Amazon FBA Reimbursements: The 60-Day Trap

For years, FBA sellers could afford to be relaxed about reimbursements. With an 18-month window, a quarterly clean-up was enough to catch lost and damaged units and file the claims. That era is over. According to Amazon's forum announcement dated 23 October 2024, the standard claim window has been shortened to around 60 days for most case types. If you still work on a monthly or quarterly rhythm, you are almost certainly leaving money on the table – because by the time you look, the cases have already expired.

Why 60 days changes everything

Sixty days sounds generous until you map it against how most sellers actually operate. A loss appears in your inventory adjustments today, but you might not open a report for three or four weeks. Add the time it takes to reconcile, gather invoices and file, and a large slice of your window is already gone before you start. The shift from 18 months to 60 days does not just tighten the deadline – it forces a completely different operating model. Reimbursements move from an occasional housekeeping task to a standing weekly process. Regularity is now the single most important factor: miss a week or two and you begin to lose eligible cases permanently.

The deadlines at a glance

There is no single 60-day rule – different case types have different windows, and several have a blocking period at the start where a claim filed too early is simply rejected. As of July 2026, the framework announced by Amazon looks like this. Always treat the version in your own Seller Central as binding.

• Warehouse lost or damaged: Up to 60 days after the reporting date. The starting point is the day the loss or damage appears in the system – not the day you notice it.
• Customer returns: A blocking window from day 60 to day 120 after the refund was issued to the customer. Amazon will not accept the case before day 60, and after day 120 it has expired.
• Removals and transit loss: Day 15 to day 75 from when the shipment request was created. Here too there is a blocking period at the start – file too early and it is rejected.
• Removals, other cases: 60 days from the return of the goods to you or to the address you specified.

Notice the pattern: some windows are a straight countdown, others are a bracket with both a floor and a ceiling. Getting the timing wrong in either direction costs you the claim.

The customer-returns window in detail

Customer returns are the case type that trips sellers up most often, because the logic runs against instinct. When a customer is refunded but the unit never comes back – or comes back damaged – you naturally want to file straight away. Amazon, however, will not look at the case until day 60 has passed, because until then the customer's own return period is still running. The unit could still legitimately arrive back in stock.

So the correct behaviour is counter-intuitive: wait. File between day 60 and day 120 after the refund date. File before day 60 and you get an automatic rejection; file after day 120 and the case is gone. The practical answer is a watch-list – log the refund date, add 60 days, and only submit once the case matures. Do not treat an early rejection as a final answer; treat it as a signal to put the case on hold and revisit it inside the window.

Do not rely on automatic reimbursement

According to Amazon's announcement, automatic reimbursement for units lost inside the fulfilment centre has been available since 1 November 2024. That is genuinely helpful, but it is not a reason to switch off. The automation does not fire in every case, and where it fails to fire, the 60-day window still applies to a claim you would then have to open yourself.

Valuation: cost of goods vs. sale price

How much you get back depends on when the loss happened relative to the sale. Amazon announced a change for the US marketplace in March 2025, moving certain valuations to a cost-of-goods basis rather than the retail value.

• Loss before the customer order: Valued at the cost of goods – the pure procurement price without additional costs.
• Loss or damage after the order: Still valued at the sale price minus Amazon fees.

Log your own procurement costs

Where valuation is based on cost of goods, the figure Amazon uses matters a great deal. You can either accept Amazon's estimate or supply your own value. The cost of goods is the pure procurement price you pay the manufacturer or wholesaler – excluding freight, handling and customs duty.

In most cases, logging your own invoice-backed cost is the better choice. An estimated value handed to you by Amazon can easily sit below what you actually paid, and every unit reimbursed below cost is a small, silent loss. Keep your supplier invoices tidy and findable so that, when a case arises, you can substantiate the figure instead of accepting someone else's guess.

Build the weekly routine

With a 60-day window, the reimbursement process has to become a fixed part of your week. Here is a simple, repeatable routine that keeps every case inside its window.

• 1. A fixed appointment: A recurring weekly slot in the calendar. Not "when I have time" – with 60 days, regularity is half the battle.
• 2. Pull the discrepancies: Filter Inventory Adjustments for "Lost – Warehouse" and "Damaged – Warehouse", and reconcile against the Inventory Ledger.
• 3. Check against reimbursements: Put the Reimbursements Report alongside them: what has already been reimbursed automatically, and what is missing?
• 4. Returns on the watch-list: Do not file customer-return cases immediately – submit them from day 60. Keep a list with the refund date plus the due date.
• 5. Document everything: Record every submitted case with its date and reference – ready for the cross-check the following week.

Which reports you need

A clean reimbursement routine rests on three reports, each doing a specific job:

• Inventory Ledger: The full picture of all stock movements – your baseline for reconciliation.
• Inventory Adjustments: Filtered by the reasons "Lost – Warehouse" and "Damaged – Warehouse", this surfaces the losses and damage that generate claims.
• Reimbursements Report: The cross-check for reimbursements that have already been paid, so you only chase what is genuinely outstanding.

Everything you need lives natively in Seller Central. You do not need a third-party service to run this – you need a fixed slot in the calendar, the discipline to keep it, and clean documentation of every case you file.

Common mistakes to avoid

• Checking too late: Anyone working on a monthly or quarterly rhythm will only find expired cases. Switch to a weekly rhythm.
• Filing returns too early: Before day 60 a customer return is rejected. Do not treat the rejection as a final result – put it on the watch-list and file inside the window.
• Trusting the automation blindly: Actively verify automatic reimbursements. If one fails to appear, open a case yourself – within the 60 days.
• Accepting Amazon's estimate: Log your own procurement costs and back them with invoices, rather than accepting a figure set for you.
• No evidence: Without invoices and report extracts a case is hard to substantiate. Store your evidence cleanly and where you can find it.

Frequently asked questions