Explaining Amazon FBA Reimbursements: Know What You Can Claim

The convenience of Amazon FBA comes with its fair share of risks—think of lost inventory, damaged goods, or mishandled returns. But Amazon doesn’t leave its sellers hanging. With a structured FBA reimbursement policy in place, Amazon lets sellers recover losses in eligible scenarios. But what are these scenarios? How can you claim FBA reimbursement? Are there any policy updates or changes you must be aware of? Let us answer all these questions in detail to make the process of Amazon FBA reimbursement seamless and straightforward for all eligible sellers.

In Which Scenarios Can you Claim FBA Reimbursement from Amazon

1. Lost Inventory in Amazon Warehouses

Sellers can claim FBA reimbursement for inventory lost within Amazon’s fulfillment centers.

This includes:

• Products misplaced during storage
• Items lost in transit between facilities (en route from the fulfillment center to the shipping address or on their way to fulfillment centers)
• Products go missing during or after cycle counts/audits (for the past 30 days)
• The difference in inventory count (the quantities of products sent to Amazon differ from shipments being recorded)

Such claims fall under Amazon’s FBA inventory reimbursement policies, ensuring sellers are compensated for Amazon’s operational errors.

2. Damaged Inventory

Amazon also provides you reimbursement for damaged inventory in certain scenarios, such as:

• Inventory damaged by Amazon in their fulfillment centers.
• Damage caused during inbound shipping handled by Amazon-partnered carriers.
• Inventory disposed or destroyed incorrectly by Amazon without the seller’s consent

3. Overcharged Weight or Dimension Fees

If the Amazon team makes measurement errors during the item fulfillment, leading to higher shipment fees, sellers can claim reimbursement. This type of claim comes under Amazon refund overages, and it covers scenarios like:

• Errors in product measurements during Amazon’s evaluation process.
• Inconsistent fee charges due to miscalculated dimensions or weight.

Amazon adjusts the fees and issues reimbursements when discrepancies are verified. For a successful reimbursement, you need to provide the correct dimensions and weight of the product on Amazon’s reimbursement portal.

4. Customer Returns Not Processed Correctly

Amazon allows sellers to claim reimbursement if returned items are mishandled or not correctly accounted for in the inventory. Key cases include:

• Returned products not restocked in the seller’s inventory.
• Refunds are issued to customers without receiving the returned item.
• Items returned in damaged or unsellable condition without proper compensation.
• Refunds for returns that were processed after the permitted return window.

5. Inbound Transportation or Shipment Damage

If the inventory gets damaged during shipping or transportation handled by the Amazon team, sellers are eligible for claim reimbursement. Eligible scenarios for this are:

• Missing items in shipments sent to Amazon facilities.
• Damage caused during transportation by Amazon-partnered carriers.

6. Customer Refund Errors

If Amazon incorrectly processes refunds, resulting in overpayments to customers, sellers can apply for reimbursement to recover those amounts. The eligible scenarios involve:

• Refunds issued to customers even when the returned product is not received.
• Refunds processed for items returned in poor or unsellable condition.
• The refunded product has not been added to the seller’s inventory for some reason/issue.

7. Wrongful Removal Fees

Sellers can seek reimbursement if they are overcharged for inventory removal or disposal by Amazon. Some common scenarios involve:

• Incorrect charges for removing unsellable inventory.
• Overbilling for disposal services or order cancellation fees.

Such claims help sellers recover unnecessary expenses incurred due to Amazon’s errors.

8. FBA Fee Errors

Amazon has several fees applicable to FBA sellers, such as storage fees, commission fees, delivery fees, return processing fees, and long-term storage fees. In any scenario, if Amazon overcharged sellers against the defined fees, sellers can claim reimbursements.

9. Amazon Removal Order Fees Errors

Amazon charges removal order fees for returning or disposing of inventory stored in its fulfillment centers. Sellers can claim reimbursement if these fees are incorrectly applied or if there are errors in the removal process. Key scenarios involve:

• Overbilling for the removal or disposal of inventory.
• Fees applied to products that were not part of a removal order.
• Items marked for removal have not been returned to the seller.
• Inventory categorized as disposed or destroyed without confirmation or authorization.
• Items lost or damaged during the removal process

10. Account Suspension Errors Related Reimbursements

Amazon provides reimbursement options for losses incurred due to errors stemming from unjustified accounts or listing suspensions. Sellers can request for FBA reimbursement if:

• An account is mistakenly suspended, resulting in a loss of sales during the downtime.
• Listings are wrongly removed or restricted, affecting inventory visibility and sales.
• There is a delay in reinstating suspended accounts or listings caused by Amazon’s error.

Seller Eligibility Criteria for Amazon FBA Reimbursement

To file an FBA reimbursement claim, your seller account must be eligible. Here are some things you need to check:

• The account is active and in good standing without significant policy violations.
• Claims are filed within the stipulated time frame (generally 18 months, but reduced to 60 days for certain types effective October 2024) from the date of the issue.
• All the supported documents are submitted appropriately for the claim reimbursement.
• The seller must not have any fraudulent transactions reflected in their account.

