Amazon FBA reimbursement is the money Amazon owes you when it loses or damages your inventory, mishandles a return, or mis-processes an inbound shipment. Two things decide what you actually get in 2026: the valuation rule — inventory lost or damaged before a customer orders it is reimbursed at your product manufacturing (sourcing) cost, not the retail price — and the filing window, which for most case types is 60 calendar days. Miss the window and the money is gone; leave your sourcing cost unset and Amazon values the unit for you with its own estimate.
This guide covers the rules and the self-service process: what is eligible, what each deadline is, how to file a case, and how to set your sourcing cost so payouts are defensible. If what you want instead is a comparison of the companies that do this for you on commission, that is a separate question answered in our FBA reimbursement services roundup.
Policy details below were checked against Amazon’s official Seller Central announcements on 2026-07-30. Amazon revises these windows periodically — re-check the announcement links before relying on a specific day count.
What changed in 2024–2025 (and why old advice is wrong)
Three official changes in eighteen months reshaped how reimbursement works. Most guides written before 2025 describe a system that no longer exists.
1. Filing windows were tightened and standardised (effective September 5, 2024). Amazon published a per-case-type table of deadlines — 30, 60 and 75-day boundaries depending on what went wrong — replacing a far looser prior practice many sellers still assume applies.
2. Automatic reimbursements began (November 1, 2024), with an eligibility policy from October 23, 2024. Per Amazon’s announcement, Amazon began to “proactively reimburse you for Fulfillment by Amazon (FBA) items that are lost in our fulfillment centers.” Warehouse lost/damaged cases and customer-return cases fall largely under automation; removal claims and anything automation misses still require a manual case. This same update set the FBA customer returns window: claims “can be submitted between 60-120 days after the customer refund or replacement date.”
3. Pre-order losses moved to sourcing-cost valuation (effective March 31, 2025). Amazon’s policy update redefined the reimbursement basis as product manufacturing cost. The change was first announced for March 10, 2025, then pushed back — Amazon’s stated reason: “We made this change to give you more time to manage your costs through the Manage Your Sourcing Cost page.”
The practical consequence of change 3 is blunt: for a product you source at $6 and sell at $30, a unit lost in the warehouse now returns roughly your $6, not your $30. High-margin sellers took the largest hit, and the value of chasing individual small claims fell with it.
How FBA reimbursement is valued in 2026
Which valuation applies depends entirely on when the unit was lost or damaged.
| When the loss happened | Reimbursement basis |
|---|---|
| Before a customer order (in the fulfillment centre, inbound, or in storage) | Your product manufacturing cost |
| After a customer order (in transit, in returns processing) | Sales price minus applicable fees |
Amazon defines manufacturing cost as “your cost to source a product from a manufacturer, wholesaler, reseller, or produce the item if you are the manufacturer. It excludes costs such as shipping, handling, customs duties, or other costs.”
Read that exclusion list carefully, because it is where sellers lose money by accident. Your landed cost — the number you use for profit maths — includes freight and duty. The reimbursable manufacturing cost does not. If you upload landed cost as your sourcing cost, expect it to be questioned; if you upload only the factory unit price, that is the number Amazon works from. Get your unit economics straight first with the FBA fees and profit guide so you know which of your internal numbers is which.
You have two ways to set the value: accept Amazon’s own estimate, which it generates from comparable products, or submit your own costs on the Manage Your Sourcing Cost page inside the Inventory Defect and Reimbursement portal. Amazon confirmed that “All sellers will have access to this page by February 28, 2025, giving you time to review and submit your costs before the new policy takes effect.”
Submitting your own costs is the single highest-leverage thing in this guide, and it takes an afternoon once.
