Roughly one in five FBA shipments arrives short. Amazon will not tell you which one.

Key takeaways

• One reconciliation vendor puts the share of FBA shipments arriving with some discrepancy at roughly 20% — a vendor estimate, not an Amazon figure. Amazon does not proactively flag them — identifying them is the seller's job.
• Claims can only be filed once a shipment reaches Closed status, and there is a waiting period before that. Filing early gets the case declined rather than queued.
• The claim window is Amazon's: shipment-to-Amazon claims can be filed between 15 and 60 days from the shipment's delivery date (policy of September 5, 2024). The nine-month figure still circulating describes the rule before that date.
• Documentation must be in non-editable formats — PDF, JPG, JPEG, PNG or TIFF. Excel and Word files are not accepted.
• Since March 31, 2025 reimbursement is at documented sourcing cost rather than sale price, so what you recover depends on records you entered before the loss happened.

Sixty days. That is how long you have from the delivery date to claim units that never arrived, and Amazon will not tell you which shipment is short. The reimbursement guide covers what a lost unit is worth. This covers the losses that happen before the unit ever reaches your sellable inventory — and they are the ones nobody counts.

01The three situations

inbound discrepancies into three shapes that follow the same rules:

Short receiving. You shipped a quantity, Amazon received fewer, and the shipment closes with a gap.

Delivered but not fully received. The carrier shows delivery; Amazon never checks in all the units tied to that shipment.

Investigation completed, units still missing. Amazon finishes its internal count and closes the shipment, and the received quantity still does not match.

All three are your problem to notice. One source is direct: Amazon does not proactively flag discrepancies for you.

02Where to look

Manage FBA Shipments, under Inventory. The Discrepancy column in the shipping queue is the whole check: a 0 means everything was received as expected; any other number, positive or negative, is a mismatch.

Only Closed shipments count. Reporting is consistent that Amazon will not investigate shipments still marked Receiving or Delivered, because the counts are not final. The reconciliation tab shows an estimated eligibility date — do not open a case before it.

Then go to SKU level. The contents view breaks expected against received per SKU rather than per shipment, which tells you which product is short and by how many. Selecting the located-units figure shows whether Amazon has already reconciled or reimbursed part of it.

And check the reports’s list:

Report	What it shows
Inventory Reconciliation	What Amazon received against what is in current inventory
Reimbursements	What has already been credited automatically
Returns	Customer returns and their disposition status

Cross-referencing those three finds units that were received or sold but are missing without a corresponding credit.

03The claim window, which nobody agrees on

Amazon set it on September 5, 2024, and the two numbers still circulating are the before and after:

Claim type	Window (Amazon policy)
Missing units from a shipment to Amazon	15 to 60 days from the shipment delivery date
Lost or damaged in a fulfillment center	60 days from the date the adjustment appears
Removal order lost in transit	15 to 75 days from removal creation
Customer return not received back	60 to 120 days after the refund

The nine-month figure in older articles was the pre-September 2024 rule. A seller still working to it will discover the change on a claim declined for lateness.

The safe operating position follows from the window: a monthly review of closed shipments, weekly for high-volume sellers. At that cadence the disagreement stops mattering, because nothing ages past either window.

Reporting on resolution time puts it at 2 to 30 days, with complicated cases up to 60.

04What a claim needs

Reported requirements, and the second one catches people:

Proof of what you sent. For larger shipments, documentation showing the number of boxes and total weight at carrier pickup. Signed packing slips are named for manufacturers, with date, shipment ID, product names, quantities and your signature or stamp.

Non-editable formats only. PDF, JPG, JPEG, PNG or TIFF. Excel and Word files are not accepted — which is how a well-evidenced claim gets rejected on a technicality. You may redact pricing on invoices.

Specifics that help the investigation: any discrepancies you already know about, a description of your shipping boxes (color, size, distinguishing marks), product codes verified against Seller Central, and any missed prep activities.

The route: Seller Central → Help → Contact Us → Selling on Amazon → FBA Issue → FBA inventory reimbursement, with the ASIN, FNSKU, shipment ID and the specific discrepancy.

05What you actually get back

Since March 31, 2025, reimbursement is at documented sourcing cost rather than sale price — see the reimbursement guide.

Which makes this a records problem before it is a claims problem. If you have not entered sourcing costs per SKU, Amazon estimates them from comparable products, and that estimate becomes the basis for whatever you recover.

One source’s caution is worth keeping: automated credits appear in the Reimbursements report but rarely match the unit value. Comparing each line against your own landed cost is how underpayments surface — and an automatic credit at the wrong number looks like a resolved case until you check it.

