Is Amazon Keeping Your Profit? The 2026 Beginner’s Guide to FBA Reimbursements
You work hard to source products, optimize listings, and manage your inventory. But if you are selling on Amazon, there is a silent "tax" eating away at your bottom line: FBA errors.
When you use "Fulfillment by Amazon" (FBA), you trust Amazon to store, pick, pack, and ship your items. Most of the time, they are incredible at it. However, when you move millions of items across hundreds of warehouses, things go wrong. Boxes get dropped, items vanish during transit, and sometimes, customers get a refund without ever returning the product.
If you don't ask for that money back, Amazon keeps it. This process of getting your money back is called FBA Reimbursement.
In this guide, we’ll break down exactly how this works in 2026, why it happens, and how you can claim what is rightfully yours, without needing a degree in logistics.
What Exactly is an FBA Reimbursement?
Think of an FBA reimbursement like a "bank error in your favor" - except you have to be the one to point it out.
When Amazon loses or damages your inventory while it’s under their control, their own policy states they must either replace the item with a new one or pay you the "fair market value" for it.
Fair market value isn't just what you paid for the item (your cost); it’s generally the price you would have sold it for, minus the Amazon referral and fulfillment fees. In short, they buy the lost or broken item from you.
The 4 Main Reasons Amazon Owes You Money
While there are dozens of technical reasons for a claim, 90% of all reimbursements fall into these four simple buckets:
Lost in the Warehouse: An item was scanned into a shelf in California but hasn't been seen since.
Damaged by Amazon: A warehouse worker accidentally runs over a pallet with a forklift or drops a fragile box.
The "Ghost" Refund: A customer tells Amazon they want a refund. Amazon gives them the money back immediately. However, the customer never actually mails the item back to the warehouse. After 45 days, Amazon is supposed to charge the customer again or pay you - but they often forget.
Inbound Mess-ups: You sent 100 units to Amazon, but they only checked in 95. Those 5 missing units are your money sitting in limbo.
Why Doesn't Amazon Just Pay Me Automatically?
Amazon does have automated systems to catch these errors. However, these systems aren't perfect. In 2026, with the sheer volume of global e-commerce, billions of transactions are happening. Automated scripts often miss "edge cases," such as items that were misclassified or returns that were marked as "sellable" when they were actually broken.
As a seller, the burden of proof is on you. If you don't catch the error and open a "case" (a help ticket) with Amazon, the money eventually stays in their pocket.
The "Claim Window": Timing is Everything
In 2026, Amazon has tightened the rules on how long you have to ask for your money back. For most warehouse-related issues, you generally have 60 to 90 days to file a claim. If you wait six months to audit your account, you might find thousands of dollars in errors that are now "expired," meaning Amazon is no longer legally required to pay you back.
How to Get Started (The Simple Way)
You don't need to be a data scientist to start recovering funds. Here is a basic 3-step approach:
Step 1: Download your Reports. Go to your "Reports" tab in Seller Central and look for "Fulfillment." Download your Inventory Ledger and Customer Returns reports.
Step 2: Cross-Reference. Look for items that were "Adjusted" (removed from inventory) without a corresponding sale or return.
Step 3: Open a Case. Send a polite message to Amazon Support with the Transaction ID and proof that the item was lost or damaged.
Why Most Sellers Struggle
The reason most sellers don't do this is time. Comparing thousands of rows of spreadsheet data is exhausting. Many sellers try to do it once a year, realize how much work it is, and give up, effectively giving Amazon a 1% to 3% discount on their total annual revenue.
Final Thoughts
FBA reimbursements aren't a "bonus", they are your money. In a world where shipping costs and advertising fees are constantly rising, protecting your margins is the difference between a struggling business and a thriving one.