Are you still scrolling through Amazon orders, trying to figure out who wants “Happy Birthday, Emma!” on a mug? Or which shopper really wants their cat's name on a dog bowl? You’re not the only one. People want personalized stuff more than ever—almost 40% of online buyers expect it, says Statista.
If you’re not spotting those special requests fast, you’re losing out. Your faster rivals are scooping up five-star reviews by getting custom orders right and shipping them quick.
Here's the big news: Amazon dropped a slick update to their Vendor Direct Fulfillment Orders API. There’s now a handy flag—hasCustomizableItems—that tells you, right away, which orders have custom touches. No more staring at messy order notes or messing with scripts to find buyer requests. Your system now catches custom orders as soon as they land on your dashboard. That means fewer mistakes and more time to actually wow your customers.
It might sound like a simple tweak, but for serious Amazon vendors? This is huge. The update is saving top brands hours each week and has stopped lots of embarrassing mistakes. If you sell anything custom on Amazon with direct fulfillment, you need this. Because now, being fast and right isn’t just “nice”—it’s the minimum.
Key Takeaways
hasCustomizableItems flag now marks orders with custom parts in the Vendor Direct Fulfillment API.getOrder and getOrders endpoints.hasCustomizableItemsAmazon’s Vendor Direct Fulfillment Orders API always helped serious sellers, but this update dials it up. The key new thing? That hasCustomizableItems Boolean flag. When you grab orders through the API (one or many), this little flag pretty much shouts: “Hey! This order is special!”
No more digging through order notes. Any order that needs something special now shows this flag in both the getOrder (one order) and getOrders (lots at once) calls. So if you sell mugs with inside jokes, sports jerseys with custom names, or wedding keychains, you see it right away—no guessing.
"It saved our team hours every day. No more manual checks—we catch every custom order, right from the API response." — Erica H., Amazon Vendor (Home & Gifts)
Why’s this a big deal? Custom products usually get you more money and happier reviews. But if you mess up a special request, it can really tank your rep.
Shoppers don’t just want stuff—they want their stuff. Four in ten want things made just for them. If you miss a custom order, you get late shipments, grumpy customers, and feedback that sticks (the bad kind).
That new flag? It’s like a superhero cape for your workflow. You can make it all automatic: flag orders, send them straight to the custom team, give them extra checks, and ship them before your rivals wake up. No more guessing, more speed, and better service. You can even automate more, so your team skips the boring stuff for bigger problems.
Want to get extra sharp? Tools like Requery make the link between Amazon and your own databases even smoother.
Let’s imagine the old days. You’d pull data, see a big list of products, and cross your fingers that any custom requests showed up in order notes or funky SKUs. Someone orders ten mugs and two need messages—did you catch which ones? Not always. Even big warehouse providers slipped up.
"Our workflow was always at risk. A customized t-shirt buried in a 200-unit order was too easy to miss." — Jay P., 3PL Operations Lead
Mess-ups were common. Sometimes customers had to email to ask about missing engravings or special colors. That meant returns, refunds, and unhappy reviews.
Some smart folks wrote scripts to dig through order notes or decode SKUs. But those are patch jobs:
All these band-aids just built up stress, not a real solution.
hasCustomizableItems: Each order now has a clear “yes/no” for custom items. Easier filters, easier automation.The changes hit getOrder and getOrders. These are the main calls vendors use to grab order data for their own systems. Whether it’s 10 or 10,000 orders, you can now spot custom orders before they hit the printers or engravers. No more “needle in a haystack” hunting.
Let’s say you run a print-on-demand shop. You pull new Amazon orders every 15 minutes. With the new flag, custom requests stand out. Orders go straight to your custom team, who already have buyer data ready because Base64 decoding is easy.
So, what changes?
“This small API tweak has saved us roughly $7,500 a year in labor alone—and made our error rate basically zero.” — Ben S., Director of Fulfillment, DecorBrand
For most sellers, that’s real money and less stress.
Dev teams used to waste hours patching code to spot custom jobs. Now, the API does most of the work. Decoded Base64 links mean no buyer uploads go missing. No matter if you’re using a fancy SaaS or an old system, things just run better. More free time, fewer headaches.
If any of your products can be personalized, it’s time to use this:
Amazon’s just getting started. As custom products take over, look for even more ways to help you keep up. Spotting custom orders automatically is now required, not just a bonus. Whoever adapts first is going to win.
hasCustomizableItems lets you spot custom orders as soon as they come ingetOrder) and lots of orders at once (getOrders)hasCustomizableItems attribute, and where do I find it?It’s a yes/no field in the Amazon Vendor Direct Fulfillment Orders API. You’ll see it come up when you call getOrder or getOrders. If it’s true, at least one thing in the order can be customized.
Both calls: getOrder (for one order) and getOrders (for many). Vendors use these every day.
Look for buyerCustomizedInfo.customizedURL in your order data. Then, just decode that Base64 string with your software, or use a free online tool. You’ll see the clean link or info your buyer uploaded.
Make sure your system checks for hasCustomizableItems and treats those orders extra carefully. That means custom queues, double-checks, and making sure buyer notes or images get to the right place.
No—it’s not forced. But if you do custom orders and want fewer angry buyers and refunds, you really should update.
GitHub Discussions and the Amazon doc site are your main stops. Amazon's adding cool stuff like dark mode, so you can bug-fix in comfort.
hasCustomizableItems field.buyerCustomizedInfo.customizedURL, decode that Base64 so your team has what they need.hasCustomizableItems: true should go straight to your custom workflow—never lost again.The bottom line? More people want personalized things, and things aren’t getting simpler. Amazon just gave you a toolkit to save time and kill mistakes. Use these changes now to stay ahead—your wallet, your warehouse, and your buyers will thank you. Want to keep improving? Check out the full Amazon Vendor Direct Fulfillment guide, read some Case Studies, and join GitHub Discussions so you never miss a new trick.