Amazon shortage claims are NOT just a dispute problem. Looking back at 24 months
By Bruno Ferreira · October 3, 2026 · Curated by George's Blog
Amazon shortage claims are NOT just a dispute problem.
Looking back at 24 months of shortage claims data in one of our case studies, the numbers make the challenge very clear:
$5.72M deducted across 38,5k invoice lines and 1,7k ASINs
But the most interesting part is the aggregation:
✅ Just 178 ASINs represent 58% of the shortage value
✅ Only 9 ASINs account for 11%
✅ The issue is spread across thousands of invoice lines, so this is not about a few bad shipments
The shift that changes the conversation:
❌ Invoice first and investigate the shortage after Amazon deducts
✅ Reconcile Actual shipped units → ASN logs → Amazon receipt → invoice before the claim happens
For Vendors with high ASIN count, trying to work every shortage with the same priority creates a lot of activity, but not necessarily a lot of recovery.
Recovering is a tier1 priority, and the size of the prize is proven, but Visibility and Traceability should start before the deduction, not after it.
This was one of the key messages I shared with the amazing group at Amazon EU Accelerate meetup, where I joined Chris McCabe, Vincenzo Toscano, Melanie V Katsaris and Max Sinclair to talk about the Amazon e-commerce challenges for both Sellers and Vendors.