Here's a fact that surprises most Amazon sellers: Amazon loses, damages, or mishandles inventory regularly — and they owe you money for it. But they won't tell you. You have to find and claim it yourself.
In our analysis of a single seller account, we detected 31 potential claims worth $8,888 in just 90 days. That's real money sitting on the table.
The 4 Types of Reimbursement Claims
1. Unreturned Refunds ($4,003 detected)
This is the most common type. Here's what happens:
- A customer requests a return
- Amazon immediately refunds the customer
- The customer never actually sends the item back
- Amazon doesn't notice — and you eat the cost
Amazon's policy says customers have 45 days to return items. After that, Amazon should reimburse you. But the "should" is doing a lot of heavy lifting — they often don't, unless you file a claim.
How to detect: Compare your Returns report with your Reimbursements report. Any refund issued more than 45 days ago with no corresponding return or reimbursement = money owed to you.
2. Lost Inventory ($575 detected)
Amazon's warehouses are massive — and things get lost. Your inventory can disappear during:
- Inbound receiving (your shipment arrives but units are "missing")
- Warehouse transfers between fulfillment centers
- Simply vanishing from inventory counts
How to detect: Check your Inventory Ledger for entries with event type "Adjustments" — specifically "Lost" or "Found" events. If units were marked as lost and no reimbursement followed, file a claim.
3. Warehouse-Damaged Inventory
Amazon warehouse workers handle millions of packages daily. Sometimes your product gets damaged in their warehouse — by a forklift, during shelf stacking, or during picking/packing.
When Amazon damages your inventory, they should reimburse you automatically. But "should" and "do" are different things.
How to detect: Look for "Damaged - Warehouse" events in your Inventory Ledger. Cross-reference with reimbursements to find gaps.
4. Reversal Analysis ($4,310 detected)
This is the sneakiest one. Amazon sometimes issues a reimbursement and then claws it back (reverses it). They might reverse a reimbursement weeks or months later, often without a clear reason.
How to detect: Look for reimbursement entries with negative amounts in your Reimbursements report. Each reversal should have a valid reason — if it doesn't, you can dispute it.
Claim Deadlines — Act Fast
| Claim Type | Deadline |
|---|---|
| Unreturned refunds | 45-90 days after refund |
| Lost inbound shipments | 9 months from shipment |
| Lost/damaged in warehouse | 18 months from event |
| Customer return issues | 60-90 days from return |
| Overcharged fees | 90 days from charge |
Miss these deadlines and the money is gone forever. This is why automated detection is so important — you can't manually check hundreds of transactions every week.
How to File a Claim in Seller Central
- Go to Seller Central → Help → Get Support
- Select "Selling on Amazon" → "Fulfillment by Amazon"
- Choose the relevant issue type (lost inventory, customer return, etc.)
- Provide the specific transaction IDs, ASINs, dates, and amounts
- Submit and track the case
Pro tip: Be specific and provide evidence. Don't say "I think some inventory is missing." Say "Order #XXX was refunded on [date], customer return was not received by [date+45], no reimbursement issued. Please reimburse per FBA policy."
How SellerPulse Automates Detection
SellerPulse runs 4 detection algorithms on your actual Amazon data:
- Unreturned Refund Scanner — finds refunds where the customer never returned the item
- Lost Inventory Detector — flags inventory adjustments with no matching reimbursement
- Warehouse Damage Finder — identifies Amazon-damaged stock that wasn't reimbursed
- Reversal Analyzer — catches clawbacks that may be disputable
One click syncs your data from Amazon's SP-API, runs all 4 detectors, and shows you exactly which claims to file — with pre-written templates you can copy-paste into Seller Central.