What we recover

Six ways money leaves a vendor account.

Amazon does not take margin in one big move. It takes it in thousands of small line items across six systems that do not talk to each other, each with its own evidence set and its own deadline. Here is what each one is, why it is so often wrong, and what it takes to win it back.

Shortage claims

Amazon says it received fewer units than you invoiced, and short-pays the difference.

What it is

A shortage is raised when the quantity Amazon books in at the fulfillment centre does not match the quantity on your invoice. Amazon deducts the gap from your remittance, usually with five days' notice before the invoice is due.

Why it is often wrong

In most accounts we look at, the units did ship. The gap comes from Amazon's own check-in process — pallets split across doors, cartons received late and booked to a different week, or receipts keyed against the wrong purchase order. The vendor is billed for a warehouse error.

What wins the dispute

Proof of delivery, a signed bill of lading, and the ASN log for the shipment. Matched against the purchase order and the invoice, that set wins most shortage disputes.

Price claims

Amazon believes it was billed at the wrong cost and claws back the difference.

What it is

A price claim is raised when the unit cost on your invoice does not match the cost Amazon holds against the purchase order. Amazon deducts the variance and files it as a price discrepancy claim.

Why it is often wrong

The variance is often a documentation mismatch rather than a pricing dispute: a currency field, a case-pack quantity read as an each, a cost change that took effect between the PO and the shipment, or an ASIN that maps to two cost records. The agreed price was correct on both sides.

What wins the dispute

The purchase order, the invoice, the cost agreement in force on the ship date, and the ASIN-to-cost mapping.

Operational chargebacks

Compliance fines for labelling, routing and ASN rules — issued automatically.

What it is

Amazon fines vendors for breaking operational requirements. There are dozens of chargeback types across labelling, carton content, ASN accuracy, PO on-time, prep, no-show deliveries, paper invoicing and packaging. They surface in the Operational Performance report in Vendor Central.

Why it is often wrong

These are machine-issued at scale against rules that change. A carton flagged for a missing label often has the label in the photo. A PO marked late was frequently rescheduled by Amazon. Nobody at Amazon reviews the fine before it lands.

What wins the dispute

Carton and pallet photographs, the EDI 856 transmission record, appointment and routing confirmations, and the carrier's delivery record.

Co-op accruals

Marketing development funds, damage allowances and freight allowances, charged at provisional rates.

What it is

Co-op covers the costs Amazon shares with you: MDF, damage allowance on returns, and inbound freight allowance. Where no signed agreement is on file, Amazon applies a provisional rate and deducts against it every period.

Why it is often wrong

Provisional rates are usually higher than the rate you would have negotiated. When the real agreement is signed, Amazon is supposed to apply it retroactively over the provisional period. That back-credit often never appears, and co-op carries a two-year limit on disputes.

What wins the dispute

The signed co-op agreement with its effective date, the rate schedule, and the co-op invoices issued during the provisional window.

Provision for receivables

Money held back against claims Amazon expects to raise later.

What it is

Amazon withholds a balance on your account as a provision against future deductions. It is a reserve, not a settled claim, and it sits against your remittance until it is either used or released.

Why it is often wrong

Provisions get set and then forgotten. When the underlying claims are resolved, disputed or never raised at all, the reserve should come back to you. Reconciling it takes a line-level match across periods that few finance teams have time to run.

What wins the dispute

Remittance advice across the affected periods, matched to the claims the provision was actually consumed by.

Quick-pay discounts and unpaid invoices

Early-payment discounts taken without early payment, and invoices that were never paid at all.

What it is

Amazon takes a quick-pay discount for settling inside your payment terms. Separately, invoices go past due and disappear from view when a PO is closed or a payment run skips them.

Why it is often wrong

The discount is only earned if Amazon actually paid inside the window, and often it did not. Past-due invoices are the simplest category of all: the goods shipped, the invoice was accepted, and no payment followed.

What wins the dispute

Payment dates against your agreed terms, and an open-invoice ageing pulled from your ledger and reconciled to Amazon's payment records.

Point tools cover one slice.

Most recovery software handles shortages on one marketplace and stops there. The categories above sit in different reports, get filed through different routes, and expire on different clocks. A vendor running one tool against one of them is usually leaving the other five untouched.

If you already have something in place, the free audit is still worth running. It tells you exactly which categories your current setup is reaching and which it is not.

Find out what is sitting in your account.

The audit reads five years of history across all six categories and comes back with a real number. It costs nothing and commits you to nothing.

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