Google Merchant Center feed guidance
When a shared GTIN is legitimate
New, used and refurbished offers of one product can share its manufacturer GTIN when each states its condition. Here's how Google's guidance tells a shared GTIN from a duplicate.
What this guide covers
What Google counts as a duplicate
Google asks you not to submit several products for the same country and language that use the same GTIN and have the same values for their variant attributes. Its GTIN page names condition and multipack as variant attributes for every product, plus color and size for apparel.
So a repeated GTIN isn't a problem on its own. Two offers are duplicates when the GTIN, country, language and those variant values all match.
New, used and refurbished offers
Google asks you to submit the manufacturer's GTIN for used items where you can, and its examples show new and used, and new and refurbished, offers of one product sharing a GTIN. The condition attribute tells them apart, and Google requires it for every used and refurbished product.
Same GTIN, different condition
A new offer and a used offer of the same item, each with its correct condition. This is a legitimate shared GTIN.
Same GTIN, same everything
Same GTIN, country, language, condition and other variant values. Google treats this as a duplicate.
Used offer with no condition
Google requires condition for used and refurbished items. Without it, the offer is missing the value that separates it from the new one.
Several colors or sizes, one GTIN
Google says each color and size variant has its own GTIN, so a shared value here is more likely an identifier error.
Packs you made and packs the manufacturer made
You grouped the items
If you combined several identical items to sell as one, submit the single item's GTIN and set multipack to the number of items in your pack.
The manufacturer packed them
If the manufacturer sells the pack as one product, submit the pack's own GTIN and leave multipack out.
Never edit a GTIN to make it unique
Before you remove a repeated GTIN
Compare the whole offer
Country, language, condition and multipack, plus color and size for apparel. A duplicate matches on all of them.
Set condition on used and refurbished offers
Keep the manufacturer's GTIN and give each offer its correct condition.
Check who made each pack
Packs you built use the single item's GTIN with a multipack count. Manufacturer packs use their own GTIN.
Fix identifiers at the source
Take a corrected GTIN from the manufacturer's product information, never from a guess or an edited number.
Google's guidance
- GTIN [gtin] · Google Merchant Center Help
- Condition [condition] · Google Merchant Center Help
- Multipack [multipack] · Google Merchant Center Help
Read on 14 November 2026 (UTC); the pages showed no last-updated date. Google notes some instructions may not apply if you submit through a third-party platform, and points you to that platform.
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