Ineligible Scenarios

In certain situations, sellers do not qualify for reimbursement, such as:

• Claims related to buyer fraud or issues caused by seller errors.
• Damage or loss due to natural disasters unless specific insurance coverage is in place.
• Cases filed after the deadline for claims submission

What to Remember in 2025- Notable Updates in Amazon FBA Reimbursement Policy

Amazon keeps updating its FBA reimbursement policy to make the process more seamless and efficient for sellers. In 2024, the platform has made some major changes in its reimbursement policy, which you must be aware of. Let’s discuss them one by one.

1. Reimbursement of Damaged Inventory Based on Its Manufacturing Cost

Effective March 10, 2025, the Amazon team will reimburse you for damaged inventory based on its “manufacturing cost,” excluding other associated costs such as shipping, customs duty, and handling fees. [Source]

Sellers will be able to decide how they want Amazon to determine the manufacturing cost for affected inventory:

• Sellers can directly provide manufacturing costs to the Amazon team with supported documents.
• Alternatively, Amazon can estimate the cost based on similar products that are sold on the platform by other sellers and through wholesale channels.

A new page named “Manage Your Manufacturing Cost” will start appearing in the Inventory Defect and Reimbursement portal in late January 2025, helping sellers view and manage production costs for the affected inventory.

2. Updated Timelines for Manual Claim Submission

Sellers need to submit manual claims if they don’t receive reimbursements automatically. Earlier, sellers used to have a window of 18 months for Amazon FBA reimbursement. However, in the recent update, the submission timelines have been updated for different types of claims, and sellers need to submit their requests within the specified window for successful reimbursement.

• To submit claims for lost or damaged items, sellers have a window of 60 days.
• Sellers have a window of 60-120 days (after the refund or replacement date) to submit FBA reimbursement claims for customer returns.
• To submit claim requests for overage fees, sellers have a defined window of 90 days.
• For FBA removal claims, the window has been changed from 18 months to 45 days. For all other removal claims, the submission timeline is 60 days.

How to Claim Amazon FBA Reimbursements – Step-by-Step Guide

There are several ways to handle the Amazon seller reimbursement process. Depending upon your feasibility, you can choose the appropriate one:

1. Do It Yourself

If you have enough time and sound knowledge of Amazon’s platform and tools, you can try this approach to avoid investing in additional resources or infrastructure. To submit claims and handle Amazon FBA reimbursements yourself, you must follow these steps:

• Make sure your account is eligible for claim submission and the case qualifies under Amazon’s FBA reimbursement policies.
• Log in to your Amazon Seller Central account and go to the “Help” section.
• Click on the “Case Log” option and create a ticket to describe your case (needed in scenarios where the reimbursements are not issued automatically).
• When creating a case, choose a relevant category to describe your case, for example – lost inventory, damaged inventory, or customer returns. Add the supported documents for a successful claim reimbursement.
• After claim submission, you must wait 7-10 business days to let the Amazon team review your case. You can track or monitor the status of your submitted claims in the “Reimbursement” report available under the “Specialized Reports” section using the provided case ID.

What To Do If Amazon Denies your FBA Reimbursement Claim?

If Amazon rejects your claim in some scenario, you can:

• Review their response to understand the reason behind the claim rejection. Sometimes, they reject a claim if the attached documents are not relevant or enough. If that is the scenario, you can resubmit the claim by providing relevant documents.
• If the claim still gets rejected even after providing enough evidence, you can escalate the case by contacting Amazon’s reimbursement team. There, you can explain why you think the claim is valid or ask them how this issue can be resolved.

2. Hire Amazon Reimbursement Specialist

While the DIY approach is cost-effective, it demands attention to detail and significant time to invest. Even when you do everything cautiously, there is always room for mistakes. To combat these issues, you can outsource Amazon FBA reimbursement services to a reliable company.

These service providers have skilled professionals who have sound experience in submitting and managing claims for complex cases. They know how to analyze inventory reports, file and track claims for lost or damaged inventory, and diligently follow up with the Amazon support team to recover funds. Their experience transforms the reimbursement process into a seamless operation, ensuring every dollar owed to you is recovered without disrupting your daily business activities.

3. Leverage Automated Tools

To automate the process, you can take help from tools like RefundsManager and Refund Genie. These tools are designed to simplify and accelerate the submission, tracking, and resolution of claims.

How These Tools Help:

• Automatically identify discrepancies in inventory, refunds, and fees by analyzing your Amazon reports.
• Generate detailed claim reports with supporting evidence for quicker approval.
• Track the status of each claim and provide updates, ensuring nothing slips through the cracks.

While these tools offer convenience and accuracy, they typically operate on a subscription or commission-based model. Hence, you need to consider cost when making the right decision.

Key Note – Claim Amazon FBA Reimbursements for Better Profit Margins with Expert Assistance

Managing FBA reimbursements can feel like navigating a labyrinth of policies, data, and deadlines. Yet, for sellers, every missed reimbursement represents a potential revenue loss. Beyond knowing the scenarios that qualify for claims, leveraging the right tools and expertise can transform this tedious process into an opportunity for reclaiming your hard-earned profits.

Here’s where we step in:

• Detailed Claim Audits: We meticulously review your Amazon Seller Central account to uncover overlooked FBA reimbursement opportunities.
• End-to-end Management: From identifying errors in fee calculations to tracking lost or damaged inventory claims, we handle the entire claim submission and FBA reimbursement process seamlessly.
• Insights That Drive Action: With advanced analytics, we provide actionable insights to prevent recurring errors, ensuring your business remains optimized and cost-effective.