Amazon Reimbursements for FBA Sellers: How to Get Your Money Back in 2023
Fulfillment by Amazon (FBA) makes it possible for almost anyone to earn money as an e-Commerce seller – even without having their own logistics, years of experience, or professional training in this area. But as it is with all great aspects of business, there are certain pitfalls to watch out for – tough processes of Amazon reimbursements being the case here in particular. The good news is that they’re easy to master with the right approach. It’s a fact: Amazon owes most FBA sellers money because of incorrect inventory counts and does not automatically refund it.
Shocking, but true: According to a Forbes report, Amazon was able to transport 2.5 billion shipments annually. Some of these items were, for example, lost, stolen, or destroyed during inbound shipment, in picking and packing, or during transit. So, how do you submit an Amazon reimbursement claim? Let’s get the ball rolling!
What Is the Reimbursement Policy on Amazon?
The procedure by which Amazon FBA sellers can ask for compensation for goods that have vanished or have been harmed while in Amazon’s care is known as the Amazon Reimbursement Policy.
You must fulfill certain requirements in order to be eligible for compensation.
Who Qualifies for Amazon Reimbursements?
Not all sellers are qualified for an Amazon FBA refund. You can use the following list to assess whether you qualify or not:
- Only non-defective items are eligible for an Amazon refund.
- Sellers are required to enter the proper shipment plan, which details the components and features of your goods.
- Sellers are required to use the Amazon FBA program to complete orders that are damaged or missing.
- Products can only be reimbursed by Amazon if they adhere to its rules and specifications.
- The goods must also adhere to FBA inventory criteria.
- You cannot ask Amazon to discard your product and then ask for a refund.
- You cannot be reimbursed for an item if Amazon has the right to dispose of it (due to expiration, for example).
- Your item will not be compensated if a consumer damages it and then returns it.
- Some products are principally not reimbursable. These include, for example, food including pet food, medicine, cosmetics, glassware, etc.
You may be qualified to get Amazon FBA compensation in any of the aforementioned ways. To ensure you know what to do in the event that Amazon misplaces one of your purchases, let’s now go over the Process of Amazon Reimbursements in detail.
How Do I File a Claim With Reimbursement From Amazon?
It’s a common question we hear. You can ask Amazon for the money you think it owes you due to inventory discrepancies and errors by filing an Amazon reimbursement claim. For example, if a customer receives a refund even though they didn’t return the item, Amazon can owe you money. More on the reasons later.
The Amazon FBA Refund Procedure
You must submit an inventory report for every individual claim if Amazon has lost any of your goods. You will be required to submit the following data for this report:
- The seller ID for Amazon.
- The ASIN of each misplaced item.
- The total amount of each lost product.
- What caused the loss? (Amazon item is damaged, missing, or destroyed)
- Following your completion of the Amazon inventory report, Amazon will examine it and decide if you qualify for reimbursement.
- If one of their Associates made a mistake or accidentally lost your item, Amazon will handle the Amazon FBA seller’s claim for that loss of product.
- You may file a complaint if Amazon rejects your claim.
- To ensure that you receive compensation for your product loss, you must adhere to Amazon’s specific Amazon Reimbursement Process.
- To ensure that you receive payment, always read Amazon’s instructions carefully and complete the Amazon FBA reimbursement report.
- You can submit an Amazon FBA seller reimbursement claim if one of your products has been misplaced by Amazon in order to be compensated for the loss.
The Reasons to Request Amazon Reimbursements
Items Are Lost by Amazon During Inbound Shipping
During Amazon’s inbound delivery procedure, products may go missing. This can occur if Amazon purchases goods from a source and has them delivered to an Amazon warehouse.
Items Are Lost by Amazon During Outbound Shipping
Additionally, sellers need to be aware of Amazon’s reimbursement policy for warehouse employee errors. Product loss during shipping to the consumer is covered by this policy, which may occur for a number of reasons. When loading your purchases onto shipping vehicles, Amazon employees could misplace your shipment or scan the wrong product barcode.
Following a Shipment’s Arrival at a Warehouse, Amazon Loses Items
Your eligibility for an Amazon reimbursement may depend on whether Amazon receives your products at one of its warehouses but the missing items are discovered after Amazon unpacks the shipment.
The “sorting” and “selecting” stages are where Amazon Associates lose products most frequently.
During Delivery to Clients or Amazon Warehouse Returns, an Item Was Damaged
Every time Amazon staff members pick and box your orders, they do so quickly and effectively.
That’s why Amazon employees occasionally make mistakes. These mishaps could harm your products, making you liable for payment. During order fulfillment by Amazon or during delivery of customer returns by carriers, your FBA inventory may be destroyed. Another typical area for Amazon’s FBA reimbursement is this one.
The Amazon Seller Central Damaged Inventory Report Contains Information on the Damaged Items
- Sellers are protected from these situations by the Amazon FBA lost and damaged policy.
- Products misplaced at the fulfillment facility
- Merchandise harmed in the fulfillment facility
- Items that are damaged or lost while being transported to the client from the fulfillment center
- deliveries that are damaged or lost while en route to fulfillment centers (for FBA)
- the last 30 days’ worth of missing goods from fulfillment centers
You must keep a close eye on these circumstances to determine whether Amazon has reimbursed you. When an employee damages your item, Amazon may file a claim on your behalf and reimburse you for the damage.
