Amazon handles millions of products every day, and mistakes happen. Items get lost in fulfilment centres, damaged during handling, or incorrectly charged. When these mistakes affect your inventory or finances, Amazon owes you a reimbursement — but you often need to ask for it.
Types of Reimbursements
Lost inventory — Products that disappear within Amazon's fulfilment centres. Amazon's own records show the stock was received but it is no longer in your available or unfulfillable inventory.
Damaged inventory — Items damaged while in Amazon's possession (during receiving, storage, or fulfilment). If Amazon's handling caused the damage, you are entitled to reimbursement.
Customer returns not received — A customer was refunded for a return, but the item was never actually returned to your inventory. You are owed the refund amount.
Incorrect fees — Products charged at the wrong size tier or weight, resulting in higher fulfilment fees than should have been applied.
Destroyed inventory — If Amazon disposes of your inventory without authorisation, you are owed the product's value.
How to Check for Missing Reimbursements
The most reliable method is to reconcile your inventory and transaction reports regularly. Compare your inbound shipments (what you sent) against your received inventory (what Amazon counted). Check your returns reports against your inventory — every customer return should either reappear in your available inventory or your unfulfillable inventory.
Amazon provides several reports that help: the Inventory Adjustments report, the Managed Reimbursements report, the Returns report, and the Inventory Event Detail report. Cross-referencing these reveals discrepancies.
Filing a Claim
To request a reimbursement, open a case with Seller Support through Seller Central. Provide specific details: the shipment ID, ASIN/FNSKU, quantity affected, and what the discrepancy is. Be clear and factual — provide evidence from your reports showing the discrepancy.
Amazon investigates each claim. If their records confirm the discrepancy, they reimburse you based on the product's estimated sale value (which may be less than your actual selling price) or the cost of the product (whichever applies to the situation).
Time Limits
Amazon has windows for filing different types of claims. For lost or damaged inventory, you generally have 18 months. For returns not received, you should wait 60 days (to allow for transit time) and file within 18 months. Do not wait too long — claims filed outside the eligible window will be denied.
How Much Money Are We Talking About?
The amounts vary widely by seller volume, but studies suggest that 1–3% of FBA inventory is subject to some form of discrepancy. For a seller doing £50,000 per year in revenue, that could represent £500–£1,500 in unclaimed reimbursements. For larger sellers, the numbers are proportionally bigger.
Third-Party Reimbursement Services
Several companies offer automated reimbursement auditing — they review your Amazon data, identify discrepancies, file claims on your behalf, and take a percentage of recovered funds (usually 15–25%). These services can be worthwhile if you do not have time to audit your accounts manually, though the process is straightforward enough to do yourself.
Making It a Routine
Build reimbursement checks into your monthly routine. Reconcile your inbound shipments, review your returns, and check for any inventory adjustments you did not expect. Think of it as collecting money that is already yours — it just requires asking for it.