You may have noticed that Amazon has a tendency to be rigid when it comes to changing data it had already validated and accepted as correct, even when it isn't the case. This occurs often, but not limited to items with variations, and often involve the following attributes:
- Category/Classification
- ProductType
- Parentage (which indicates whether a SKU is a Parent or Child, and to which "family" it belongs to")
- Brand
- Variation Data (Size, Color, etc.)
We find this happens when changes are being made to such attributes of items that are set to Active/Enabled while the data is still being processed by Amazon (a Publishing status for an initial publish). This results to mismatching data across variants causing Amazon to accept one set of inputs and reject the rest.
To get around the situation, a "relist" is in order, which involves a set of steps that attempts to clear Amazon's catalog of the incorrect data.
Here is the relist process for Marketplace Connect:
- Make sure the item and its variations are set to Inactive/Disabled on Marketplace Connect and clear any ASIN and Seller SKU inputs (Parents and Variants) if they are assigned any on the grid (please check the item's details on Single Edit), on all Amazon channels if applicable. If you had to reassign SKUs, make sure they're all unique (across Parents and Variants).
- After at least an hour, delete any listings (or drafts) for this item on Seller Central.
- Wait 24 hours; this is to ensure Amazon commits the deletion of the listings, otherwise, Amazon will just refer to the "deleted" listings as backup and restore them.
- Relist - check that all the listing information is correct and that "Send product details" is set, then set Offer Sync to Active/Enabled for Parent and Variants and then Save.
Since the steps involve waiting at least 24 hours before a republish, this is often employed as a last resort.
A successful relist is often indicated by the following:
- SKUs reassigned new ASINs.
- Persistent errors being returned by Amazon that indicate inputs that are no longer being sent should no longer be returned.
If the relist did not work, it would be best to attempt to create the listings directly on Amazon through Seller Central.
For further assistance please reach out to marketplace-connect@shopify.com