Amazon Destroyed Inventory Products Without Your Knowledge or Consent
This is another case when you can claim Amazon reimbursements. Certain inventory items may occasionally be destroyed without the seller’s knowledge or permission. When a consumer sends back a damaged item that has previously been ruled unfit for sale, it takes place. The value of the item that was destroyed should be reimbursed to you by Amazon, however, occasionally the payments are never made. You must verify that FBA reimbursements are handled on your end.
The Item Wasn’t Returned by the Client – He Still Gets Refunded
Any e-commerce company deals with customer returns on a regular basis. For FBA sellers, Amazon handles customer returns and refunds. Customers occasionally receive an Amazon refund without having to return the item.
Since there are so many returns processed each day, reimbursement claims in this category are more common.
Within the allocated period, Amazon must fix the problem. You can file a reimbursement claim to receive your money back if it doesn’t succeed in doing so.
The most frequent cause for Amazon reimbursement claims is customers being refunded without the order actually being returned. It is also one of the issues that Amazon staff members and sellers encounter most frequently. Here are a few justifications for submitting a refund claim:
- Customers who received refunds but didn’t return the purchase can do so if they’re unhappy with it or it was damaged when it arrived. There were instances where the consumer chose not to return the goods even though they had been paid in full for them.
- A consumer might request a replacement for their order if they did not return the original item. The customer received the replacement item, just as in the scenario described above, but did not send the first item back.
- The consumer successfully returned the item, but Amazon did not add it back to your inventory, therefore it was not reported as returned.
- Customers may receive the erroneous refund amount or the incorrect price for the item they ordered. They could receive two times what they spent on the goods.
- Restocking fee that is not credited: For some returns, Amazon assesses a 20% restocking fee to the buyer. After deducting the cost from your account, they would send you a refund and then refill the purchase. They occasionally fail to repay you, though.
The consumer successfully returned the item, but Amazon did not add it back to your inventory, therefore it was not reported as returned.
Customers may receive the erroneous refund amount or the incorrect price for the item they ordered. They could receive two times what they spent on the goods.
Restocking fee that is not credited: For some returns, Amazon assesses a 20% restocking fee to the buyer. After deducting the cost from your account, they would send you a refund and then refill the purchase. They occasionally fail to repay you, though.
Incorrect Number of Orders Received From Consumers
No matter how diligent you are, incorrect order processing is impossible to prevent. The quantity of goods buyer orders may be doubled or tripled. The unfortunate thing is that neither Amazon nor the customer will mail the extra items back to you once they realize the issue. You must identify inconsistencies in your inventory and order information to prevent this from happening. Once you are fully aware of the situation, you can consider filing a claim for Amazon reimbursements.
Fees for Amazon FBA
Amazon FBA offers benefits and drawbacks. The various Amazon FBA fees that must be paid are one of the drawbacks. Storage fees, fulfillment fees, and commission fees are just a few of the FBA costs that sellers are obliged to pay. The costs will vary according to the item’s category, size, or kind of shipping package. There are situations when you are overcharged or given the incorrect fee. You have the right to compensation for the sum that was taken from you as a result of these overcharges because they can add up.
Operations at the Fulfillment Center
Your products might have been misplaced or harmed at an Amazon fulfillment center or another third-party location run by the online retailer, according to your “Inventory Adjustments report.” In that instance, you have up to 18 months from the day the loss or damage was notified to submit a refund claim.
You need to pay great attention to the problem. Check your “Inventory Adjustments report” to make sure the date and correction code for the item in question’s loss or damage are correct. Verify that the item wasn’t recovered and/or picked up in a sellable or damaged condition based on the information in the “Inventory with Fulfillment by Amazon.”
Now check the progress of each refund in “Fulfillment Center Operations” or on the Seller Central “Get support” page. Send an inquiry if necessary. Enter the so-called Transaction Item ID (TRID) in the relevant Amazon tool to report damaged merchandise. The FNSKU should be entered for lost items. Amazon may request further information, such as the date or location of the damage or loss. Both can be found in the “Inventory Adjustments report.”
Read more on how to file a claim on Amazon in our blog.
Claim Amazon Reimbursements Efficiently and Save Time with SELLERLOGIC
As you already understand, unclaimed FBA mistakes result in substantial financial losses. So it’s crucial to report missing or damaged items on Amazon.
FBA problems cannot be detected without smart automation; otherwise, it would take a lot of work. If you do not put up this effort on behalf of your business, there is a high risk that unclaimed refunds will cost you a lot of money, even 6-digit Amazon reimbursements are possible for big sellers.
The majority of people lack the expertise and/or the time required to manually study each minute detail, combine the required reports, and decipher problems. Because of this, medium-sized businesses that use FBA may suffer annual losses of several thousand euros. By highlighting the FBA problems, SELLERLOGIC assists you in data preparation, case documentation, and interaction with Amazon.
All FBA transactions are immediately analyzed by Lost & Found, which always discloses any disguised Amazon reimbursement claims.
In Lost & Found, each noticeable transaction is created as a distinct transaction. The current status of your results is displayed in four separate case stages: New Cases, In Progress (Response from Amazon pending), In Review (Response from SELLERLOGIC pending), and Closed. Finding the data you’re looking for is simple thanks to the many filtering options.
The tool does intricate calculations and analyses while you go about your everyday business. Get precise information so you can start your cases for Amazon reimbursements. You can support your claims if the cost-benefit ratio is appropriate. Check it out today!
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