Y O U R G U I D E T O B E I N G AStellar Seller
Amazon’s Inventory Reimbursement Policy
If you participate in the Amazon FBA program and send inventory into Amazon’s warehouses, Amazon takes responsibility for inventory that gets damaged or lost at a facility or by a carrier operated by Amazon or on Amazon’s behalf. In such instances, Amazon will replace it with a new item of the same FNSKU or will reimburse you in cash for that item.
For items to be eligible under this policy, they must meet ALL of the following criteria:
The item must be registered in the FBA program at the time of damage or loss.
The item must comply with all FBA requirements & restrictions.
You sent in the exact quantities you told Amazon you were sending in.
The item was not disposed of or pending disposal.
The item was not defective or customer damaged.
Your selling account must be in active status when filing a claim.
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What else does Amazon issue reimbursements for?
Amazon will reimburse for inventory removal claims that were lost or damaged by Amazon or the carrier Amazon used while removing inventory from a fulfillment center to your return shipping address. The damage or loss must have taken place AFTER the item left Amazon’s facility and must not have been returned due to violating Amazon’s T&C.
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Amazon will reimburse for specific instances relating to customer returns claims as well, as follows. A refund is when Amazon issues a customer credit for all or part of the cost of a purchased item. Sometimes Amazon may issue a refund without requiring the customer to send the item back.
Can you elaborate more on how Amazon customer returns reimbursements work?
Sure! To better understand this, let’s first gain a deeper understanding of how Amazon returns work in general. A customer return is when an item is returned by a customer to an Amazon fulfillment center. Amazon evaluates the condition of each returned item once it is returned. Sellable items are returned to your inventory to be resold again. If Amazon determines that the status of the item is unsellable due to being defective or damaged, then Amazon determines who caused that damage—Amazon or the customer? If it is determined that Amazon caused that damage, Amazon will reimburse you on that item for the return. If Amazon determines the damage or defect was caused by the customer, Amazon DOES NOT accept responsibility for that NOR will they reimburse you for it.
I see that Amazon reversed a reimbursement claim that was already paid for. Why?
Amazon reserves the right to reverse a reimbursement credit if they deem at a later time that a reimbursement was made in error, or if the reimbursed item was later found.
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How does Amazon calculate the value of reimbursements they issue?
If Amazon decides to reimburse you for a ship to Amazon claim (aka missing from inbound) or a fulfillment center operations claim, Amazon will reimburse you for the estimated sale price of the item (calculated using a number of factors that Amazon takes into consideration) MINUS referral and fulfillment fees. In other words, Amazon will reimburse you for what you would have netted on the sale of the item had it been sold.
If Amazon decides to reimburse you for a removal order claim, Amazon will reimburse you for what you would have netted on the sale of such an item (as mentioned above) assuming the item was in sellable condition. For items that were removed in unsellable condition, Amazon will reimburse you at a valuation consistent with what you would have netted on a discounted sale of that unit.
If Amazon decides to reimburse you for a customer return claim, Amazon will reimburse you based on the refund or replacement given to the customer on that particular order. This is calculated as the refund amount (or price of the replacement item) MINUS applicable fees.
If you review a Refund Sniper audit report and a reimbursement seems too low for that given item, bring it to our attention and we will work on getting that adjusted, provided it is within 90 days of when the reimbursement was issued (additional supporting documentation may be required).
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What is the time frame within which Amazon allows reimbursement claims to be filed?
For Missing from Inbound shipments, once the shipment becomes eligible for investigation (as can be found in the reconcile tab of the shipment), you have 9 months to submit your claim. For fulfillment center operations claims, Amazon allows 18 months from the date of the loss or damage to open these claims.
For inventory removal claims that were lost in transit back to the return shipping address, claims can be submitted after 14 days from the last recorded movement of the items and no later than 18 months from the date the item was removed from Amazon. For inventory removal claims that were damaged in transit, claims may be submitted as soon as the item is received and no later than 18 months from the date that the item was removed.
For customer return claims, you must wait 45 days from the date of the refund or replacement, and the claim must be opened within 18 months of that date as well.