Fulfillment by Amazon (FBA)

Arbitrations against Amazon when FBA Loses Your Inventory

This is case number 04522. And this is a case where an Amazon seller sent in inventory to an Amazon FBA facility.

The value of the goods is under $50,000. Amazon lost the goods or misplaced the goods or absorbed the goods or sold the goods, or whatever they did with the goods.

But they did not credit our client, our seller, with the inventory that he sent in. And after plans of action and correspondence and phone calls, the seller had it up to here, and the seller said, “Take the decision out of Amazon’s hands,” which is what we did.

Now, how do you do that?

Well, you file for what’s called an arbitration. An arbitration is like going to court, only it’s faster and cheaper. And it’s the required mechanism for resolving disputes with Amazon. The arbitrations against Amazon are filed with the American Arbitration Association. And I’ve got to tell you, I’m pretty happy with the arbitrators that they have and the mechanism that they have in place, not a thousand percent happy, but I’m relatively happy generally.

So in this case, since the value of the goods is under 50,000 dollars, this particular seller, where we on behalf of the seller, were able to take advantage of the American Arbitration Association’s expedited arbitration process, which means the whole case should be over and done with in about 90 days. How does that come to pass? Well, there are special rules for smaller cases, to make it faster and cheaper for you.

So first, you take your inventory and you figure out what are your actual damages? What can you recover? And your contract with Amazon says you can recover sale price less FBA fees, but if that number is under $50,000 or even a little bit over, it serves you well to go to the expedited arbitration process, which between your filing fees and your share of the arbitrator will cost you roughly $2,400 in fees to the arbitrator and the arbitration company. And that’s how you take the decision making out of Amazon’s hands.

It starts with what’s called the demand for arbitration.

We write it for you. You approve it. We file with the American Arbitration Association. We identify that we want the expedited process, which, again, is cheaper and faster. The papers go over to Amazon in a very particular way. Amazon’s lawyers respond. And from the moment you have that first conference with the arbitrator, your hearing is supposed to be held within 30 days. And we keep Amazon’s feet to the fire and we hold them to that, because that gets your case resolved.

That is the expedited arbitration process if FBA loses your inventory.

If you want to learn more, contact us. You can also speak with my partner Rob, who manages our arbitration practice. You can speak with Ashley, who is Rob’s right hand when it comes to this area of our awesome practice.

I am also extremely happy to speak with you because before getting into Amazon, before solely focusing on your needs, I was a trial lawyer, car accidents, medical malpractice, employment cases. I was the lawyer who got sent into court to pick juries, persuade juries, deal with judges. So I love handling these cases because it brings all my skills together, my intimate information about Amazon, my trial skills, and between me and you, I can try circles around Amazon’s lawyers, and I think they know it.