The Amazon FBA Inventory Reimbursement Guide [2025]
FBA Inventory Reimbursements are both a blessing and a curse for marketplace sellers. On one hand, sellers receive money back that they are rightfully owed; on the other hand, the manual case analysis and submission process is incredibly time-consuming and hardly cost-effective to handle manually.
This blog post, clarifies the new guidelines for FBA reimbursements and how sellers can boost their ROI by automating case analysis and submission.
New Guidelines for Amazon FBA Sellers as of January 2025: Here Is What You Need to Know
Shortened Application Deadlines
Previously, sellers had up to 18 months to apply for a refund due to an FBA error for many case types. This period will now be reduced to an average of 60 days. As a result, sellers using Fulfillment by Amazon (FBA) now have significantly less time to submit claims to Amazon.
This reduction will most likely be a challenge for many sellers who had workflows designed around the 18-month window. By January 2025, sellers will need to process all their refund claims and submit them to Amazon to receive the full amount they are entitled to. This timeframe is likely to be extremely tight for those who have not kept up with their refund management.
These are the new deadlines for Amazon FBA inventory reimbursements:
FBA sellers who don’t act immediately risk losing up to three percent of their annual gross sales.
Proactive Compensation for Items Lost in Fulfillment Centers
Starting mid-January, Amazon will enhance its FBA service. As of January 15, 2025, the company will proactively compensate third-party sellers for items lost in their logistics centers. In such cases, a separate application will no longer be necessary.
While this is good news for sellers, this proactive compensation does not cover all scenarios. If an item is lost or damaged and no automated refund is triggered, sellers will still need to submit a manual request to Amazon. The manual application process will also continue to apply for return requests.
Sellers who don’t analyze their FBA reports and check for FBA errors can’t be certain that they will actually receive the refunds to which they are entitled.
What Does This Mean for Retailers?
Many Amazon sellers view the policy adjustment negatively. Although some case types are now reimbursed proactively, the shortening of the application deadlines is a significant concern. Additionally, sellers cannot rely solely on proactive refunds, meaning they still need to closely monitor their inventory.
FBA sellers should therefore act now and address their refund management needs. Fortunately, this doesn’t have to mean weeks of tedious work.
SELLERLOGIC Lost & Found Full-Service is the professional solution from the European market leader in FBA audits, providing expert analysis of Amazon FBA inventory reimbursements. Especially in a tightening regulatory environment, using automations like Lost & Found is crucial to save time and resources while maximizing ROI.
What Types of FBA Errors Can Happen?
During the processes involved in storing and shipping items, various errors can occur that make FBA inventory reimbursements necessary. Here are some of the most common types of errors:
Conclusion
The new FBA guidelines from January 2025 pose major challenges for Amazon sellers. The drastic shortening of the deadlines for reimbursement requests requires quick and precise action, otherwise there is a risk of significant financial losses. Even though Amazon proactively compensates for some types of errors, the responsibility for Amazon FBA inventory reimbursements remains with the merchants in many cases.
This makes it all the more important to establish an efficient and automated refund management system. Tools such as SELLERLOGIC Lost & Found offer an optimal solution for systematically analyzing FBA errors, meeting deadlines and claiming refunds in full. The use of such technologies is crucial when it comes to saving time and resources while maximizing ROI.
The message is clear: retailers who act now and optimize their FBA reimbursement management will also be successful in 2025.
FAQs
An FBA inventory reimbursement is a reimbursement from Amazon for loss or damage to a third-party seller’s inventory caused by Amazon’s error.
Amazon will refund the purchase or wholesale price of a product if it is lost or damaged at a fulfillment center or if a customer does not return the item properly.
FBA storage fees are the costs that Amazon charges for the storage of products from a third-party seller in the FBA logistics centers. These depend on volume, weight and storage duration.
Amazon charges between €0.25 and €1.06 per item, depending on the size and weight of the product.
Picture credits: © Visual Generation – stock.adobe.com
