Amazon Adds X-Ray Scanners and AI to Inspect FBA Returns

Amazon disclosed via its German corporate blog that FBA returns now pass through X-ray scanners and machine-learning checks before being classified. The goal is to verify weight, contents, and authenticity, route counterfeits out of the network, and grade items as Sellable or Unsellable more consistently.

It can, in both directions. Cleaner classification should reduce wrongful Unsellable disposals and surface more legitimate SAFE-T cases, but it also tightens what qualifies as a damaged-by-Amazon claim. Sellers should reconcile refunds against inventory adjustments at the SKU level to see the net effect.

No. The inspection layer sits inside Amazon fulfillment centers, so it only affects FBA units. FBM sellers continue to handle their own returns flow and inspection logic.

It does not change the filing window itself, but it changes the evidence trail. Inspection results become part of the disposition record, which is what claim adjudicators reference. Sellers should pull and store disposition data alongside their claims.

Audit the gap between refund-issued and reimbursement-received per ASIN over the last 90 days, flag SKUs where Unsellable rates spike post-April 2026, and verify whether better grading is moving units back into Sellable pools or pushing them to liquidation.