Amazon switches FBA reimbursements to manufacturing cost basis
Effective March 10, 2025, Amazon will reimburse sellers for lost or damaged FBA inventory based on manufacturing cost rather than sales price. Sellers can accept Amazon's estimate, drawn from comparable products and wholesale data, or submit their own documented costs through a Manage Your Manufacturing Cost page arriving in late January. Items lost inside fulfillment centers will be reimbursed automatically with no claim needed, while items lost or damaged following a customer order remain reimbursed at sales price minus fees.
Sellers say the change cuts payouts sharply, since manufacturing cost excludes shipping, tariffs, duties, and prep, and adds an administrative burden of tracking costs. Some raise a conflict-of-interest concern: Amazon controls the inventory, could in theory lose items, reimburse at cost, and then resell them.
TikTok is warning that a U.S. ban would cost small businesses and creators $1.3 billion in the opening month alone. The Supreme Court will hear arguments January 10 on the law requiring sale or shutdown by January 19, with TikTok arguing First Amendment grounds and seeking an injunction to allow time for the incoming administration to weigh in. A ban would redirect a projected $12.34 billion in U.S. TikTok ad spending toward Meta and Google, likely driving CPMs higher across Reels, Shorts, and other short-form inventory in Q1 2025.
In publishing, 'Start. Scale. Exit. Repeat.', a Forbes Books title built on ten years of work and more than 200 interviews, earned a Kirkus Star and a place on the 100 Best Books of the Year list. Its author founded and exited over a dozen companies worth nearly $1 billion combined, including Tucows, Hostopia, and .CLUB Domains, which sold to GoDaddy in 2021.
A new AI tool called Arcads generates UGC-style video ads from a pasted script and a chosen synthetic actor, eliminating the need to hire creators.
Holiday spending is expected to reach $989 billion in the U.S. this year, and Amazon hired 250,000 extra temporary workers to meet the demand.