06Preventing them

Most of this belongs to work covered elsewhere on this site:

Photograph the packed boxes and contents before they ship. Reporting names this as critical, and it costs nothing.

Verify labels and barcodes before shipping. A scanning failure at receiving becomes a discrepancy, and a pre-shipment check catches it while the goods are still with the supplier.

Keep carrier pickup documentation showing box count and weight. It is the evidence a larger claim rests on.

Reconcile against your own records rather than against Amazon’s version of them.

07What to do

Set a monthly calendar entry to review closed shipments. Weekly if your volume justifies it. This single habit is what makes the window disagreement irrelevant.

Filter to Closed and read the Discrepancy column. Anything other than zero is a case.

Wait for the eligibility date shown in the reconciliation tool. Filing early wastes the attempt.

Prepare documents as PDF or image files, never spreadsheets.

Enter sourcing costs per SKU before you need them — it decides what every claim pays.

Check automatic credits against your own landed cost. A credit is not proof of a correct credit.

Filter your shipment queue to Closed and sort by delivery date. Anything delivered more than 45 days ago is on its last fortnight to be claimed; start there, not with the newest.

Frequently asked

How common are inbound shipment discrepancies?

A reconciliation vendor estimates roughly 20% of FBA shipments show some discrepancy; Amazon publishes no figure. Amazon does not proactively flag them, so identifying them is the seller's responsibility.

When can I file a claim?

Only once the shipment shows Closed status, and after the eligibility date shown in the reconciliation tool. Amazon will not investigate shipments still marked Receiving or Delivered because the counts are not final.

How long do I have?

Fifteen to sixty days from the shipment delivery date, under Amazon's policy of September 5, 2024. Older articles quoting nine months describe the previous rule. Review closed shipments monthly so the disagreement never matters.

What documents does Amazon accept?

Non-editable formats only: PDF, JPG, JPEG, PNG or TIFF. Excel and Word files are not accepted. Pricing may be redacted on invoices.

How much do I get back?

Since March 31, 2025, documented sourcing cost rather than sale price. If you have not entered sourcing costs per SKU, Amazon estimates them from comparable products and that estimate sets your payout.

How long does resolution take?

At 2 to 30 days, with more complicated cases up to 60.

Sources

1. Update on reimbursement automation and eligibility window to file reimbursement claims (proactive reimbursement for warehouse-lost items from November 1, 2024; 60-day claim windows from October 23, 2024; removal claims 15–75 days from shipment creation; customer return claims 60–120 days after refund), Amazon Seller Central, Seller Forums announcement, September 2024 Primary source accessed 2026-09-05
2. Update to the FBA inventory reimbursement policy (reimbursement at manufacturing cost for inventory lost or damaged before a customer order; seller-provided cost option; effective March 2025), Amazon Seller Central, Seller Forums announcement, December 2024 Primary source accessed 2026-09-05
3. How to file inbound shipment claims on Amazon FBA (the Discrepancy column in Manage FBA Shipments; only Closed shipments investigated; SKU-level expected against received; pre-2024 9-month filing deadline, superseded by the 15–60-day window; resolution in 2 to 30 days and up to 60 for complex cases; monthly audit schedule), Refunzo Secondary accessed 2026-09-05
4. How to reconcile Amazon inbound shipment claims (signed packing slips for manufacturers; box count and total weight documentation at carrier pickup; non-editable formats only with Excel and Word not accepted; details that help the investigation), Threecolts Secondary accessed 2026-09-05
5. Amazon FBA reimbursement guide 2026 (60-day eligibility window for manual claims with most categories tighter; 30-day discrepancy sweeps; automated credits rarely matching unit value; reimbursement at manufacturing cost), Nova Analytics Secondary accessed 2026-09-05
6. How to submit lost inbound discrepancies for Amazon FBA (the three shapes of inbound discrepancy; waiting period before claims are accepted followed by a hard cutoff; reviewing closed shipments monthly at minimum), Sellify Secondary accessed 2026-09-05
7. Amazon FBA inventory discrepancy: how to find and fix it (Inventory Reconciliation, Reimbursements and Returns reports; the Seller Central case route with ASIN, FNSKU and shipment ID), Revnoxa Secondary accessed 2026-09-05
8. Amazon FBA shipment reconciling (roughly 20% of shipments arriving with a discrepancy; the Research missing units status; filtering the queue to closed shipments), Ridgeline Insights Secondary accessed 2026-09-05
9. What to do when Amazon misplaces your FBA inventory (the Reconcile tab and its eligibility date; inbound against warehouse discrepancies; the process rarely being automatic), Sitruna Secondary accessed 2026-09-05