Guide
FBA reimbursements: how it works and how to use the numbers
Amazon loses, damages and mis-counts a small share of every seller's FBA inventory, and refunds customers whose returns never arrive. Amazon reimburses most of it, but largely only when the seller asks, within a claim window, with the right report attached. This estimator puts a number on what is probably owed so you can decide whether the reports are worth a weekend.
Where reimbursable money hides
Inventory Adjustments (reason codes M, misplaced, and E, unaccounted) for units lost in the warehouse; code D for units Amazon damaged; inbound shipments received short against the packing list; customer returns refunded but never received back after 45 days; removal orders that never arrived; and fulfillment fees charged on the wrong size tier or weight, month after month.
Claim windows in 2025
Most lost and damaged inventory claims can be made up to 18 months back, but some categories are far shorter: fulfilment-centre operations claims must be filed within 60 days, and customer-return claims between 60 and 120 days after the refund. Amazon has been shortening these windows; older items in the reports may already be out of time, which is why the estimate is a range.
Manufacturing cost basis
Since 2024 Amazon reimburses many lost and damaged units at the manufacturing cost of the item rather than its expected sale price. Sellers can provide their own cost basis with evidence; without it Amazon estimates one. The estimator shows both a cost-basis figure and a 70%-of-price figure so the range covers what Amazon is likely to pay under either rule.
Doing it yourself versus a service
The reports are free and every seller can file cases. The cost is hours: a proper reconciliation across the reports, matching each unit to a shipment or return, takes a full day for a mid-sized catalogue and has to be repeated every quarter to stay inside the windows. Reimbursement services typically charge a share of what they recover, which is only worth it above a few hundred dollars a quarter.
Questions sellers ask
Up to 18 months for most lost and damaged inventory, but as little as 60 days for fulfilment-centre claims and 60 to 120 days for customer returns. Check the current policy for each claim type.
Reconciliation audits typically find 1 to 3% of units shipped to FBA, higher for fragile or high-volume products.
Some lost units are reimbursed automatically after 30 days, but a large share, and almost all customer-return cases, are paid only when a case is opened.
For many claim types since 2024, the manufacturing cost of the unit; for others, the expected sale price minus fees. Provide a cost basis with evidence for the higher figure where it applies.
Reports → Fulfillment → Inventory Adjustments, filtered to reason codes M and E, then Reimbursements to see what was already paid.