A Brief Guide to Amazon Vendor Central Shortages & Shortage Disputes
What is a shortage?
On Amazon Vendor Central, a shortage means that Amazon believes they did not receive a PO in full. This is not the same as a chargeback that impacts your operational performance, although excessive shortages can have a negative impact on your operational performance score over time. A shortage is essentially just a quantity dispute, and once you receive one, the onus is (usually) on you to prove that the order was received in full by Amazon.
Does everyone experience shortages?
You would be hard pressed to find an Amazon Vendor who doesn’t experience regular shortages. For better or worse, they’re just another part of doing business with Amazon- but when managed properly, they won’t have a negative impact on your business or profitability.
Can shortages cause items to go out of stock / does a shortage mean an item is already out of stock at Amazon?
Not usually. If a shortage is legitimate, and you actually did not ship a PO in full, then yes, there is a possibility your ASIN(s) will go out of stock. However, false shortages, which in our experience constitute the majority of shortages received by Amazon Vendors, generally will not cause an item to go out of stock. They often don’t even mean that the goods weren’t received by Amazon, just that they weren’t able to match the goods received to a purchase order, or that they did not scan the inventory yet. In that case, the inventory will still be received and sent to FCs for fulfillment, but the Vendor will see a shortage on their end because Amazon’s system did not match the inventory to the purchase order(s) being invoiced.
Will Amazon ever resolve a shortage on their own?
Yes! In fact, they often do. If an FC is backed up on receiving, your inventory could be sitting for up to several weeks before it is scanned into Amazon’s system. By that point, you could have already submitted an invoice for the relevant POs, and Amazon will have applied a shortage to the invoice because, according to their system, they did not receive the order in full. If they scan in the items you sent after they applied that shortage, and they successfully match the inventory to that PO, they will automatically reverse the shortage on their own.
What do I do if I receive a shortage? Do I dispute it?
Your first step is to dispute the shortage in Vendor Central using the shortage dispute workflow. However, Amazon often operates under the assumption that their systems are never wrong, and if their system shows the PO was not received in full, they may deny your dispute.
What if my shortage dispute was denied?
If Amazon denies your shortage dispute, the next step is to open a case with Vendor Support. This case should include the proof of delivery (signed BOL for TL/LTL shipments, or carrier tracking information for small parcel shipments), a copy of the purchase order, and a copy of the invoice. All of these documents should display the PO number and/or invoice number in order for Amazon to match them together.
Amazon denied my shortage re-dispute case. What now?
You should continue to push Amazon for payment. This can entail reopening the case after it is denied, or opening an entirely new re-dispute case if your existing case seems to be getting nowhere. If all else fails, you should consider a settlement case, which we will cover in a future article.
Are there any services that help Vendors dispute and recover shortages?
Yes! There are many services and agencies that can help you recover your shortages. We’re one of them! We’re TurnKeyAMZ, and Amazon Vendor Central cost recovery is our specialty. We have a 100% US-based team devoted to getting shortages and chargebacks recovered for our clients. You can find more information about us at TurnKeyAMZ.com.