Search | LinkedIn
By Vanessa Hung · August 18, 2025 · Curated by George's Blog
🚨 ALERT: Amazon has changed its default settings.And it could have a dramatic impact on your bottom line.This move is part of a new policy they have silently launched.Amazon is now making sellers by default setting take responsibility for damaged units in FBA ‼️Previously, Amazon was obligated to reimburse you for any Amazon-fault damaged inventory. That hasn’t changed but this new program makes it possible for them to get out of that liability.Once Amazon issues that reimbursement, it keeps the inventory, with full rights to resell it. Many of those goods reappear on other channels, often through different sellers at lower prices (think liquidation)The new FBA Damaged Inventory Ownership policy flips that, now, you take responsibility for Amazon-fault damaged inventory in exchange for keeping control of your inventory, which means Amazon will not reimburse you for damaging those units. Instead, they’ll be sent to your unfulfillable inventory for you to remove, resell, or recover in any way you decide.How it worked before:• Amazon handled Amazon-fault damaged inventory by default, reimbursing you and removing the unit on their own.• You got the reimbursement, but Amazon decided how and where to liquidate, resell, or dispose of that inventory.Now you are opt in by default into the FBA Damaged Inventory Ownership program, and that means:• Your inventory will skip the damage-fault evaluation.• Any Amazon-fault damaged units go straight into your unfulfillable inventory as “Defective,” for you to remove, resell (via Grade & Resell), or otherwise recover.• You give up reimbursement in exchange for keeping control.The trade-off: control vs. profitability.🟢 By default that means that you won’t find your inventory randomly listed in other marketplaces at half the price. Full supply chain control.🔴 Opt out: Keep the traditional reimbursement + Amazon disposal model, but you lose say in what happens to that inventory.Why would Amazon make this optional?It’s about flexibility.Some sellers want quick reimbursement and no handling. Others want to capture value from goods they can recover or resell and protect their supply chain.📌 Action: If you already run a recovery process, this setting could impact your margins mainly because of the removal orders. If not, reimbursement may still be the smarter route. Check Seller Investigators.Review your FBA Returns Evaluation & Ownership settings in Seller Central, and choose based on your category, recovery workflow, and cash flow priorities.hashtag#AmazonFBA hashtag#EcommerceOperations hashtag#AmazonSellers hashtag#FulfillmentByAmazon