Amazon Fees & Policy Updates 2024

FBA inventory reimbursement policy

November 2024

Starting November 1, 2024, Amazon will proactively reimburse you for Fulfillment by Amazon (FBA) items that are lost in our fulfillment centers. Amazon will issue the reimbursement as soon as an item is reported as lost by the fulfillment center, which you can track in the Reimbursements report on Seller Central. This more seamless experience saves you time and money by minimizing the need to manually research and file claims for lost items.

Almost all reimbursement claims related to warehouse lost and damaged and customer returns cases will now be proactively reimbursed. However, if you do not receive an automatic reimbursement and you believe that your inventory has been lost or damaged, you will need to file a manual claim.

Additionally, all removal claims will still need to be filed manually. Also starting October 23, we are updating our eligibility window policy. All manual claims must now be submitted within the following timelines:

• A fulfillment center operations claim for an item that is lost or damaged in the fulfillment center must be submitted no later than 60 days after the item was reported lost or damaged.
• An FBA customer returns claim can be submitted between 60-120 days after the customer refund or replacement date. Claims must not be submitted before 60 days to ensure the customer has time to return the item to us for processing.
• A removal claim for items lost in transit can be submitted 15-75 days from the shipment-creation date. Claims must not be submitted before 15 days to ensure the shipment can be delivered back to you.
• All other removal claims must be filed within 60 days of the shipment being delivered back to you.

We understand that you may need to make changes to your current processes to ensure that all claims are submitted within these new eligibility windows. To ensure you have adequate time to adjust, the new policy will go into effect on October 23.

The FBA inventory reimbursement policy will be updated once the policy goes into effect on October 23.

Digital Services Taxes Fee

October 2024

On October 1, 2024, Amazon will introduce a Digital Services fee for Digital Services Taxes (DST) implemented by the governments of Canada, the UK, France, Italy and Spain.

While the typical DST rate is 2% in the UK, and 3% in Canada, France, Italy, Spain, DST charges are unpredictable as they vary based on the location of your business, the location of the customer, and other factors. Rather than base the Digital Services fee on these location variables, which would create an unpredictable business impact because you can’t know the location of customers that will purchase your products, Amazon introduce a fixed Digital Services fee based only on your location and the store you sell in.

If your business is established in a country in which DST has been introduced, or if you sell in Canada store, the Digital Services fee will apply as a percentage increase to the following fees:

• Selling on Amazon fees
• Fulfillment by Amazon fees (UK and France only)

For example, if your business is established in the United States, and you sell a $15 item in the Canada store, a 2% Digital Services fee ($0.05) will apply on your Selling on Amazon fees ($2.25) starting October 1.  To understand how this fee will impact your business, including if you’re established in a country where DST has been introduced, go to Digital Services fee.

Starting September 1, you’ll be able to preview the fee in Revenue Calculator, and from October 1 you can track your Digital Services fees via Transaction View in Payments reports. If you use FBA North America remote fulfillment, the Digital Services fee will be accounted for in our free Automate Pricing tool starting October 1.

OTDR Policy and Speed

September 2024

To help reduce late deliveries and improve delivery speeds, Amazon is changing the on-time delivery rate (OTDR) policy.

Effective September 25, 2024, you’ll need to maintain a minimum 90% OTDR without promise extensions to have seller-fulfilled products listed on Amazon.com. Amazon will start by addressing sellers with the lowest OTDR performance. For a great customer experience, it is recommended that you maintain a 95% or greater OTDR for all seller-fulfilled orders. This policy does not apply to offers using the Fulfillment by Amazon (FBA) service because sellers are not responsible for on-time delivery promises for FBA orders.

Also, Amazon will make the following changes to shipping settings to help sellers with Professional selling plans set accurate delivery dates:

• Transit Time settings: On August 25, 2024, our Transit Time requirements will be updated to match the delivery capabilities of shipping services. If you are shipping within the contiguous United States (excluding Hawaii, Alaska, and US territories), you can set a maximum Transit Time of five days for standard shipping and seven days for free economy shipping. To learn more, go to Default Transit Time.

• Handling Time settings: On September 25, 2024, to help improve the accuracy of Handling Time, Amazon will enable Automated Handling Time for sellers that have a manually configured Handling Time that is two or more days slower than their actual Handling Time (also known as a Handling Time gap). To see your Handling Time gap, review your Fulfillment Insight dashboard.

To learn more, review your OTDR on your Account Health dashboard or go to On-time delivery.

High Return Rate Processing Fee

June 2024

On June 1, 2024, the updated returns processing fee will go into effect for products with high return-rates (except apparel and shoes). This was announced as part of the 2024 US fee changes. Fee charges will occur after the close of each three-month period. For example, for returns of units shipped in June, the fee charge will be in September.

To help you better understand your returns and return rates, and identify actions you can take to limit your risk of incurring returns processing fees, Amazon has made improvements to the Return Insights dashboard on the FBA Returns page.

The Return Insights dashboard will now include the following insights:

• Number of returned units and return rate percentages used to calculate the fee
• Minimum return rate thresholds above which fees are charged
• Number of returned units above the threshold for which fees are charged

To access the Return Insights dashboard, go to the FBA Returns page.

The updated returns processing fee looks at product returns across a three-month period of time starting with the month the product shipped and ending two calendar months later. For example, for products shipped in June, returns will be tracked through June, July and August. The fee will only be charged if the total number of returns for the products shipped in that month exceeds the threshold set for the specific product’s fee category, which are now published on the Returns processing fee page. If the returns threshold is exceeded, the returns fee will apply to each returned unit above the threshold.

For products that ship less than 25 units in a month, the updated returns processing fee is not applied for that month. Additionally, for products enrolled in the New Selection Program, we will waive the fee for the first 20 returned units that exceed the return rate threshold.

For detailed information on fee structure and rates, return rates calculation, thresholds, and exemptions, go to 2024 returns processing fee changes.

Inform Act Requirements

May 2024

Starting in May 2024, if you have 200 or more transactions or $5,000 or more in revenues during a continuous 12-month period, you may receive a formal notification to review and certify that their business information is correct (if you have not already received this).  However, you do not need to wait to receive the formal notification, and can take action now to avoid the risk of account deactivation later that could affect your upcoming sales events.

We recommend that you visit your Account Health page and click on “Review Your Account Information” under the Priority Actions section to review today and, if necessary, update your business information.

If your information is up to date, or if you have just updated it, proceed to the next step – the Notice and Certification page – to complete your certification. Once you view this page, the law requires you to certify your information within 10 days.

It only takes a few minutes to certify so you can take action today.

Although you will need to certify that your information is up-to-date at least annually, you should keep your business information current at all times, and you can update your information anytime by visiting your Account Information page in Seller Central.

For answers to frequently asked questions, go to About the INFORM Consumers Act or contact Selling Partner Support.