Claim windows by case type
Deadlines are per case type, not per account, and they start from different events — delivery date, ship date, refund date, or the date a unit’s status changed in your Inventory Adjustment report. This table transcribes the windows Amazon published in its September 5, 2024 filing-deadline announcement and its October 23, 2024 eligibility update:
| Case type | Filing window | Clock starts from |
|---|---|---|
| Units missing from an inbound shipment | No sooner than 15 calendar days, no later than 60 | Shipment delivery date |
| Inventory damaged at a fulfillment centre | Within 60 calendar days | Date marked “Damaged at Amazon fulfillment centers” |
| Misplaced inventory | Within 60 calendar days | Date marked “Misplaced” in the Inventory Adjustment report |
| Inventory lost at a fulfillment centre | Within 60 days | Date the item is reported lost |
| FBA customer returns | Between 60 and 120 days (cannot file before day 60) | Customer refund or replacement date |
| Removal shipment lost in transit | No sooner than 15 calendar days, no later than 75 | Shipment ship date |
| Removal shipment damaged or incomplete | Within 30 calendar days | Shipment delivery date |
| Other removal claims | Within 60 days | Date the shipment is delivered back to you |
Two traps live here. The first is the minimum wait: filing an inbound discrepancy on day 3 or a returns claim on day 30 gets the case closed as premature while the clock keeps running. The second is the 30-day removal window — half the length most sellers have memorised, on exactly the shipments nobody checks until the quarter closes.
What this policy does and does not cover
Covered by FBA inventory reimbursement:
- Units lost or damaged inside a fulfillment centre, including misplaced inventory
- Units missing or short-shipped on an inbound shipment that Amazon received
- Customer returns that were refunded but never came back, or came back damaged by the carrier or the warehouse
- Inventory lost or damaged during a removal or disposal order
Not covered by this policy, even though sellers routinely file them here:
- Fee overcharges from wrong dimensions or weight. A measurement dispute, not an inventory claim — check your unit’s tier against the FBA size tiers guide first, and re-check after any 2026 fee change.
- Customer-damaged returns. If the buyer damaged it, that is a return-policy outcome, not an Amazon error.
- A-to-z guarantee claims. Buyer-side claims are a separate process; see the A-to-z claims framework.
- Items removed for policy violations or expiry. Disposals you triggered are not reimbursable losses.
How to file a claim, step by step
- Pull the source reports. In Seller Central: the Reimbursements report, the Inventory Adjustments report, and your inbound shipment reconciliation. Everything you claim has to trace to a row in one of them.
- Check what Amazon already paid. Since automation started, many warehouse-loss cases settle before you notice them. Filing on a unit already reimbursed burns the window. Match by FNSKU and date first.
- Confirm the case is inside its window. Use the table above and file the still-live cases first.
- Assemble the evidence per case. Inbound discrepancies need the shipment ID, carrier proof of delivery, and the supplier invoice showing quantity shipped. Warehouse losses need the FNSKU and the adjustment-report row. Removal claims need the removal order ID and tracking.
- Verify your sourcing cost is on file for that FNSKU before the case is decided — valuation is applied at settlement, not at filing.
- Open one case per issue through the Inventory Defect and Reimbursement portal. Bundled FNSKUs get one generic answer that is hard to appeal.
- Track the outcome and check the amount. A settled case is not automatically a correct case. Compare the payout against quantity × your sourcing cost, and reply on the same case with the invoice if it is short.
Step 7 is where most recovered money actually comes from in 2026. Amazon’s automation pays quickly but not always fully, and an under-paid reimbursement never announces itself.
Auditing your own reimbursements
Reconciling Reimbursements against Inventory Adjustments by hand works up to a few hundred rows and then stops working. The tooling splits into two categories: managed services that audit and file on commission, and self-service tools that flag discrepancies for you to file.
On the self-service side, ReimburseOps takes a Seller Central CSV export plus an optional sourcing-cost sheet and flags four defect types — records with no matching cost, payouts below 90% of sourcing cost × quantity, inconsistent valuations for the same FNSKU, and cost fields that look like landed cost rather than manufacturing cost. It is a flat $19/month for Pro with a free tier that runs the full audit but shows only part of the record detail, it takes no commission on recoveries, and it does not file cases for you or connect to your Seller Central account (data checked 2026-07-27). Helium 10 bundles a refund finder into its higher plans; the tier and price are in the Helium 10 review (data checked 2026-07-21).
