Hi all,

Curious to hear what other sellers think about this situation – it's something that’s come up repeatedly for us, and I suspect we’re not alone.

Here’s the scenario:

A customer initiates a return on an FBA order. The item is never actually returned to Amazon. After 45 days, Amazon reimburses us – but for far less than the original sale price.

Example:

• Sale Price: £8.99
• Reimbursement Amount: £2.67
• Commission Refund: £1.34 (Amazon keeps 20%, i.e. £0.33)

So, Amazon fulfils the order, the customer never sends the item back, and we end up with a fraction of the sale value reimbursed. To add salt to the wound, Amazon even keeps a portion of the fees.

When we query this, they refer us to their Lost and Damaged Inventory Reimbursement Policy and the FBA Customer Returns Reimbursement Policy. The latter states:

"If customer does not return your item to an Amazon fulfillment centre within 45 days of the refund (return less refund), we will issue a reimbursement and credit your account for the item."

But here’s the issue: nothing has really changed. The item was never returned. The customer kept it. So in practice, the sale went ahead – yet we’re reimbursed as if it was some bargain-bin reject. Where’s the fairness in that?

The reimbursement amount seems arbitrary, and there’s no transparency or consistency in how it's calculated. Challenging it through support has been a dead end so far.

We’re currently building a case on this, but holding off pushing it formally until our busy season winds down. In the meantime, we’d really appreciate hearing from others – has anyone had success challenging these underpayments, or noticed any patterns or loopholes?

Would love to compare notes and see how widespread this is.

Thanks ;-)