Recovered a meaningful chunk of money this quarter from FBA reimbursements and want to demystify it, because a lot of sellers leave this money on the table.
Amazon owes you when THEY lose or damage your inventory in their warehouse, when a customer return isn’t returned to sellable but you were charged, when they over-charge weight/dimension fees, etc.
My process:
- Reconcile inbound shipments (sent vs received) - this is the #1 source.
- Check your inventory adjustment / reimbursement reports for items marked lost/damaged that were never auto-reimbursed.
- Review removal orders - units that left but never arrived back.
- For anything not auto-reimbursed, open a case with specifics: shipment ID, SKU, quantity, dates.
Amazon does auto-reimburse some of this now, but not all of it, and the policy windows have tightened, so don’t sit on discrepancies. There are also reimbursement service tools/agencies that do this for a cut if you don’t want to DIY.
Keep your numbers tight and you’ll be surprised what’s owed.
this. i ignored reimbursements my first 2 years and probably left thousands on the table. now i reconcile monthly. the inbound discrepancies alone covered way more than i expected.
Note the time windows. Amazon has shortened how long you have to file for a lot of these. “I’ll get to it eventually” can mean the claim window closes and you’re out of luck. Calendar reminder, monthly, non negotiable.
is it worth using one of those reimbursement agencies or is it easy enough to diy for a smaller seller?
@sidehustlesara at your volume, DIY. The reports aren’t that scary once you do it once, and the agencies take a percentage that only makes sense when the dollar amounts are large. Do it yourself a couple times, and if it becomes a time sink as you grow, then revisit a tool. Just don’t ignore it entirely - that’s the only real mistake.
in supplements the damaged/expired angle matters too - if amazon damages units or a return comes back unsellable, that can be reimbursable. i reconcile monthly like lena. the inbound discrepancies alone have covered real money for me. dont sleep on this, especially if your units have any value.