Amazon FBA Reimbursement Claims: How to Recover Lost Inventory Revenue

Amazon's FBA network handles millions of units daily and occasionally loses, damages, miscounts or destroys inventory without automatically compensating sellers. Amazon's own reconciliation system catches many issues, but an estimated 1-3% of FBA seller inventory value goes unreimbursed annually due to missed claims or claims that expire before submission.

Amazon's reimbursement window is 18 months from the date of the loss event. Claims submitted after 18 months are denied. For Taiwan sellers with large US FBA inventories (>500 units), a quarterly reimbursement audit is a revenue recovery activity worth prioritising.

(1) Lost in transit (inbound): units shipped by you but not received at FBA. Claim after 15 business days from delivery confirmation. (2) Lost in fulfillment centre: units in your FBA inventory that Amazon cannot locate. (3) Damaged in fulfillment centre: Amazon-damaged units that Amazon disposed of without returning. (4) Customer returns not credited: customer refund issued but unit never returned to your inventory. (5) Overcharged FBA fees: incorrect weight or dimension scan caused higher-than-correct pick/pack fee.

Amazon automatically processes many reimbursements, but manual claims are needed for: inbound shipment discrepancies not resolved within 45 days, customer returns not received within 60 days of refund, and fee overcharges detected through manual dimension review.

For inbound shipment discrepancies: go to Manage FBA Shipments > find the shipment > click "Contact us about this shipment" > submit a reconciliation request with your shipping confirmation. Provide the BOL or carrier confirmation for the shipment. Amazon investigates and typically responds within 5-7 business days.

For lost FBA inventory: run the Inventory Adjustments report in Seller Central. Filter for "E" (damaged and removed) and "M" (missing) adjustments. For each unexplained M adjustment with no corresponding reimbursement (check the Reimbursements report), open a case with Seller Support citing the FNSKU and date of adjustment.

Amazon measures FBA product dimensions when items arrive at fulfillment centres. Measurement errors — products scanned as larger than actual — result in higher pick/pack and monthly storage fees. You can request a remeasurement via Seller Central > Help > Contact Us > FBA > FBA Issue with a Specific Product or Order.

If remeasurement confirms a smaller dimension, Amazon adjusts future fees and may retroactively credit overcharges for the past 90 days. Systematically check your top 20 FBA SKUs by storage cost against their actual dimensions annually.

Third-party tools (GETIDA, Refund Sniper, Seller Investigators) automate the reimbursement identification and claim submission process. They typically charge 25% of recovered amounts on a contingency basis — no fee if no recovery. For Taiwan sellers without time to manually audit, these tools are cost-effective.

Choose a tool that is Amazon ToS-compliant — some tools use prohibited automation or submit claims for non-reimbursable events, which risks account suspension. Verify the tool's current ToS status before engaging. GETIDA and Refund Sniper are established providers with ToS-compliant workflows.

Establish a quarterly reimbursement audit routine: Q1 (January) — review Q4 inbound shipment discrepancies (high-volume peak season creates more discrepancies). Q2 (April) — fee overcharge review. Q3 (July) — customer return reconciliation for Q2. Q4 (October) — annual full inventory reconciliation before peak season.

Document each claim submitted: date, case number, event type, units claimed, amount requested and outcome. Track your reimbursement rate as a percentage of gross FBA revenue. Industry benchmarks suggest 0.5-2% of FBA revenue should be recoverable via active reimbursement management.