FBA Reimbursement Types: Seven Claims, Seven Windows

Sellers tend to talk about FBA reimbursements as one thing. Amazon does not. As reported for 2026, claims fall into roughly seven distinct types, and each carries its own evidence requirement and its own filing window. A claim filed under the wrong type, or after its specific window has closed, is denied on procedure rather than on merit.

That is where most recovered money is actually lost. Not to Amazon refusing a valid claim, but to a seller filing a warehouse-loss claim as a fee dispute, or discovering a discrepancy four months after the window for that category closed.

The second thing that changed the arithmetic: since March 2025, Amazon has reimbursed lost or damaged FBA inventory based on your manufacturing or sourcing cost rather than the selling price. Amazon estimates that cost using signals including your cost of goods, supplier invoices and comparable catalogue items. The practical effect is that a reimbursement no longer makes you whole on the margin you would have earned, only on what the unit cost you.

"Most denied claims were never weak claims. They were filed under the wrong category, or filed a week after that category's window shut."

— Tom Reiter, Product Research & Operations Specialist

Confirm every window and every rule below against Seller Central before acting. Amazon revises reimbursement policy periodically, and terms can differ by marketplace.

The table below sets out the reimbursement categories most sellers encounter, as reported for 2026. Filing windows have been reported to range from roughly 15 to 120 days depending on the claim type, with 60 days commonly cited for inventory claims. Because reporting on the exact windows is not consistent, treat these as a prompt to check rather than a deadline to rely on.

Before March 2025, a lost unit was generally reimbursed against its sale price. Since then, as reported, the basis is your manufacturing or sourcing cost. For a product sold at $40 that costs $9 to make, that is a materially different cheque, and it changes how much effort a claim is worth.

It also changes what you should be doing before a claim ever arises. Amazon estimates manufacturing cost from signals including your cost of goods, supplier invoices and comparable catalogue items. If your cost data in Seller Central is absent or wrong, the estimate is made without it. Sellers who keep supplier invoices current and cost fields populated are, in effect, setting the input to their own reimbursements.

The strategic read: reimbursement has shifted from a partial revenue recovery to a cost recovery. It protects you from carrying the loss on goods, not from losing the sale. That makes prevention, meaning accurate receiving, clean labelling and prompt reconciliation, worth more than it used to be relative to claim-chasing.

A reimbursement case is an evidence exercise, not a persuasion exercise. The claims that get paid identify the exact units, the exact event and the report that proves it. The claims that get denied describe a problem in general terms.

One caution on outside help: services that recover reimbursements on commission are legitimate and often worthwhile at volume, but Amazon has its own rules about third-party claim filing. Check the current policy before granting anyone access to file on your behalf.