How Cahoot's Shipping Service Selection Works
This article explains how Cahoot selects shipping services for orders and why certain methods are chosen automatically. Understanding these principles will help you manage fulfillment expectations and avoid unexpected shipping costs.
Why Cahoot May Select a More Expensive Shipping Service
If you see a more expensive shipping option than expected, it is not an error. There are two common reasons this happens:
Scenario 1: Cheaper options won't meet the delivery deadline
Cahoot selects a more expensive service when cheaper options would miss the delivery deadline. This occurs when the carrier's estimated delivery date for the cheaper service falls outside the sales channel's required delivery window. Meeting the delivery SLA is critical for maintaining your seller metrics and avoiding penalties on platforms like Amazon.
Scenario 2: Expected shipping services aren't available
Sometimes certain services aren't available for selection at all. This typically happens because:
- Sales channel API limitations: Some channels (particularly Amazon Buy Shipping) don't return all carrier services in their API when there's a risk of late delivery.
- The package dimensions or weight make certain services ineligible.
- Carrier service restrictions apply based on the delivery location.
Your Options When This Occurs
If you believe a cheaper shipping option should be used despite the system's selection, you have four options:
- Accept the current selection — the system chose this option to ensure on-time delivery per the sales channel's requirements.
-
Void and regenerate the label — you can void the current label and manually select a cheaper service, but be aware this will likely cause a late delivery, may negatively impact your seller metrics, and could result in customer complaints.
How to void labels for orders assigned to Cahoot fulfillment partners. - Adjust handling times in your sales channel — increasing your handling time settings extends the overall delivery window, which may allow cheaper shipping methods to qualify while still meeting deadlines.
- For Amazon orders: request "Direct From Carrier" label generation — Cahoot can generate your Amazon labels directly from the carrier instead of through Amazon Buy Shipping. This makes more service options available, though you must still meet delivery SLAs. Contact support to enable this.
How to Report a Shipping Selection Error
If you believe there's a genuine error in shipping service selection that isn't explained by the scenarios above, submit a support ticket via the support ticket with the following details:
- Cahoot Order ID
- Expected shipping service
- Selected shipping service
- Delivery deadline from the sales channel
- Package dimensions and weight