Three operational jobs that sit outside the weekly stock check, and quietly cost money when neglected. The first is the one most sellers do not know about at all.

[Watch the walkthrough](https://kb.trackiq.com/kb-assets/kbvideo-reimburse-explainer-2f4c8b99.mp4)

*Prefer to watch? One hundred and fifteen seconds on the sourcing cost figure every reimbursement is calculated from, why capacity requests are future-only, and how the two jobs compound.*

# **Keep your sourcing cost accurate**

## **Why this changed**

Amazon reimburses lost and damaged inventory based on **your landed cost**, not your selling price.

That alone would be manageable. The problem is what happens when Amazon does not know your landed cost: **it estimates one** — from internal data, third-party sources, and broad assumptions about products in your subcategory.

Those estimates are frequently wrong, and when they are wrong they are usually low. Every reimbursement you receive is then calculated from a number that undervalues your product.

**This is not a one-off task.** It is a recurring monthly job, and accounts that skip it are consistently underpaid without ever seeing a line item explaining why.

## **Check what Amazon currently thinks**

**Seller Central → Inventory reimbursement → Cost management.**

**Bulk Update → Download sourcing cost.**

Open the file and read the **Latest Approved Cost** column. That figure — not your selling price, not your invoice — is what every future reimbursement will be based on.

**The arithmetic is direct.** If a shipment goes missing and you are reimbursed for 100 units, you receive 100 × that number.

## **Compare against reality**

Work out your true landed cost per unit: **manufacturing + freight + duties**, divided by units.

**If Amazon's figure is lower than yours, update it.** You are currently being under-reimbursed on every claim.

**If Amazon's figure is higher than yours, leave it alone.** Amazon will reimburse above your actual cost. There is no obligation to correct a number in your favour, and no benefit in doing so.

**Then repeat monthly**, because costs move — freight rates change, order quantities change, suppliers reprice. A figure that was accurate in March may be materially wrong by September.

![Inventory by status across the pipeline](/kb-assets/shot-inv-probe-22ef23.png)

# **Request FBA storage capacity before you need it**

## **When to do it**

Capacity limits are the constraint nobody plans for until a shipment is refused.

**Requests are for future months only** — you cannot request additional space for the month you are in. Which means the request has to be made before the need is obvious.

**So request ahead of Prime Day and Q4**, at the same time you place those orders. If you are ordering Q4 stock in July, request the capacity in July.

## **How**

**Seller Central → Inventory → FBA Dashboard → Capacity Monitor**, then **Go to Capacity Manager** and create a request.

**Select the size tier** the product falls into — standard, oversize and so on are managed separately, and capacity in one does not help you in another.

**Choose the month** you need the space for, and **enter the additional volume in cubic feet.**

That last number is the one people get wrong. It is **volume, not units** — work it out from the carton dimensions of what you intend to send, not from the unit count.

# **Claim shipment discrepancies**

## **The routine job**

When a shipment is received, Amazon's count and yours will sometimes differ. Units go missing in transit or in receiving, and the difference is only ever resolved if you raise it.

**Reconcile every inbound shipment against what Amazon recorded as received.** Any shortfall is a claim.

**Keep the documentation.** Claims are decided on evidence, so the invoice, packing list, carton counts and carrier documents need to be findable months later, not reconstructed under time pressure.

**And note the connection to the first section:** a discrepancy claim is reimbursed at your **sourcing cost**. If that figure is understated, every successful claim is still underpaid. The two jobs compound.

# **Why these belong together**

None of these is urgent in any given week, which is exactly why they get skipped — and each one quietly reduces what you recover or what you can hold.

**Put them on a schedule:**

**Monthly** — check and update sourcing cost.

**Monthly, alongside purchase orders** — check capacity against what you are about to send.

**Per shipment** — reconcile received against sent, and claim the difference.

## **Where the numbers come from**

Updating sourcing cost requires knowing your true landed cost per unit, and reconciling shipments requires knowing what you actually sent against what arrived.

**TrackIQ holds the inventory side of that** — units by status across your pipeline, and the sales history that tells you which products a reimbursement error would matter most on. See [**How to Monitor Your Stock Levels**](https://kb.trackiq.com/hc/knowledge-base/articles/how-to-monitor-your-stock-levels) and [**Understanding Business Reports**](https://kb.trackiq.com/hc/knowledge-base/articles/understanding-business-reports).

## **Common mistakes**

**Never checking what Amazon thinks your cost is.** The most expensive omission here, because it silently reduces every claim.

**Correcting an estimate that was in your favour.**

**Updating sourcing cost once** and treating it as done.

**Requesting capacity in the month you need it**, which is not possible.

**Entering units instead of cubic feet.**

**Not reconciling inbound shipments**, so shortfalls are never claimed.

## **Related**

- [**Why Inventory Is the Second Pillar**](https://kb.trackiq.com/hc/knowledge-base/articles/why-inventory-is-the-second-pillar) — where these jobs sit.
- [**Inventory Forecasting and Purchase Orders**](https://kb.trackiq.com/hc/knowledge-base/articles/inventory-forecasting) — when to request capacity.
- [**Prepare for Prime Day**](https://kb.trackiq.com/hc/knowledge-base/articles/prepare-for-prime-day) — the event these deadlines are usually driven by.