Overview

When you send inventory to Amazon's fulfillment centers, things don't always go smoothly during the receiving process. Shipments can get stuck, items may appear missing, or processing delays can leave you wondering where your products went. Understanding how to diagnose and resolve these receiving issues is essential for maintaining healthy inventory levels and avoiding costly stockouts.

Key Points / What Sellers Need to Know

• Shipment statuses follow a specific sequence - Your shipment moves from "Checked-in" (arrived but unopened) to "Receiving" (items being scanned) to "Closed" (fully processed). Knowing where your shipment is in this pipeline helps you identify the right troubleshooting steps.
• Wrong fulfillment center delivery causes delays - If your carrier delivers to the wrong facility, processing will be delayed. Always verify the delivery address matches the assigned fulfillment center.
• Mismatched shipment IDs create confusion - When multiple shipments arrive at the same facility simultaneously, items can be counted against the wrong shipment ID, making inventory appear missing when it's actually been received.
• Improper prep and packaging slows everything down - Items that aren't correctly packaged, prepped, or labeled get routed to a prepping station, which significantly delays when they reach "Receiving" status.
• Overage quantities trigger automatic reallocation - Sending more units than listed in your shipping plan can cause excess inventory to be counted against a different open shipment.

How Shipment Receiving Works

When your shipment arrives at a fulfillment center, it first receives a "Checked-in" status, meaning the package has arrived but hasn't been opened yet. Once a fulfillment center associate opens the shipment and begins scanning individual items into inventory, the status changes to "Receiving." After a designated waiting period, the shipment becomes eligible for investigation if discrepancies exist. You can find the specific investigation eligibility date in the shipment summary section of your Shipment Summary page. This timeline is important because you cannot file a reconciliation request until that date has passed.