Beat the Clock: Protect Your FBA Reimbursements Before Amazon’s October Deadline Hits

As we head into the most critical sales period for Amazon sellers, the pressure to maximize profits (and mitigate fees) is higher than ever. But while many sellers focus on boosting their holiday sales, there’s another crucial area they can’t afford to overlook —reimbursements. 

And with Amazon’s reimbursement window narrowing by nearly 90% on October 24, 2024, the clock is ticking.

Amazon Auto-Reimbursements: A Helpful but Imperfect System

Amazon’s auto-reimbursement pilot program was supposed to streamline the process for sellers, automating the recovery of inventory that gets lost or damaged in fulfillment centers. But while this program is a step in the right direction, it’s far from perfect. 

"As expected, Amazon’s auto-reimbursements are missing a significant portion of claims,” said Lee Loree, cofounder of Seller Investigators. “The shrinking timeframe for reimbursements just makes it even harder for sellers to recover what’s rightfully theirs."

Early reports from industry experts suggest that the new program is leaving behind approximately 40% of potential reimbursements, and some sellers are missing out on as much as 60%.

With the window for filing reimbursements shrinking to just a fraction of its previous length, sellers could be leaving significant money on the table.

Why the October 24 Deadline Matters

On October 24, 2024, the timeframe for filing reimbursement claims will be dramatically shortened. This means that sellers need to be even more vigilant when it comes to tracking their inventory and recovering lost funds.

For Amazon sellers, this change couldn’t come at a worse time. Q4 is known for higher sales volumes, but it’s also a period when errors in fulfillment centers are more likely to occur due to increased demand. In fact, in 2023 ChargeGuard reported that, on average, their customers saw Amazon fulfillment errors and related fees increase by 56% during Q4 (compared to Q1-Q3)​. 

This, combined with rising Amazon fees, can significantly cut into seller profits.

Stay Proactive with Seller Investigators

While Amazon’s auto-reimbursements may help, they simply don’t catch everything. During Q4, with inventory moving quickly and fulfillment centers under strain, proactive management is essential. This is where a third-party tool like Seller Investigators can help.

Seller Investigators help sellers recover every dollar owed to them, ensuring no claims go unnoticed. By staying on top of reimbursements and tracking potential losses, sellers can offset increasing fees and boost profitability during this high-risk, high-reward period.

Amazon vendors aren’t out of the woods either; for proactive root cause analysis and comprehensive lookback, check out ChargeGuard for 1P recovery.