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Merchant Center price mismatch and GTIN issues on Shopify

Last reviewed: .

Short answer

Two groups of issues are common for Shopify stores in Google Merchant Center. A price mismatch means Google crawled your product page and found a different price or currency than in your product data. Affected products can be disapproved, and Google warns that a mismatch "may lead to an account suspension". GTIN problems mean a barcode is missing, has the wrong format or check digit, or belongs to another product. In both cases the fix belongs at the source: your Shopify product data, your theme or your feed app.

Which issue names will I see?

Google's price troubleshooter lists these price issues:

  • Mismatched value (page crawl) [price] and Mismatched regional value (page crawl) [price]: item-level disapprovals (Google's help article is titled "Mismatched product price");
  • Automatic item updates active [Price]: an item-level warning;
  • Inaccurate prices (due to inconsistent pricing between the feed and the landing page): an account-level warning, which can also come with preemptive item disapprovals.

For GTINs, Google documents Limited performance due to missing value: GTIN [gtin], Invalid value [gtin], Invalid GTIN in unsupported format and Incorrect GTIN. In Shopify, the Google & YouTube channel shows a Missing GTIN or MPN error on the product.

Where do I find the affected products?

In Merchant Center: open Products (under Products & store) and select the Needs attention tab. Use the filter to show one issue, then open a product or download the list as a CSV file.

In Shopify: go to Products, open a product and, in the Sales channels section, click Google to see its errors. Account warnings and suspensions are shown in the Google & YouTube channel's settings.

Make corrections in Shopify (or in your feed app), so the next sync sends the corrected value.

Why does Google see a different price?

Googlebot compares the price in your product data with the price in the page's HTML or structured data. Common causes in a Shopify store:

  1. Currency and markets. Google wants the price "in the currency of your target country" shown prominently on the landing page. The countries sent by the Google & YouTube channel follow Shopify Markets by default (Countries and Languages > Manage). If a market uses fixed prices or another currency, check that Google receives the price a shopper in that country sees.
  2. Tax. For Canada and the United States, Google says not to include taxes; for countries such as France and the United Kingdom, include VAT. Shopify can show prices with or without tax by region (Markets > your market > Taxes and duties > Tax display > Dynamic tax display), but notes that product pages or the cart may not show them correctly unless conditions such as selling in local currencies with Shopify Payments are met.
  3. Sale prices. For a sale price, Google says to show both the regular and the sale price on the landing page, and the sale price must be lower. In Shopify, a compare-at price that is not higher than the price is a warning sign.
  4. Discounts. A Shopify discount is not the product's price. Shopify notes that discounts are known as promotions in Merchant Center.
  5. Theme structured data. Google reads prices from your markup. Themes can output it with the structured_data Liquid filter. Old snippets, or two blocks of markup with different prices, cause mismatches.
  6. Prices changed by scripts. Google warns that prices loaded by JavaScript after the page loads can cause errors, because Googlebot reads the HTML the server returns. Check price, bundle or B2B apps that rewrite prices in the browser.
  7. Timing. Website prices can change faster than your product data reaches Google.
  8. Minimum quantities. If a shopper must buy several units, the price must be for that minimum quantity.

Automatic item updates let Google use your landing page data to update price, availability and condition. They are on by default (Products > Automations). Google still treats the underlying mismatch as a problem, so fix the source too.

How do I fix a price mismatch, step by step?

  1. In Merchant Center, filter Needs attention by the price issue and pick a few products.
  2. Open each product page as a shopper in the target country and compare price, currency and sale price with Merchant Center.
  3. In the page source, check price and currency in the product structured data.
  4. Fix the cause in Shopify: market price or tax display, compare-at price, theme snippet or price app.
  5. Let the next sync run. Googlebot re-crawls disapproved products over the next few hours or days. You can also request a website check; Google may take up to 12 hours to review it.

What does Google accept as a GTIN?

  • Only real, assigned codes. Google says: "Don't make up, guess, or include values from similar products." Use the GTIN the manufacturer assigned. For products you make yourself, Shopify notes you can get GTINs through GS1.
  • Format. GTINs have 8, 12, 13 or 14 digits (UPC, EAN, JAN, ISBN-13, ITF-14). Spaces and dashes are ignored. The check digit must be present and correct.
  • Not restricted or coupon ranges. Google lists restricted prefixes 02, 04 and 2, and coupon prefixes 05, 98 and 99.
  • One code per variant. Each variant (colour, size and so on) needs its own GTIN.

Why an SKU in the barcode field fails. Shopify describes an SKU as a code "that identifies the product within your business". It is not a GS1 number, so it usually has letters, the wrong length or a wrong check digit, and Google reports an invalid GTIN.

Where does Shopify store the barcode?

In the product or variant's Inventory section, under Barcodes: up to 20 barcodes, each with a type (Custom, the default, or GTIN, UPC, EAN, ISBN, ASIN). Shopify checks length and allowed characters for the chosen type; it does not say it checks check digits, so check them yourself.

To edit many barcodes at once, export products to CSV, fix the Barcodes column and import the file again. The bulk editor (Products, select products, Bulk edit, then Columns) is useful for SKUs and prices.

What if a product has no GTIN?

Not every product has one, and Google says you don't need to submit a GTIN then. Instead:

  • Submit brand and MPN where they exist. In Shopify, the Google & YouTube channel lets you add the brand name and MPN for products without barcodes. For private-label products, Google says to use your store brand and an MPN of your choice.
  • For custom, handmade, one-of-a-kind or vintage products, set identifier_exists to no. Shopify's product CSV has Google Shopping metafield columns such as Custom Product and MPN, which apps can use when syncing. Products set to no despite evidence of an identifier receive a warning.

What to check in your store

  • In Merchant Center, list the price and GTIN issues under Products > Needs attention.
  • For each target country, compare product page price, currency and tax display with Merchant Center.
  • Check that every compare-at price is higher than the price.
  • Check the theme's product structured data and any apps that change prices in the browser.
  • Export products and check every barcode: digits only, right length, right check digit, no restricted or coupon prefix, no duplicates.
  • For products without a GTIN, add brand and MPN, or mark them as custom products.

How Lektoro helps (and what it doesn't do)

Lektoro: Feed & Pixel Guard is a Shopify app that checks your catalog and product pages for common Merchant Center issues, next to any feed app.

What it does:

  • Audits product data: GTIN check digits and prefixes, SKUs in the barcode field, duplicate GTINs, brand and MPN, custom product flags, compare-at prices, images, availability and apparel attributes, with a fix for each issue.
  • Compares the structured data on your product pages with your Shopify data (price, currency, availability, GTIN) and flags missing or broken markup.
  • Runs scheduled checks with email or Slack alerts on paid plans.

What it doesn't do:

  • It never edits products, metafields or your feed.
  • It does not see what your feed app sends or what Merchant Center reports; Google makes its own decisions.
  • A valid check digit does not prove that GS1 assigned the GTIN to your product.

Free tools: the Google Shopping product data check compares a sample of any store's product pages with its public product feed, and the bulk GTIN checker checks up to 500 barcodes in your browser.

Sources

Not legal advice. This guide describes Shopify and Google Merchant Center features as documented on the date above; menus, issue names and policies can change. Google decides on approvals and account status; check the current Merchant Center Help before you change your product data.

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