Overview

Amazon's FBA Damaged Inventory Ownership program gives sellers a way to opt out of the standard process where Amazon evaluates, claims ownership of, and disposes of inventory damaged through Amazon's fault. Instead of letting Amazon decide what happens to your damaged goods, this program puts the decision back in your hands — though it comes with a significant trade-off regarding reimbursement eligibility.

Key Points / What Sellers Need to Know

• Opt-out program — FBA Damaged Inventory Ownership is a voluntary program that lets you bypass Amazon's standard damage-fault ownership evaluation process for your FBA inventory.
• Retain ownership of damaged goods — When enrolled, you keep ownership of inventory that Amazon damages, rather than Amazon taking possession and liquidating or removing it on your behalf.
• You decide what happens next — Damaged inventory is moved to your unfulfillable inventory, and you choose whether to have it removed, disposed of, or handled through another channel.
• No reimbursements for enrolled inventory — This is the key trade-off. Inventory enrolled in this program is not eligible for damage reimbursements under Amazon's FBA inventory reimbursement policy.
• Replaces standard Amazon handling — Without this program, Amazon would typically handle damaged inventory through FBA Liquidations, removals, or other recovery channels.

How the Program Works

Under Amazon's standard FBA process, when your inventory is damaged due to Amazon's fault — whether during receiving, storage, or fulfillment — Amazon evaluates the damage and determines fault. If Amazon accepts responsibility, it typically takes ownership of the damaged units and may sell them through liquidation channels, process removals, or handle disposal. You would then receive a reimbursement for the damaged inventory based on Amazon's valuation.

The FBA Damaged Inventory Ownership program changes this workflow entirely. When you enroll, Amazon skips its ownership evaluation for damaged goods. Instead, any inventory damaged through Amazon's fault gets added directly to your unfulfillable inventory pool. From there, you maintain full control over the disposition of those items — you can request removals to inspect the damage yourself, liquidate through your own preferred channels, or take whatever action makes the most business sense for your situation.