Every FBA account leaks. Units go missing between a carrier and a fulfilment centre, get crushed on a conveyor, get refunded to a customer who never posts the item back, or get measured as a larger size tier than they actually are. At small volume it is noise. At a few thousand units a month it is a real number, and it is one of the few places in an Amazon P&L where money comes back with no marketing spend attached.
What Amazon reimburses
The fee overcharge category is the one to check first. It is systematic rather than random: if a product is mis-measured, every single unit is overcharged, so a correction pays back on future shipments as well as past ones. Measure the packaged unit yourself and compare it to the fee preview before you file.
Automatic versus manual
Amazon has moved several categories to automatic reimbursement, and the credits appear in your transaction view without a case. That is genuinely better than the old process — but it created a false sense of completeness. Automatic covers what Amazon's own systems record. It does not cover the discrepancies that only your records reveal.
| Claim type | Usually automatic | Needs your case |
|---|---|---|
| Lost in fulfilment centre | Yes | When the ledger shows a loss with no matching credit |
| Damaged in fulfilment centre | Yes | When disposition and credit do not reconcile |
| Customer return not received | No | Yes — from the returns report |
| Return received damaged | Sometimes | Often, with the return reason as evidence |
| Fee overcharge (size/weight) | No | Yes — with your own measurements |
| Removal order lost | No | Yes — with carrier tracking |
The deadlines that void claims
Reimbursement policy has been revised repeatedly, and the direction of travel has been shorter windows and tighter evidence. The operational implication is the only part that matters: a claim you find a year later is usually a claim you cannot file.
Build the reconciliation into a monthly close rather than a project you do when cash is tight. Also note the valuation rules — Amazon reimburses at a value it determines, and for some claim types that valuation can be based on your manufacturing cost rather than your sale price, which is a good reason to keep cost data current in your account.
A monthly reconciliation that takes an hour
1Pull four reports
Inventory Ledger (summary and detail), FBA Customer Returns, Reimbursements, and the Removal Order Detail report. Everything you need is in those four.
2Match adjustments to credits
In the ledger, filter for lost and damaged events in the period. Cross-reference against the reimbursements report by FNSKU. Anything adjusted without a matching credit is a candidate.
3Age the returns
In the returns report, list refunds where no unit came back inside the return window. These are your cleanest claims — the data is unambiguous and it is Amazon's own record.
4Spot-check fees
Take your ten highest-volume ASINs, weigh and measure them packaged, and compare to the size tier on the fee preview. One error here is worth more than a dozen single-unit claims.
5File, then log
Keep a simple sheet of case ID, date, ASIN, units, claim type and outcome. Cases get closed incorrectly often enough that you need your own record to reopen them.
Filing a case that actually gets paid
Support cases are handled quickly and rejected quickly. What separates a paid claim from a closed one is almost always the evidence attached on the first message:
- Be specific. One claim type per case, with FNSKU, shipment ID or order ID, quantity and dates. Bundled cases get one generic answer.
- Quote Amazon's own report. Reference the ledger event or the returns row. You are not making an argument; you are pointing at their record.
- Attach the proof for your side. Carrier tracking for removals, supplier invoices for cost basis, a photo of the packaged unit against a tape measure for size disputes.
- Reopen once, politely, with the same facts. A meaningful share of correct claims are paid on the second read.
Do not file speculatively. Volume claims that are not supported by the reports are the fastest way to get your reimbursement requests deprioritised, and in bad cases to draw a policy review of the account. Claim what the data shows and nothing else.
Where sellers get this wrong
Three patterns we see repeatedly. First, treating reimbursements as an annual clean-up, by which point most of the window has closed. Second, granting broad account access to an unvetted claims service, which puts an account worth far more than the claims at risk. Third, never fixing the cause — if the same ASIN is damaged every month, the packaging is the problem and no amount of claiming solves it.
Reimbursements are not a growth strategy. They are hygiene, like reconciling a bank account, and they belong in the same monthly rhythm as your inventory planning and fee review.
Frequently asked questions
Does Amazon reimburse FBA losses automatically?
Partly. Amazon automatically reimburses several categories, including inventory it records as lost or damaged inside a fulfilment centre, and it credits those to your account without a case. Categories that depend on your own records — customer returns never physically returned, removal orders that never arrived, fee overcharges from wrong dimensions — still need you to notice and file.
How long do I have to file an FBA reimbursement claim?
Claim windows are policy-set and have been tightened in recent years, with different windows for different claim types. Treat the reconciliation as monthly rather than annual, and check the current windows on Amazon's FBA inventory reimbursement policy page before you file — an out-of-window claim is refused regardless of merit.
Are third-party reimbursement services safe to use?
Only if they are authorised and work from your reports rather than filing bulk speculative cases. Amazon has acted against services that submit duplicate or unsupported claims, and the seller account carries the consequence, not the service. Check what they actually file before you grant access.
Not sure what Amazon owes you?
Our free audit includes a reimbursement sweep — lost, damaged and fee-overcharged units from the last claim window, listed with case numbers.
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