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Build a custom order-routing app that sends my worst orders to Amazon MCF

A 7-figure Amazon seller growing a Shopify store (300 orders/month, fulfilled in-house from the east coast) hit his limit on slow, expensive west-coast and Florida shipments. Shopify's native routing couldn't see order-level detail and Functions needed Plus, which he doesn't have - so over one weekend he built a custom app with AI: it checks each incoming order's zip code, and if it falls above a USPS tier threshold and every line item is in FBA stock, it silently reassigns the order to Amazon MCF. He added a vacation-mode switch (everything routes to MCF while he travels) and stuck-package alerts; shipping time fell from up to 7 days to a max of 5, hosted for $5/month instead of a $99/month order-editing app.

How it works

  1. Analyze which destinations cost most and ship slowest
  2. Build a custom app with AI over a weekend
  3. For each new order, check zip against a USPS tier threshold and confirm all items are in FBA stock
  4. Reassign qualifying orders to the Amazon MCF location
  5. Add vacation mode and stuck-package notifications
  6. Host on Railway

Why it’s worth knowing

He rebuilt a Plus-only Shopify capability as a $5-a-month personal app - and its best feature is a vacation switch that hands the whole store to Amazon while he travels.

Where it’s from

Summarized from a public post on reddit.com. See the original ↗

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