Whether a commission-based service beats doing it yourself depends on your recovery volume and the commission terms — the rates, clawback clauses, and real complaints are compared in the FBA reimbursement services roundup.
Common mistakes
- Leaving sourcing cost unset. Amazon’s estimate for a comparable product is not your cost, and it is usually the lower of the two. This is the default state for sellers who never opened the portal.
- Uploading landed cost as sourcing cost. Amazon’s definition excludes shipping, handling and duties. A cost figure that visibly includes freight invites rejection of the whole submission.
- Filing before the minimum wait. Inbound (15 days) and customer returns (60 days) both have floors. Early cases get closed, not queued.
- Assuming automation covers everything. It covers warehouse losses and much of returns. Removals, inbound discrepancies and under-payments are still on you.
- Never reconciling settled cases. Under-reimbursement is invisible unless you compare each payout against quantity × cost.
- Batching quarterly. With 30 and 60-day floors and ceilings, a quarterly reconciliation habit guarantees you file some cases after they expired. Monthly is the minimum viable cadence.
Reimbursement process checklist
- Sourcing cost submitted for every active FNSKU on the Manage Your Sourcing Cost page
- Cost figures are factory unit price only — no freight, duty or handling
- Supplier invoices archived and matched to FNSKU, ready to attach as evidence
- Monthly reconciliation of Reimbursements against Inventory Adjustments
- Inbound shipments reconciled between day 15 and day 60 of delivery
- Removal shipments checked within 30 days of arrival back
- Every settled reimbursement checked against quantity × sourcing cost
- Decided whether your volume justifies a commission service or a self-service audit
Frequently Asked Questions
How much does Amazon reimburse for lost FBA inventory in 2026?
For inventory lost or damaged before a customer order, Amazon reimburses your product manufacturing cost — what you paid to source or produce the unit, excluding shipping, handling and duties — under the policy effective March 31, 2025. For units lost or damaged after a customer order, the basis is the sales price minus applicable fees. If you have not submitted your own costs, Amazon applies its own estimate based on comparable products.
How long do I have to file an Amazon FBA reimbursement claim?
Most case types run on a 60-calendar-day window, but the exact boundary depends on the case. Inbound shipment discrepancies are filed between day 15 and day 60 of delivery, FBA customer returns between day 60 and day 120 of the refund, removal shipments lost in transit between day 15 and day 75 of shipping, and damaged or incomplete removal shipments within 30 days of delivery. All windows checked 2026-07-30.
Does Amazon reimburse automatically now?
Partly. Since November 1, 2024, Amazon proactively reimburses FBA items lost in its fulfillment centres without a claim, and automation also covers much of the customer-returns category. Removal claims and anything automation does not catch still need a manual case, and automated payouts still need to be checked for accuracy against your sourcing cost.
What is the Manage Your Sourcing Cost page?
It is the page inside the Inventory Defect and Reimbursement portal in Seller Central where you view and submit the sourcing cost Amazon uses to value your reimbursements. Amazon rolled it out to all sellers by February 28, 2025. Submitting your own costs there replaces Amazon’s comparable-product estimate for that FNSKU.
Should I file claims myself or use a reimbursement service?
If your recovery volume is small, or you or a VA can handle case filing, doing it yourself keeps 100% of the money and the process above is the whole job. If your account generates enough discrepancies that reconciliation is a real workload, a commission service can be worth its cut — compare rates and clawback terms in the services roundup before signing.
Conclusion
FBA reimbursement in 2026 rewards preparation over pursuit. The two decisions that determine your recovery are made before anything goes wrong: whether your sourcing costs are on file, and whether you reconcile often enough to stay inside 30 and 60-day windows. Automation has taken the easy cases off your desk and left the ones that need evidence and a deadline calendar. Start by submitting sourcing costs for your active FNSKUs, set a monthly reconciliation slot, and check settled amounts against your own numbers — the FBA fees and profit guide and the free FBA fee calculator will tell you which numbers those should be.