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Amazon recently announced some significant upcoming changes to their Fulfillment by Amazon (FBA) reimbursement policies. These changes introduce a new automated system for reimbursing sellers. Amazon also announced a sharply reduced window of time for sellers to file reimbursement claims.
On October 23, 2024, Amazon sellers lose the ability to recover 16 months’ worth of profit losses:
Whether Amazon lost or damaged your items or jumped the gun on issuing refunds or replacements for bad returns, it won’t matter. They won’t return your money for any losses over 60 days old.
In this article, we’ll answer all your questions about these reimbursement policy changes. We'll cover what they are, how they will affect you, and what actions you can take for your business before they go into effect.
In short, Amazon will automatically reimburse sellers for products lost in an FBA warehouse. Likewise, most damaged item or customer return issues will result in automatic reimbursements. Take note! Amazon says they will reimburse “almost all” such cases. Reading between the lines, this means some cases won't be automatically reimbursed. There is little information on the specifics from Amazon. For now, these are the case types that won't be automatically reimbursed:
If you believe an item has been lost and Amazon does not reimburse it automatically, you’ll still need to submit a manual claim like you usually would.
Amazon sellers currently have up to 18 months to file reimbursement claims related to customer returns or items lost or damaged by Amazon. Starting on October 23, the eligibility windows for manual claims will be significantly reduced:
The stated goal of this automated system is to save sellers time and money, reducing the need to manually research lost items and file claims. However, this is a brand new, untested system. Depending on the accuracy of Amazon's ability to auto reimburse, this could benefit smaller businesses that don't have the capactiy to stay on top of their inventory or have not yet partnered with a reimbursement company like DimeTyd. However, thus far Amazon's track record is not 100% accurate, which they verify in their language, so sellers will still need to find the missed opportunities.
The eligibility window for reimbursement claims will shrink by 89% with this shift from 18 months of eligibility down to 60 days. As soon as this policy goes into effect on October 23, sellers will lose their right to up to 16 months of potential reimbursement claims. Again, here’s how big of a difference that makes overnight:
Keep in mind that automatic reimbursements don’t begin until November 1—and they aren’t retroactive. Don’t wait for Amazon to reimburse you for losses incurred any time between April 22, 2023, and September 2, 2024. They never will. They’ll simply make those dates ineligible, and your chance to recover your money will be gone for good if you don’t act now.
Fortunately, there is still time to take action and receive reimbursements on all your lost and damaged items from 2024 and most of 2023. You can do so by carefully reviewing your Amazon account on your own, or by enlisting the help of account auditing experts.
Before filing a reimbursement claim, you will need to find discrepancies between your active Amazon FBA inventory and what your records show the correct quantity of an item should be.
For example, if you sent ten units of a specific SKU to Amazon FBA warehouses and have sold eight, you should have two remaining in your FBA inventory. If you only have one unit available, you may be entitled to reimbursement for the lost unit. You will need to file a reimbursement claim that includes documentation highlighting this discrepancy.
Reviewing 18 months’ worth of data and filing claims for every discrepancy manually is a time-consuming process. And even if you are willing to take on the project, you are likely to miss potential reimbursements along the way.
Most sellers miss out on so many potential reimbursements that they get back 30% to 50% more in reimbursements when they take option B:
DimeTyd Sellers specializes in analyzing and auditing Amazon seller accounts. Reimbursement experts take care of every step of the process, using AI-powered technology to identify every potential reimbursement on your account and then filing the claims for you.
In addition to finding inventory discrepancies due to lost or damaged products, DimeTyd Sellers also checks for overcharged Amazon seller fees. And best of all, there is no upfront cost. You only pay a fraction of what DimeTyd recovers for you.
Get started with DimeTyd Sellers today to secure 100% of your potential reimbursements with a one-time cleanup before this 18-month window closes.
Want to learn more about Amazon FBA reimbursements and this new policy? Here are the answers to some of our customers’ most frequently asked questions.
The shortened eligibility window on reimbursement claims takes effect on October 23, 2024. Amazon will begin delivering proactive reimbursements on November 1, 2024.
No. Any potential reimbursements outside of the previous 60 days will no longer be claimable if those claims are not filed before the October 23 deadline. Starting on October 23, you will lose the right to file claims for losses for 16 months, going as far back as April 23, 2023. Automatic reimbursements will begin on November 1 and only go back as far as September 2, 2024.
It is unlikely. History with Amazon’s other automated tools suggests that there will still be discrepancies and losses that go unnoticed. Amazon has already admitted that some fulfillment center losses will not be reimbursed automatically. Some claim categories, such as removals, will not be covered at all.
Hold Amazon accountable. Retrieve all the money rightfully owed to you with continuous auditing from DimeTyd Sellers.
No changes to the FBA fees reimbursement policy have been announced. There will still be a 90-day window to submit your claims, and Amazon isn’t automating this process. DimeTyd Sellers’ Fee Protector will continue to identify discrepancies and file claims on behalf of sellers.
Don’t wait until you’ve lost all chances to recover 16 months’ worth of lost profits. Register for DimeTyd Sellers and get reimbursed before your money disappears for good!
