboard.

 

In this article (click on a topic to be taken to that particular section):

• Setting types
• Make all warehouse(s) operational
• Apply to Primary warehouse only
• Apply to all warehouse(s)
• Editing vacation settings

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Setting types

• Make all warehouse(s) operational: 

This is the default option selected for merchants, which means all orders will be subject to the Merchant Policy "Fulfillment" timeline of marking orders as “shipped” within five calendar days after the order released time.

• Apply to Primary warehouse only:

Selecting this option is helpful for merchants who need to extend the fulfillment timeline for orders from their Primary warehouse. Merchants may designate their vacation period between one to seven calendar days and orders for products in merchants’ Primary warehouse will have extended fulfillment timelines based on the length of their vacation. Customers will also see later estimated delivery dates. 

Orders from their Secondary warehouses will not receive any fulfillment timeline extensions, and the standard fulfillment timeline will apply.

• Apply to all warehouse(s):

If merchants select this option, orders for all merchants’ products will have extended fulfillment timelines based on the length of their vacation, and customers will see later estimated delivery dates.

 

Specifically, by selecting “Apply to Primary warehouse only” or “Apply to all warehouse(s),” merchants may designate their vacation period between one to seven calendar days. Based on the number of days merchants set, the feature will automatically extend the fulfillment timeline to merchants’ orders released during the merchant-designated vacation time frame and shipped from merchants’ Primary warehouse or all warehouse(s). Detailed adjustments are as follows:

• An extension of one to seven calendar days will apply to the standard five-calendar-day mark shipped timeline (per Merchant Policy 5.1), 168-hour or 336-hour confirmed fulfilled timeline (per Merchant Policy 5.3) and X-calendar-day confirmed delivered timeline (per Merchant Policy 7.6.3). 
• The order’s estimated arrival time shown to customers will extend accordingly. Note that the feature will extend customers' estimated delivery dates by days.
• If Advanced Logistics Program or EPC Blue orders are delivered to the corresponding warehouses within the extended fulfillment timeline from order release time, merchants will be exempt from the late arrival fee outlined in Merchant Policy 5.8 (for Advanced Logistics Program orders).

Example of setting “Apply to Primary Warehouse”:

A merchant selects “Apply to Primary Warehouse only” and designates the vacation time frame from January 21 to January 27, 2023, Beijing Time. The fulfillment timeline of the orders released between January 21, 2023, 12:00 AM, Beijing Time and January 27, 2023, 11:59 PM, Beijing Time will be extended by seven calendar days. Specifically,

• This merchant can mark an above-defined order as “shipped” within 12 calendar days after the order released time (extended from five calendar days, per the normal Merchant Policy 5.1). 
• If the order’s (merchant product price + shipping price) per item is < $100 and it is confirmed fulfilled within 14 calendar days / 336 hours (extended from 168 hours) of the order being released, the order will be exempt from Merchant Policy 5.3 infractions. If the order’s (merchant price + shipping price) per item is ≥ $100 and it is confirmed fulfilled within 21 calendar days / 504 hours (extended from 336 hours) of the order being released, the order will be exempt from Merchant Policy 5.3 infractions as well.
• If a refund occurs and the order is confirmed delivered by X+7 calendar days (extended from X calendar days, per the normal Merchant Policy 7.6.3) after the order is released to the merchant, the merchant will NOT be responsible for the cost of the refund.
• The order’s estimated arrival time shown to customers will be extended by seven calendar days.
• If Advanced Logistics Program or EPC Blue orders released during the vacation time frame are delivered to the corresponding warehouses within 14 calendar days after the order released time (extended from 168 hours / seven calendar days), merchants will be exempt from the late arrival fee outlined in Merchant Policy 5.8 (for Advanced Logistics Program orders).

Merchants may update their vacation settings at any time. The updated vacation settings will apply only to orders released after the time they make the update. For example,

• Merchant does not set up any vacation settings on January 11, 2023, Beijing Time.
  • Order A releases with no fulfillment extension.
• Merchant selects “Apply to Primary warehouse only” on January 12, 2023, 9:00 AM, Beijing Time and sets the vacation period from January 21, 2023, to January 27, 2023.
  • Order A still has no fulfillment extension.
  • Orders B for the merchant’s Primary warehouse and released between January 21, 2023, 12:00 AM, Beijing Time, and January 27, 2023, 11:59 PM, Beijing Time will have a seven-calendar-day fulfillment extension, with a total of 12 calendar days fulfillment period available.
• Merchant later updates the vacation settings to “Make all warehouse(s) operational” on January 23, 2023, 9:00 AM, Beijing Time. 
  • Order A still has no fulfillment extension and Order B (if released between January 21, 2023, 12:00 AM, Beijing Time, and January 27, 2023, 11:59 PM, Beijing Time) has a seven-calendar-day fulfillment extension.
  • Order C released after January 23, 2023, 9:00 AM, Beijing Time will have no fulfillment extension.

 

Note: Vacations cannot exceed seven consecutive days, or seven days at a time, in one calendar month.

This means that merchants can only designate their vacation period between one to seven calendar days. Additionally, the overall vacation days merchants set for “Apply to Primary warehouse only” and “Apply to all warehouse(s)” will be calculated together and the maximum number of days merchants can set for vacation is seven calendar days in one calendar month.

If merchants need to set a vacation longer than seven calendar days, please contact the Account Manager/Business Development/General Support.

 

Editing vacation settings

1. Log in to Merchant Dashboard, go to the navigation in the top left corner, and follow the path Settings > Vacation > Vacation Settings page. By default, “Make all warehouse(s) operational” is selected for merchants.

2. Click “Edit Vacation Settings” and merchants will be able to select the setting type for their store in the popup modal that follows: 

 

3. If merchants select “Apply to Primary warehouse only” or “Apply to all warehouse(s),” they need to designate a start and end date for their vacation as needed (see screenshot below). 

Once again, the feature will automatically extend the fulfillment timeline to merchants’ orders released during the merchant-designated vacation time frame based on the number of days merchants set. 

4. Click “Save” and the next page will display the vacation setting.

Merchants can click “Turn Off all Vacation Settings” to return their vacation settings from “Apply to Primary warehouse only”/“Apply to all warehouse(s)” to “Make all warehouse(s) operational.” Once their vacation settings are returned to “Make all warehouse(s) operational,” all orders will be subject to the Merchant Policy "Fulfillment" timeline of marking orders as “shipped” within five calendar days after the order released time.