sale_price pricing Fix “Expired or invalid sale price” on Google Merchant Center
The sale_price field is set but either expired (sale_price_effective_date has ended) or fails validation (higher than price, equal to price, etc.). Item still serves at regular price but loses strikethrough display.
What you see in Google Merchant Center:
Expired or invalid sale price
API identifier: invalid_sale_price
Sale prices with expired sale_price_effective_date or with logical errors (sale_price ≥ price) flag for review. Items still serve at regular price but lose the strikethrough display and the promotional placement boost.
The expired-sale-price case is the most common: a Black Friday promotion ended but the feed still has sale_price set. Channels eventually flag this; the fix is clearing both sale_price and sale_price_effective_date at promotion end.
The discipline of using sale_price_effective_date for time-bound promotions prevents this — the date controls activation, and expired dates automatically deactivate the sale. Manual sale_price management always misses cleanup at some point.
Top causes
- 1
sale_price_effective_date end-date passed but sale_price still in feed
- 2
sale_price equal to or higher than price
- 3
sale_price set without sale_price_effective_date for time-limited promotions
How to fix it
- 1
Identify affected items
Merchant Center → Needs attention → 'Invalid sale price'.
- 2
Clear expired sale prices
If the promotion has ended, blank out both sale_price and sale_price_effective_date.
- 3
Fix logical errors
sale_price must be lower than price. If sale_price is higher, you've inverted the logic — fix at source.
- 4
Refresh and verify
Force-fetch.
Related issues
Price mismatch
The price in the feed doesn't match the price on the landing page. Google compares feed values against the live landing page and rejects items where the user would arrive expecting one price and see another. Affected items stop serving until both prices match.
Read morePrice too low
Google's algorithm flags prices dramatically lower than the competitive set for the same product. Often a typo, currency confusion, or counterfeit suspicion. Items aren't always rejected but get suppressed in Shopping placements.
Read moreRelated fields
FAQ
What's the minimum discount Google will recognise?
Around 5% — below that, channels often don't display strikethrough pricing even though the sale_price is technically valid.
Last reviewed: 26 May 2026
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