What is an Amazon FBA reimbursement?
An FBA reimbursement is a refund, replacement, or account credit Amazon issues when inventory under its control is lost, damaged, mishandled, returned, removed, or disposed of incorrectly. The five categories that drive most reimbursement exposure are:
- Lost inbound shipment: units you shipped to an Amazon FC that were not received, were received short, or were lost in transit. Confirm by comparing your shipping log against the Shipment Detail report.
- Damaged-in-FC inventory: units damaged or destroyed at the FC before customer shipment. Visible in the Inventory Event Detail report under damage codes.
- Customer return discrepancy: customer-returned units that are not restocked, are graded unsellable without evidence, or never return to your inventory. Visible in the Returns Report and the Inventory Event Detail report.
- Removal / disposal discrepancy: units you asked Amazon to remove or dispose of that were processed incorrectly, lost in transit, or never credited back.
- Inventory adjustment: mystery shrink, miscounts, or FC transfer losses. Visible in the Adjustments Report and the Monthly Inventory History report.
How to use this reimbursement estimator
- Enter your monthly Amazon revenue, monthly FBA order volume, and average selling price.
- Enter your return rate and a conservative lost / damaged rate (0.3–1.0% of FC throughput is a documented US FBA range).
- Enter inbound shipments per month and average units per shipment to size your lost-inbound risk.
- Enter current FBA inventory units and months selling on Amazon to size your adjustment and claim-window exposure.
- Pick the claim history that matches your account and the last reimbursement review date.
- Read the category ranges and the claim urgency score. The total range is the sum of all five categories.
How Amazon's claim window works (2026)
Amazon's published guidance is that most FBA inventory issues can be reported within 18 months of the event. The clock starts on the date of the removal, damage, loss, return, or adjustment — not on the date you noticed the issue. The 18-month window is the maximum, not a guarantee: Amazon reviews each case individually and may decline claims it considers unsupported, ineligible, or filed after a category-specific cutoff.
The calculator surfaces three signals that point to claim urgency:
- Months within the 18-month window. If you have been selling for 6 months, only the most recent 6 months of inventory events are within the standard window. Earlier events may still be claimable if they were not previously known, but your chance drops sharply.
- Claim history. Sellers who have filed regularly recover more on average than sellers who have never opened a case. Filing for the first time is fine, but the supporting-evidence bar is higher.
- Last review gap. A 6+ month gap between reviews is the single biggest driver of lost exposure.
What is included in the estimate
- Five documented reimbursement categories with low and high loss-rate defaults.
- Claim-window urgency based on the 18-month Amazon guideline.
- Last-review gap detection and warning.
- Reports list tied to each category.
- Midpoint total for planning; use the low and high range for budget.
What is not included
- Reimbursement amounts from FBA Customer Returns issues that fall under Amazon's A-to-z claim process.
- Carrier or freight insurance recoveries (handled by your carrier, not Amazon).
- Lost Buy Box revenue, suppressed-listing losses, or stranded-inventory exposure — see the Suppressed Listing Loss Calculator and the Stranded Inventory Cost Calculator.
- Cost of filing (Seller Central is free; third-party reimbursement services typically charge 15–25% of recovered amount).
How to file a reimbursement claim in Seller Central
- Open Seller Central › Help › Contact Us › FBA Issues.
- Select the matching category: FBA Shipment, FBA Inventory, Customer Returns, or Removal Order.
- Provide: ASIN, FNSKU, shipment ID or order ID, expected quantity, observed quantity, supporting screenshots, and the relevant report row.
- Submit. Amazon usually responds within 7–14 days. If denied, reply once with additional evidence — do not chain multiple cases on the same issue.
Example scenario: 30k monthly revenue, 4 monthly shipments, 6% returns
Example scenario, not a customer case study. A brand doing roughly $30,000 in monthly Amazon revenue with 600 orders, 4 monthly inbound shipments, and a 6% return rate. Defaults: 0.5% lost/damaged rate, 2,500 on-hand units, 18 months selling, no prior claims filed.
Estimated total recoverable range: $1,500–$3,800 (low–high)
By category (typical):
- Lost inbound shipment estimate: $400–$900 (about 0.5–1.0% of inbound units value)
- Damaged-in-FC inventory estimate: $300–$700
- Return discrepancy estimate: $250–$600 (about 8–20% of returns have an open issue)
- Removal / disposal discrepancy: $50–$200
- Inventory adjustment risk: $500–$1,400 (about 0.05–0.15% of on-hand value)
Claim urgency: Medium. The 18-month window covers the full history, but no claims have been filed and the last review date is unknown. Filing the first case inside the window is the highest-leverage action.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is an Amazon FBA reimbursement?
An FBA reimbursement is a refund, replacement, or account credit Amazon issues when inventory under its control is lost, damaged, mishandled, returned, removed, or disposed of incorrectly. Eligibility, amount, and timing are determined by Amazon in Seller Central — this calculator returns a planning estimate, not a reimbursement guarantee.
How long do I have to file an FBA reimbursement claim?
Amazon's published guidance is that FBA inventory issues can be reported within 18 months of the event for most categories. The 18-month window applies from the date of the removal, damage, loss, return, or adjustment. Filing inside the window does not guarantee reimbursement — Amazon reviews each case individually. Use this calculator to estimate your exposure, then verify event dates and claim eligibility inside Seller Central.
What Amazon reports should I check before filing a reimbursement claim?
Open Seller Central › Reports › Fulfillment: Inventory Event Detail, Adjustments Report, Removal Order Detail, Returns Report, Reimbursements Report, and Shipment Detail (inbound). Cross-check expected vs received units, expected vs reimbursed units, and any open shipments with no receiving scan.
Does this calculator guarantee a reimbursement amount?
No. This is a planning estimator using documented Amazon category loss rates and your own inputs. Actual reimbursement depends on Amazon's review of each case, your supporting evidence, claim timing, and category-specific eligibility rules.
What categories does this estimator cover?
Lost inbound shipment, damaged-in-FC inventory, customer return discrepancy, removal/disposal discrepancy, and inventory adjustment. Each category uses a documented loss-rate range (low / mid / high) and your inputs to produce a low–high estimate. The total recoverable range is the sum of all five categories.
What if Amazon denies my claim?
You can reply once with additional evidence. Do not chain multiple cases on the same issue — that can slow resolution. Common denial reasons: missing shipment ID, missing ASIN, evidence outside the report, or claim outside the 18-month window.